Reductionism V Holism

• Reductionism focuses on analysing behaviour by breaking it down into its constituent parts and is based on the principle of parsimony.

  All behaviour is explained using the most basic principles.
• Holism refers to the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

  It attempts to understand behaviour by analysing the whole person or behaviour as a whole rather than constituent parts.
• Reductionism may be split into levels by which socio-cultural would be the least reductionist (macro) and neurochemical would be the most reductionist (micro).
• The main issue with reductionism is that it ignores contextual factors, such as culture, social norms etc. This means that behaviours are not fully understood because they have been taken out of their original context.
• Environmental reductionism reduces behaviour down to a stimulus response link.

  For example the dual process model of phobias is the result of classical and operant conditioning.
• A positive to a reductionist approach is that the research is often scientific and operationalised.

  For example the behaviourist approach was able to demonstrate how complex learning can be broken down into simple stimulus-response links through the use of lab experiments.
• The problem with reductionism is that it tends to oversimplify behaviours which leads to a lack of validity.

  For example the biological approach tends to ignore the environments which people are in, and ignores the social contexts, tending to not analyse the contexts in which the behaviour occurs.

  This therefore suggests that a reductionist stance only ever forms part of an explanation and can never fully explain the cause or reason for a behaviour.
• Holism can be positive as it aims to include all factors of an individual or those affecting a behaviour.

  It has also been shown to be effective at looking at people as a group as opposed to individuals especially in conformity studies like Asch and Zimbardo which demonstrates how people conform as individuals and as a group to social roles.
• However, holistic explanations can become vague and speculative.

  For example, a lot of the concepts involved in holistic explanations are unfalsifiable and therefore can't be tested to be true.

  The idea of self-actualisation is a loose concept which has been criticised for not having empirical evidence to back it up.

  Therefore holistic approaches may not be valid and therefore can't generate treatments which help to contribute to society.