Holism and Reductionism (Issues and Debates)

Question 1

Holism

Answer 1

(humanistic perspective) highest level of explanation
• often referred to as Gestalt psychology
• argues that behaviour cannot be understood in terms of the components that make them up
• this is commonly described as ‘the whole being greater than the sum of its parts’

Question 2

Reductionism

Answer 2

lowest level of explanation
-(extreme reductionism)
• the theory that all complex systems can be completely understood in terms of their components
• it is based on the scientific principle of parsimony: at all phenomena should be explained by its most basic principles
• biological and behaviourist perspectives

Question 3

Reductionist and Holist hierarchy

Answer 3

• sociology- highest level
• biology, chemistry, psychology- mid level
• physics and maths (molecular level)- extreme low level

-broken down further in psychology
• biological reductionism- basic level
• machine reductionism- mid-level in psychology
• environmental- less extreme form of reductionism

Question 4

Biological and Environmental Reductionism (main types in psychology)

Answer 4

• Biological: we are biological organisms made up of physiological structures and processes. All behaviour is at some level biological and can be explained through neurochemicals, neurophysiological, evolutionary and genetic influences.
• Environmental: behaviourist approach- studying observable behaviours: learning is broken down into stimulus-response.

Question 5

Benefits of Holism

Answer 5

• reminds us that the whole is not just the sum of the parts so it explains how the combination of factors together causes behaviour
• provides a more complete understanding of behaviour. This is beneficial because it is a lot more reflective of how humans behave
• accepts and deals with the complex nature of behaviour
• behaviour is influenced by many factors, so holistic explanations may be more useful

Question 6

Limitations of Holism

Answer 6

• it is difficult to establish how much each individual factor contributes to any particular behaviour so this means that explanations are unsatisfactory
• it is difficult to investigate the many differing types and levels of explanation
• more hypothetical- not based on empirical evidence
• lacks predictive power of more scientific explanations
• neglects importance of biological influences

Question 7

Benefits of Reductionism

Answer 7

• recognises the importance of biological explanations in human behaviour which is a positive as there is a lot of evidence for the influence of biology on behaviour
• breaking phenomena down into smaller components means the empirical method can be used
• easier to explain behaviour in concrete and concise terms
• high level of predictive power

Question 8

Limitations of Reductionism

Answer 8

• may oversimplify behaviour so therefore other factors are not considered that could influence behaviour
• many different theories of cognitive functioning such as memory, perception and language have been created in psychology but little attempt has been made to combine the theories together which is an issue because behaviour is often the result of a combination of things together which means they don’t reflect real-life behaviours
• context is important in understanding meaning of behaviour
• focus on a single level of explanation leaves out other levels of explanation