holism and reductionism Flashcards

1
Q

holism

A

to understand a system we should study it as a whole

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2
Q

reductionism

A

behaviour is best understood by breaking it down to its constituent parts

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3
Q

levels of explanation

A

increasingly reductionist
socio-cultural - psychological- physical - environmental - physiological - neurological

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4
Q

biological reductionism

A

explain behaviour at lowest biological level eg genes, hormones

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5
Q

environmental reductionism

A

explain behaviour through stimulus-response links learned through experience (behaviourists)

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6
Q

levels of explanation definition

A

the idea that there are several ways that can be used to explain behaviour

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7
Q

practical value

A

P - limitation of holism is may lack practical value
E - become hard to use as more complex
E - many different factors that contribute to eg depression, past, present, jobs, relationships - difficult to know which is most influential
L - holistic accounts may lack practical value

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8
Q

scientific approach

A

P - strength is reductionism is they often form the basis of a scientific approach
E - to conduct well-controlled research we need to operationalise the variables to be studied - breaking target behaviour to constituent parts
E - makes it possible to conduct experiments and observations
L - scientific approach gives psychology greater credibility - equal terms with natural sciences

P - reductionist approach accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena - reducing validity
E - explanations that operate at level of gene doesnt include social context
E - eg pointing finger is same regardless of context but no reason why the finger is pointed, aggression, attention
L - reductionist explanations can only ever form part of an explanation

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9
Q

higher level

A

P - limitation of reduction is some behaviours only understood at a higher level
E - social behaviour only emerge within in a group and cannot be understood in terms of individual group members
E - eg conformity to social roles - zimbardo - interactions between people of group important and no such research as currently found conformity gene
L - for some behaviours, high level explanations provide a more valid account

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