holism and reductionism Flashcards
What is holism?
Only makes sense to study whole system rather than constituent parts
What is reductionism?
Breaking behaviour into constituent parts
Principle of parsimony - all phenomena should be explained using its most basic principles
What are the levels of explanation?
Socio-cultural context Psychological level Physical level Physiological level Neurochemical level
Explain OCD in the levels of explanation
- Repetitive hand washing is unusual
- Obsessive thoughts
- Washing hands
- Hypersensitivity of basal ganglia
- Underproduction of serotonin
What is the hierarchy of science?
Precise and micro disciples at bottom
General and macro at top
Reductionists want explanations derived from sciences at bottom
What are the levels of the hierarchy of science?
Sociology Psychology Biology Chemistry Physics
What is biological reductionism?
All behaviour is biological
Psychoactive drugs contributed to understanding of neural processes
Explain mental illness at biochemical level
What is environmental reductionism?
Behaviourist approach
Break behaviour into stimulus-response links
Analysis occurs at physical level - observable behaviour
Mind is a black box - irrelevant to behaviour
Thought is a form of sub-vocal speech characterised by physical movement
Evaluation - case for holism
Aspects of behaviour emerge in group context
Conformity to social roles cannot be understood on an individual level
Evaluation - case against holism
Cannot be subjected to empirical testing eg humanistic
Higher level explanations with many different factors can’t establish which one is most important for eg therapy
Evaluation - case for reductionism
Forms basis of scientific research
Must break down behaviours to operationalise them
Behaviourist approach - demonstrated how complex learning could be broken down in lab
Evaluation - case against reductionism
Loss of validity by oversimplification
Focusing on gene etc - not analysing social context
Physiological process of pointing a finger is the same always
Why the finger is pointed - aggression etc
Incomplete explanations
Evaluation - interactionist approach
Considers how levels of explanation combine and interact
Diathesis stress model - biological and social
Led to treatments with lower relapse rates such as combo of drugs and family therapy
