Holism and Reductionism Flashcards
What did the Gestalt psychologists declare in 1930?
That ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ - the basis of holism.
What is holism?
The idea that any attempt to break up behaviour is inappropriate as psychology can only be understood by analysis the person as a whole.
What is reductionism?
Analyses behaviour by breaking it down into its constituent parts, based on the scientific principle of parsimony - all phenomenons can be explained using the lost level principles, usually the simplest and easiest explanations.
What is are the levels of explanation in psychology?
There are different ways of viewing the same behaviour - OCD can be understood in a socio-cultural context as a result of the environment, or at a psychological level, physical level, physiological level or neurochemical level (underproduction of serotonin). Psychology itself can be placed within a hierarchy of science, with the micro disciplines at the bottom (bio, chem, phys) and the macro disciplines at the top (sociology, psych).
What is biological reductionism?
Based on the premise we are all biological organisms, so all behaviour is at some level biological and can be explained through neurochemical, neurophysiological, evolutionary and genetic influences. This is exampled by the effects of psychoactive drugs on the brain inducing different behaviours.
What is environmental reductionism?
It breaks down every behaviour into stimulus-response links that are measurable in a laboratory. This does not concern itself with the holistic, cognitive, social or any other level, the mind is essentially irrelevant as we are simply stimulus-response packages.
What is the case for holism?
There are aspects of social behaviour that emerge in a group context and cannot be understood individually - conformity and de-individualisation in the SPE could not be understood by studying them individually only as a collective. This shows holism is a more complete and globally applicable understanding.
What is the case against holism?
Does not meet the requirements for rigorous psychological testing and become vague and speculative. Humanistic psychology gets criticised for a lack of empirical evidence and is seen as a loose set of concepts. Higher level explanations present an issue for therapists, who cannot then easily treat all the causes of depression, so a reductionist approach can make treatment of mental disorders easier.
What’s the case for reductionism?
It can break things down into stimulus-response chains, and therefore they can be easily understood and tested into cause and effect links. This means that psychology can be treated with greater credibility, placing it on equal terms with the micro sciences.
What is the case against reductionism?
Reductionist approaches have been accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena leading to a loss of validity. Explanations at the genetic level don’t offer a social explanation as well so it is ignoring a sector where the behaviour may be caused. This means that reductionist explanations can only form part of man explanation.
