holism and reductionism Flashcards
Holism?
Holism proposes that it only makes sense to study a whole system - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Gestalt psychology). For example, humanistic psychology focuses on experience which can’t be reduced to biological units, qualitative methods investigate themes.
Reductionism?
Reductionism is based on the scientific principle of parsimony - that all phenomena should be explained using simplest (lowest level) principles.
Levels of explanation from highest to lowest
For example, OCD may be understood in different ways:
Socio-cultural level - behaviour most people would regard as odd
Psychological level - the individual’s experience of having obsessive thoughts
Physical level - the sequence of movements involved in washing one’s hands
Environmental/behavioural level - learning experiences (conditioning)
Physiological level - abnormal functioning in frontal lobes
Neurochemical level - underproduction of serotonin
Can argue about which is the best explanation of OCD, but each level is more reductionist than the one before.
Biological reductionism
It suggests that all behaviour can be explained through neurochemical, physiological, evolutionary and/or genetic influences. For example, drugs that increase serotonin are used to treat OCD. Therefore low serotonin may be a cause of OCD. We have reduced OCD to the level of neurotransmitter activity.
Environmental reductionism
It proposes that all behaviour is acquired through interactions with the environment e.g. the behaviourist approach (stimulus-response links). For example, the learning theory of attachment reduces the idea of love (between baby and mother) to a learned association between the mother (neutral stimulus) and food (unconditioned stimulus) resting in pleasure (conditioned response).
A03: One limitation of holism is that it may lack practical value.
Holistic accounts of human behaviour become hard to use as they become more complex which presents researchers with a practical dilemma. If many different factors contribute to, say, depression, then it becomes difficult to know which is most influential and which to prioritise for treatment.
This suggests holistic accounts may lack practical value (whereas reductionist accounts may be better).
A03:One limitation of reductionism is the need for higher level explanations.
There are aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood in terms of the individual group members. For example, the Stanford prison experiment could not be understood by observing participants as individuals, it was the behaviour of the group that was important.
This shows that, for some behaviours, higher (or even holistic) level explanations provide a more valid account.
A03: One strength of reductionism is its scientific status.
In order to conduct well-controlled research variables need to be operationalised - target behaviours broken down into constituent parts. This makes it possible to conduct experiments or record observations (behavioural categories) in a way that is objective and reliable.
This scientific approach gives psychology greater credibility, placing it on equal terms with the natural sciences.
A03 (counter): However, reductionist approaches have been accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena, leading to reduced validity.
Reductionist explanations at the level of the gene or neurotransmitter do not include an analysis of the context within which behaviour occurs and therefore lack meaning.
This suggests that reductionist explanations can only ever form part of an explanation.
