Holism vs reductionism

• Holism


  Perceiving the whole experience rather than the individual feature and or the relations between them
• Gestalt psychologists


  Suggest that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'
• Reductionism

  An approach that breaks complex phenomena into more simple components
• Biological reductionism


  Reducing behaviour to biology as it is based on the premise than we are biological organisms
• Environmental reductionism


  Behaviourist explanations suggest that all behaviour can be explained in terms of simple stimulus response links
• Some examples of behaviour can only be understood at the holistic level, such as the conformity and deindividuation of Zimbardo's prisoners and guards in his Stanford Prison Experiment
• Conformity and deindividuation of Zimbardo's prisoners and guards in his Stanford Prison Experiment can only be understood at the holistic level
• Research into resisting conformity, such as Gamson's work into the role of social support in groups, also makes use of holistic explanations by looking at the interactions within and between groups
• Holistic explanations may provide a more 'complete' picture of behaviour
• It is difficult to investigate the many differing types and levels of explanations in holistic approaches
• Holistic explanations may not lead to the development of effective treatments for mental health disorders
• Holistic explanations are frequently used by the humanistic approach but there is a lack of empirical evidence associated with higher-level explanations
• Holistic explanations may simplify complex phenomena too far
• Reductionism is consistent with the aims of science because it allows for prediction and control of behaviour
• Reductionist approaches have led to the development of powerful and effective drug therapies
• Reductionist explanations may lead to a loss of validity because they ignore the social context where behaviour occurs