Holism And Reductioism Flashcards
Define holism.
When the person as a whole is considered and cannot be broken down into parts.
Define reductionism.
The belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller individual parts.
What is biological reductionism?
Attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena on a biological level.
What is environmental reductionism?
Explains all behaviour in terms of stimulus response links that have been learned through experience.
What are the levels of explanation?
How explanations vary from those at a lower level focusing on basic components or units to those at a higher more holistic level.
Name the 3 levels of explanation.
Biological.
Psychological.
Social and cultural.
Explain one evaluation against holism.
Holistic explanations cannot be subjected to scientific testing.
E.g. humanistic approach lacks evidence and is a set of loose concepts and testing it would mean it became reductionism.
Holism lacks evidence and is difficult to test in a scientific manner.
Explain one strength of the holism and reductionism debate.
Interactionism which considers how different levels of explanation combine and interact.
E.g. diathesis stress model as the outcome (genetic) is often triggered by a stressor (usually environmental).
