REDUCTIONISM

• Reductionism


  Breaking explanations down to the smallest possible parts
• Arguments for reductionism


  • Individual elements of an explanation are simpler, therefore more understandable, so can be studied and explained more effectively
• Holism


  Focuses on the whole system or person
• Gestalt psychologists


  • Suggest that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and so it does not make sense to break down target behaviours into their constituent parts, but rather study behaviours as part of a whole
• Raine et al (1997)


  • Understanding brain function relating to aggression can be valuable; reductionism can lead to the development of treatments as in the DOPAMINE HYPOTHESIS and the use of ANTIPSYCHOTICS
• Reductionism in social psychology

  • Social impact theory: predicts behaviour using a mathematical equation
  • Milgram: collected qualitative data which helped to explain the more reductionist quantitative data he gathered
  • Sherif: Method triangulation helped to protect against reductionism
  • Questionnaires: Reduce attitudes and values to numbers and categories
• Reductionism in cognitive psychology

  • Models of memory: MSM reduces memory to 3 stores and ignores how people recall info not rehearsed
  • Lab experiments use simplified tasks (word lists) which reduce memory to a system of information processing
• Reductionism in biological psychology

  • Brain functioning: Raine understanding brain functioning relating to aggression. Hormones, genes, and neurotransmitters
• Reductionism in learning theories

  • Behaviourism: Pavlov & Skinner, animal and lab experiments, and SLT - less reductionist as it takes into account cognitive factors
• Reductionism in clinical psychology

  • Understanding neurotransmitters relating to schizophrenia and depression
• Reductionism in criminal psychology

  • Raine: Understanding brain functioning relating to murderers, XYY syndrome and traumatic brain injury