Holism and Reductionism - ISSUES & DEBATES Flashcards
ant colony example (top to bottom)
single ant specialisation (e.g. worker) cohort colony supercolony
what is a cohort
a group
what is a colony
many cohorts
what is a supercolony
many colonies
level 1 - the human colony
neuron
level 2 - the human colony
network
level 3 - the human colony
region
level 4 - the human colony
lobe
level 5 - the human colony
hemisphere
level 6 - the human colony
brain
level 7 - the human colony
social group
level 8 - the human colony
state/ nation
all 8 levels within the human colony
neuron network region lobe hemisphere brain social group state/ nation
what does the term ‘distributed intelligence’ describe
a complex system compromising individuals within it
define holism
viewing people as indivisible beings consisting of a ‘self’ that can only be studied in context
define reductionism
viewing people as a complex system that consists of many small parts we should study separately
list the three levels of explanation between holism and reductionism
socio-cultural
psychological
biological
what is the socio-cultural explanation
social psychology
e.g. conformity, obedience
what is the psychological explanation
cognitive/behavioural
e.g. Ellis, Bandura
what is the biological explanation
genetics, biopsychology, neuroscience
e.g. SERT/COMT, dopamine hypothesis, fMRI/connectome studies
3 types of holism
gestalt (whole) - Freud
humanistic - Maslow
cognitive - WMM/neg. triad
3 types of reductionism
biological - genetics/genotype, drug treatments
environmental - Pavlov, Skinner
experimental - Milgram
