holism/reductionism

• levels of explanation vary from basic units and component explanations to more holistic and multi variable level explanations
• reductionism - the idea that behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into smaller parts
• biological reductionism - explaining in terms of biological processes like neurotransmitters
• environmental reductionism - explaining behaviour in terms of stimulus response mechanisms
• reductionism allows testability of individual aspects
• reductionism misses the complex nature of factors that produce human behaviour
• parsimony - the scientific principle that all behaviour should be explained using the most basic principles
• holism - taking into consideration as many factors of a behaviours into account as possible
• holism is unscientific and unstable because it has a large amount of factors
• 3 factors of holistic understanding - cognitive , emotional , spiritual, developmental , economic
• reductionist approach lead to systematic desensitisation and effective drug therapies