Holism and Reductionism Flashcards
Which group of researchers is associated with the concept of holism in psychology?
Gestalt psychologists, a group of German researchers from the 1920s and 30s
What is the basic view of holism?
Holism is the idea that any attempt to break up behaviour and experince is inappropriate as these can only be understood by analysing a person as a whole
Which psychological approach shares a similar view to holism?
Humanistic psychology, which sees successful therapy as bringing together all aspects of the whole ‘person’
What is the basic principle of reductionism in psychology?
Reductionism analyses behaviour by breaking it down into its parts
What scientific principle is reductionism based on?
The principle of parsimony, which states that all phenomena should be explained using the simplest and most basic principles
How reductionism differ from holism?
Reductionism focuses on simplifying behaviour to its basic parts, while holism emphasizes understanding the person or behaviour as a whole
Why would
What does biological reductionism involve?
Biological reductionism includes the neurochemical and physiological levels of explanation meaning that behaviour is explained through the role of neurotransmitters and abnormalities in the brain.
How has biological reductionism contributed to psychology?
It has helped with the understanding of neural processes and explained serious mental disorders like OCD, depression and schizophrenia at the biochemical level
What are the ‘levels of explanation’ in psychology?
There is the sociocultural level, psychological level, physical level, environmental level, physiological level and neurochemical level
What is at the top of the levels of explanations hierarchy?
At the top of the hierarchy there is a socio - cultural level (the most scientific) and at the very bottom of the hierarchy there is the neurochemical level (least scientific)
Outline the levels of explanations:
There is a psychological level, physical level, environmental level etc. The physical level involves studying movement
How can obsessive - compulsive disorder (OCD) be understood at a social - cultural level?
As producing behaviour, such as repetitive hand washing, that most people regard as odd or irrational
How is OCD understood at a psychological level?
As the experience of having obsessive thoughts
How is OCD understood at a physical level?
As a sequence of movements involved in washing one’s hands
How is OCD understood at a physiological level?
As hypersensitivity of the basal ganglia
How is OCD understood at a neurochemical level?
As the underproduction of serotonin
What is environmental reductionism?
It explains behaviour through environmental factors
Which psychological approach is built on environmental reductionism?
The behaviourist approach is environmentally reductionist because it explains behaviour in terms of conditioning
At what level does the behaviourist approach analyze behaviour?
At the physical level, focusing on observable behaviour
What is a strength of holistic approach? (group better + stanford experiment)
Holism highlights that certain behaviours nly emerge within a group context and cannot be understood by analyzing individuals alone.
For example, the Stanford Prison Experiment, the effects of conformity and de - individuation were due to interactions between participants, not individual traits.
The behaviour of the group as a whole was critical for understanding the outcomes, emphasizing the importance of group level analysis
Holistic approaches provide a more global and complete understanding of behaviour compared to reductionist methods which may overlook aspects of group interactions.
What is a limitation to the holistic approach? (lack of scientific rigour)
Holistic approaches often do not lend themselves to rigorous scientific testing. As the holistic theories become more complex, they risk becoming vague and speculative.
For example, the humanistic approach, is often criticised for its lack of empirical evidence. Sometimes, being viewed as a loose set of ideas rather than a scientific theory.
Additionally holistic explanations that combine multiple perspectives make it challenging to identify which factors are most influential.
As a result lower level reductionist explanations may be more appropriate when finding practical solutions to real world problems, such as developing effective treatments
What is a strength of reductionism? (basis for research + reliable methods)
Reductionism allows researchers to break down target behaviors into parts, making them measurable and operationalised
By simplifying behaviours, experiments can be conducted and observations recorded in a way that ensures meaningful and reliable results
For example, the behaviourist approach demonstrated how complex learning could be reduced to simple stimulus response links, which were studied in the lab
Reductionism enhances the scientific credibility of psychology, aligning it with natural sciences lower down in the reductionist hierarchy
What is a limitation of the reductionist approach? (losing validity + oversimplification, missing key factors?!)
Reductionism approaches risk losing validity by oversimplifying behaviours and ignoring their complexity. Explanations involving genes, neurotransmitters or neurons exclude the social context in which behaviours occur, possibly missing the meaning of behaviour.
For example. the physiological processes of point a finger are the same in all situations. however the meaning of the action varies as it could be to signal aggression, draw attention or raise a hand in class.
Reductionist explanations can only ever form part of a complete explanation as they fail to address broader contextual factors
