Hollism and reductionism:

• Counterpoint

  • Reductionist approaches been accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena leading to reduced validity
  • Explanations that operate at the level of the gene do not include an analysis of the social context within which behaviour occurs this is where it may derive its meaning
  • IE the physiological processes involved in pointing one's finger will be the same regardless of the context
  • However, an analysis of this will not tell us why the finger is pointed - it might be to draw attention to a person as an act of aggression

  Reductionist explanations can only form part of an explanation
• LIMITATION:

  • holism approach is that it may lack practical value
  • Holistic accounts of human behaviour tend to become hard to use as they become more complex
  • This can present researchers with a practical dilemma
  • If we accept, from a humanistic perspective, that there are many different factors that contribute to depression then it becomes difficult to know which is most influential. It is then difficult to know which to prioritise as the basis of therapy, for instance

  This suggests that holistic accounts may lack practical value (whereas reductionist accounts may be better).
• +

  • reductionist approaches is that they often form the basis of a scientifc approach
  • In order to conduct well-controlled research we need to operationalise the variables to be measured - to break target behaviours down into constituent parts
  • This makes it possible to record observations (behavioural categories) in a way that is objective and reliable
  • IE research on attachment (the Strange Situation) operationalised component behaviours such as separation anxiety

  Gives psych greater credibility placing it on equal terms with the natural sciences