Holism and reductionism Flashcards
The debate
Can we truly understand human behaviour in its component parts? Or do we need to look at the whole picture to understand what’s happening?
Holism
• Behaviour can only be understood when seen as a whole
• Attempts to subdivide behaviour or experiences into smaller units is inappropriate.
• ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Gestalt Psychology (holism)
Looks at the human mind and behaviour as a whole.
When trying to make sense of the world around us, we do not simply focus on every small component.
• Instead, our minds tend to perceive objects as elements of more complex systems.
• Major player in the modern development of the study of human sensation and perception.
Humanistic approach (holism)
Humanistic psychology focusses on the individuals experience, which is not something that can be reduced to units.
It uses qualitative methods to investigate the self, through the analysis of themes rather than component behaviours.
Reductionism
Reductionism is based on the scientific principle of parsimony.
All phenomena should be explained using the simplest possible principles.
Supporters of reductionism believe that behaviour and mental processes should be explained within the framework of basic sciences
Human behaviour can and should be explained by breaking it down in to it’s simpler component parts
eg look at lack of seratonin in depression instead of looking at all potential things
levels of explanation-reductionist
There are different ways of explaining behaviour. Which of these is the best is a matter of debate, however each is more reductionist than last.
An example from the curriculum is
OCD
(High to low levels of explanation)
Socio-cultural level
Behaviour is due to social and cultural norms.
Psychological Level
Behaviour is due to psychological explanations e.g. cognitive, behavioural, environmental
Biological Level Neurochemical, genetic, structures (most reductionist)
levels of explanation: memory
Memory can be explained in various ways:
At the social/cultural level: Bartlett (1932) suggests that cultural expectations affect our schemas, which in turn effect what we remember and how we recall information
At the psychological level: Cognitive psychologists examine particular aspects of memory, such as Miller (1956) who examined the capacity of STM.
At the biological level: Maguire et al (2000) found an association between the size of the hippocampus and memory for special navigation
levels of explanation:depression
Socio-cultural level-Labelling theory - the stigma of having a label can increase symptoms and worsen condition.
psychological level-A person may experience irrational thoughts, which then lead to behaviours symptomatic of depression.
biological level-Depression can be caused by low levels of serotonin or the presence of certain genes.
Types of reductionism-biological
Biological reductionism focuses on biological explanations for behaviour and is based on the premise that we are biological organisms.
• For example, the biological approach to OCD
• Low serotonin and high dopamine.
• OCD is reduced to two neurotransmitters
types of reductionism-environmental
Environmental reductionism refers to the attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have learned through experience.
In attachment, the idea of love is reduced to a learned association between the provider of food and the pleasure of receiving food.
In summary
- Should behaviour be broken down into its constituent parts, (reductionism) or studied as a whole (holism)?
2.Gestalt and humanistic psychology both take a holistic approach. - Approaches that take a more scientific stance are generally more reductionist.
- There are different levels of reductionism, each of them slightly more reductionist than the last. This is known as levels of explanation.
- There are two specific types of reductionism - biological and environmental. Each falls in line with a particular approach and underpins the core assumptions of that approach.
limitation-practical value
One problem with taking a holistic approach is that it may lack practical value, as holistic explanations for behaviour tend to be very complex.
For example, humanistic psychologists would suggest that there are many factors that contribute to the development of depression, such as their past, their present situation, job, and their family circumstances.
counterpoint-This however is not the case for reductionist explanations.
For example, the focus on genes and neurotransmitters, means that biological reductionism has led to the development of drug therapies for various psychological conditions. E.g. Soomro et al., has shown that SSRIs are effective in the treatment of OCD.
strength-scientific approach
Reductionist approaches, often form the basis of scientific approaches.
To conduct well-controlled scientific research, we need to operationalise the variables being studied, which means breaking them down into their component parts.
This allows us to conduct experiments, or record observations in an objective and reliable way.
counterpoint-Reductionist approaches have been accused of oversimplifying complex behaviour.
For example, explanations that exist at the biological level do not include any analysis of the context within which the behaviour occurs.
E.g. Without taking the context into account when treating mental illness with drugs, it is possible that only the symptoms are being treated rather than the true cause.
limitation-higher level explanations
A problem with reductionism, is that some behaviours can only be understood at a higher level.
For example, aspects of some social situations only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood in terms of the individual group members, making a holistic approach more relevant.
E.g. Stanford prison study
