holism and reductionism Flashcards
reductionism
considers one perspective from one approach into similar component parts
holism
an approach to understanding human mind and behaviour that focuses on looking at things as a whole, uses more than one approach
holistic approaches
cognitive and humanistic
reductionist approaches
biological, behaviourist, psychodynamic and social learning theory
machine reductionism
Machine reductionism refers to the idea of viewing organisms, including humans, as machine-like entities where complex systems and behaviors can be understood by breaking them down into their individual parts, much like the components of a machine.
biological reductionism
The idea that behaviour can be reduced to simple physical components such as nerves and ions
levels of explanation
explanations vary from those at a lower level focusing on basic components to those at higher, more holistic multivariable method
3 levels
socio-cultural, high level, most holistic
psychological, mid level
biological, lowest level, most reductionist
for reductionism
more scientific approach, enables objective testing of specific variables in controlled experiments, which can help establish causation
practical applications, allows empirical testing of drug treatments, that are rooted in this theory,
against reductionism
overly simplistic, focusing behaviour on a solely biological aspect, ignores other factors such as social and cognitive
can’t account for complex human experiences, understanding the activity of each neuron can’t explain consciousness
for holism
able to explain how difference factors work together and are able to shape an individuals behaviour, more validity than reductionist explanations
against holism
over-complicates behaviour when there could be a simpler explanation; Ockhams razor
