Holism and Reductionism

• define biological reductionism

  the way that biological psychologists try to reduce behaviour to a physical level and explain it in terms of neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones, brain structure, etc.
• define environmental reductionism

  Behaviourists assume that all behaviour can be reduced to the simple building blocks of S-R (stimulus-response) associations and that complex behaviours are a series of S-R chains.
• define experimental reductionism

  where a complex behaviour is reduced to a single (isolated) variable for the purpose of testing.
• define holism

  the idea that human behaviour should be viewed as a whole integrated experience, and not as separate parts.
• define interactionist approach

  An interactionist approach argues that several levels of explanation are necessary to explain a particular behaviour, ranging from lower (biological) to higher levels (social and cultural).
• define levels of explanation

  The reductionist approach suggests that behaviour can be explained at different levels (e.g. social and cultural, psychological or biological).
• define parsimony

  Parsimony is the idea that complex phenomena should be explained in the simplest terms possible.
• define reductionism

  Reductionism is the belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler component parts.
• what are the three levels of explanation?

  1. biological explanations: where behaviour is explained in terms of neurochemicals, genes and brain structure
  2. psychological explanation: considers psychological explanations
  3. social and cultural explanation: considers social and cultural explanations, where behaviour is explained in terms of the influence of social groups.
• give an example of biological reductionism in psychology

  • a meta-analysis of 14 twin studies of OCD found that monozygotic twins were more than twice as likely to develop OCD in comparison to dizygotic twins if their co-twin also had the disorder (Billett et al., 1998), thus suggesting a genetic link.
• give an example of environmental reductionism

  • behaviourists reduce the complex behaviour of attachment down to a stimulus-response link, where the mother becomes the conditioned stimulus who becomes associated with the pleasure from feeding. Therefore the child comes to feel pleasure (conditioned response) when he or she encounters their mother, leading to the formation of an attachment.
• give an example of experimental reductionism in psychology

  • Miller (1956) examined the capacity of short-term memory and Peterson and Peterson (1959) examined the duration of short-term memory. Experimental reductionism underpins the experimental approach; complex behaviours are reduced to operationalised isolated variables in order to measure and determine causal relationships.
• give an example of holism in psychology

  • Humanistic psychology also advocates a holistic approach, as it argues that humans react to stimuli as an organised whole, rather than as a set of stimulus-response links. As an approach, it uses qualitative methods to investigate all aspects of the individual, as well as the interactions between people.
• evaluation of the holism and reductionism debate

  • psychologists are drawn to reductionist explanations as a method of research. most experimental psychology is based on the assumption that human behaviour can be studied simple experiments by experimental reductionism. This allows researchers to study the different factors that influence human behaviour in a controlled manner while establishing a causal relationship. This would not be possible if psychologists attempted to study all of the factors that influence human behaviour as it would be too complex to interpret the findings.
• evaluation of the holism and reductionism debate

  • both biological and environmental reductionism are viewed as scientific. Breaking complex behaviours into small constituent parts means that they can be scientifically tested, and over time explanations based on scientific evidence will emerge. In addition, biological reductionism has led to the development of biological therapies, such as drugs. For example, SSRIs are more effective than placebos at treating the symptoms of OCD. The use of SSRIs in patients provides relief for some patients.
• evaluation of the holism and reductionism debate

  • Some psychologists argue that biological reductionism can lead to errors of understanding because it ignores the complexity of human behaviour. For example, to treat conditions like ADHD with drugs in the belief that the condition consists of nothing more than neurochemical imbalances is to mistake the symptoms of the phenomenon for its true cause (treatment itology fallacy). Since success rates of drug therapy are so highly variable, the purely biological understanding seems inadequate.
• evaluation of the holism and reductionism debate

  • The holistic explanation attempts to blend different levels of explanation; holistic theory and approaches attempt to provide a complete and realistic understanding of human behaviour. However, holistic explanations do not establish causation because they do not examine behaviour in terms of operationalised variables that can be manipulated and measured. This means that holistic explanations are viewed as unscientific.