Holism And Reductionism* Flashcards
Define holism
An argument or theory which proposes that is only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts.
‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’
Define reductionism
Belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts
Define biological reductionism
Form of reductionism which attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level (action of genes, hormones etc)
Define environmental reductionism
Attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience
Who said that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’?
Gestalt psychologist; a group of German researcher in the 1920s and 30s
This view is the basis of holism
What is the basis of holism?
That any attempt to breakup behaviour and experience is inappropriate as this can only be understood by analysing the person or behaviour as a whole
What is the basis of reductionism?
The analysis of behaviour by breaking it down into its constituent parts.
Based on the scientific principle of parsimony; all phenomena should be explained using the lowest level principles (simplest, easiest and most economical explaination)
What does the idea of ‘levels of explaination’ suggest?
There are different way of viewing the same phenomena in psychology; sociocultural context, psychological level, physical level, physiological level, neurochemical level
Each level more reductionist than the one before
Explain OCD using the levels of explaination
Sociocultural context; repetitive behaviours (eg hand washing) are considered odd or irrational
Psychological level; experience of obsessive thoughts
Physical level; sequence of movements involved in hand washing
Physiological level; hypersensitivity of the basal ganglia
Neurochemical level; underproduction of serotonin
What is the hierarchy of science?
Sociology Psychology Biology Chemistry Physics More general sciences at the top, gets more precise as you go down
What would researchers who favour the reductionist approach see psychology being replaced by?
More reductionist explainations derived from sciences lower down on the hierarchy
What is biological reductionism based on?
That humans are biological organisms made up of physiological structures and processes, so all behaviour is at some level biological
Explains through neurochemical, neurophysiological, evolutionary and genetic influences
What is biological reductionism seen in?
Biological approach
The effects of psychoactive drugs contributed to understanding of neural processes and the suggestion the serious mental disorders, eg OCD, depression and schizophrenia, can be explained at a neurochemical level
What level does environmental reductionism analyse behaviour at?
Physical level
Doesn’t concern itself with the cognitive processes at the psychological level
Eval
The case for holism
Holistic explainations provide a more complete and global understanding of behaviour then reductionism
>aspects of social behaviour only emerge within a group and can’t be understood by looking at an indvidual
>conformity to social roles and de-individuation of participants in the Stanford prison experiment
»can’t be understood looking at individuals, interaction and group behaviour most important
Eval
Case against holism
For some real world problems, lower level explainations may be better
>can be vague and speculative, not easy to scientifically test
>humanistic psychology; critisised for lack of empirical evidence
>explainations with lots of perspectives cause a dilemma; if it is accepted that lots of factors contribute to depression makes it difficult to decide which is most important to base therapy on
Eval
Case for reductionism
Credibility; puts psych on equal terms with the natural sciences
>forms basis of scientific research; creating operationalised variables
>easier to conduct experiments and record findings in a meaningful way
>behaviourist approach
Eval
Case against reductionism
Reductionism can only ever form part of an explaination
>accused of over simplifying phenomena; loss of validity
>bio reduction doesn’t consider social context behaviours occur in
Eg physiological process of pointing a finger will always be the same but this won’t tell us why it was pointed
Eval
Interactionist approach
Diathesis-stress model
>explains onset of mental disorders as an interaction of predisposition and the environment
>more holistic approach, combining drug treatments with family therapy for schizophrenia
