Holism and Reductionism Flashcards
Define Holism
To understand a behaviour we have to look at the whole experience of the individual.
Define reductionism
The theory that all complex systems can be completely understood in terms of their components
Give an example of holistic research
Humanistic approach
Give an example of a reductionist research
biological approach, behaviourist approach
What is levels of explanation?
Any behaviour can be explained at different levels.
What is at the top of levels of explanation?
Social/ Cultural - all behaviour can be explained by understanding how social and cultural groups affect behaviour.
What is at the bottom of levels of explanation?
Biological - All can be explained in terms of the working brain.
Give two strengths of the reductionist approach
1) Easier to explain behaviour in concrete and concise terms
2) Consistent with the scientific approach, therefore high level of predictive power
3) Breaking down phenomena into small components means that empirical methods can be used
Give two weaknesses of the reductionist approach
1) Ignores complexity of the behaviour and can be oversimplified
2) Difficult to establish the many differing types and levels of explanation
3) Focus on one level of explanation, leaves out the others
Give two strengths of the Holistic approach
1) accepts and deals with complex nature of behaviour
2) Context is important in understanding means of behaviour
3) Provides a more complete picture
A03 Why is it been argued that lower levels of reductionism may miss out on the causes of behaviour?
- If lower levels (biological or behavioural explanation) are taken in isolation then the meaning of behaviour may be overlooked.
- this may lead to fundamental errors in understanding
- E.G Wolpe (1973) who developed the therapy of systematic desensitisation treated one woman for a fear of insects
- he found no improvement from this behavioural method of therapy it turned out her husband whom she had not been getting along with was given an insect nickname so her fear was not the result of conditioning but a means of representing her marital problems
- to focus on behavioural level an ignore meaning would have been an error
- Therefore the dangers of low levels of explanation is that they disregard the more appropriate levels of explanation and hence treatment
A03 Describe a positive Consequence of biological reductionism
- A strength of biological reductionism is that it has led to the development of drug therapies
- Such treatments have led to the considerable reduction in institutionalisation since 1950s
- They are also a more humane approach to treatment of mental illnesses insofar as they do not blame the patient which may in turn lead to greater tolerance of the mentally ill
A03 Give a negative consequence of biological reductionism
- On the other hand drug therapies are not always successful and reducing mental illness to biological level ignores the context and function of such behaviour
- While drug therapies have a role to play in treating symptoms psychological explanations take more account of causal factors and have produced many successful therapies
A03 What is experimental reductionism and what are the issues associated with it?
- Reducing behaviour to a form that can be studied has been productive but ultimately may not tell us much about everyday life
- E.G. Findings from laboratory experiments investigating eyewitness testimonies (loftus and palmer) Have not always been confirmed by studies of real life eyewitnesses where memories have been found to be highly accurate (yuille and Cutshall 1986)
- The operaization of variables such as eyewitness memory may result in something that is miserable but bears no resemblance to the real thing
- Also there are other factors that motivate performance which cannot be recreated in an experiment
- Therefore findings often do not reflect the real world this suggests that experimental reductionism may have negative effects on the relevance of psychological research
