Holism And Reductionism Flashcards
What is holism
Theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts
What is reductionism
Belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts
What is biological reductionism
Form of reductionism which attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level (genes and hormones)
What is environmental reductionism
Attempts to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus response links that have been learnt through experience
Is behaviourist approach reductionism or holism
Environmental reductionism- behaviour broken down into stimulus response associations
Is SLT reductionism or holism
Partially reductionist- shares elements of both behaviourist and cognitive approach
Is cognitive approach reductionism or holism
Experimental reductionism- behaviour investigated in terms of isolated variables eg capacity of STM
Is biological approach reductionism or holism
Biological reductionism- behaviour broken down into biological structures/processes
Is psychodynamic approach reductionism or holism
Both- innate drives and relationships with others
Is humanistic approach reductionism or holism
Holism- focuses on understanding all aspects of human experience and interaction
What are the levels of explanation
Get more specific reductionist
-social and cultural explanations(influence of social groups on behaviour)
-psychological explanations (cognitive/behavioural/emotional)
-biological explanations
Outline levels of explanation for SZ
Socio-cultural- cultural perspectives of symptoms
Cognitive- central control errors and metarepresentation
Psychological- family dysfunction
Physiological- ventral striatum
Neurochemical- hypo/hyperdopaminergia
Expand on strength of holism that it can explain aspects of social behaviour
-certain aspects of social behaviour only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood at the level of the individual group members eg the effects of conformity to social roles and deindividuation of prisoners and guards in Stanford prison experiment couldn’t be understood by studying the ppts as individuals but it was the interaction between people and behaviour of the group that was important
-holistic explanations provide a more complete and global understanding of behaviour than reductionist approaches
Expand on limitation of holistic explanations that they are vague and not scientific
-eg humanistic psychology tends to be criticised for its lack of empirical evidence and is instead seen by many as a loose set of concepts
-also lacks practical value as if we accept there are many factors that contribute to eg depression it becomes difficult to establish which is most influential and which one to use as a basis for therapy
-suggests when it comes to finding solutions for real world problems lower level explanations may be appropriate
Expand on strength of reductionism that it often forms the basis of scientific research
-takes a more scientific approach collecting quantitative data from highly controlled experiments which allows for objectivity so gives meaningful and reliable insight into behaviour
-can also establish cause and effect for drug therapies
-gives psychology greater credibility which places it on equal terms with natural sciences
Expand on limitation of reductionism that it oversimplifies behaviour
-explanations that operate at the level of the gene or neurotransmitter do not include an analysis of the social context within which behaviour occurs which is where the behaviour in question may derive its meaning
-may not give a realistic account of human behaviour, challenges external validity
What is the interactionist approach
-whereas holism is more concerned with higher level explanations of behaviour eg the behaviour of individuals within a group, interactionist considers how different levels of explanation may combine and interact eg diathesis stress model used to explain the onset of mental disorders eg SZ and depression
-led to a more multidisciplinary and holistic approach to treatment
