Holism & Reductionism Flashcards
Holism-Reductionism Debate
Debate over which position is preferable for psychology - study the whole person (holism) or component parts (reductionism).
Holism
Proposes it only makes sense to study a whole system - can only be done by analysing the person/behaviour as a whole.
1) It looks at the interaction of all influences - whether they be social, biological, genetic or other factors.
Reductionism
Based on the scientific principle of parsimony - all phenomena should be explained using the simplest principles.
1) Reductionism breaks down behaviour into the simplest or most basic parts.
E.g. the multi-store model of memory breaks down memory into basic functions (recall, rehearsal, forgetting) and stores (short term and long term).
Levels of Explanation
(Highest to Lowest Reductionism):
1) Socio-Cultural level - Study of groups of individuals.
2) Psychological level - Study behaviour of the entire individual.
3) Biological Level - Brain structure & Organs.
4) Cellular Level - Structure of neurons.
5) Molecular Level - Atomic Structures & Elements.
Can argue about which is the best explanation, but each level is more reductionist than previous level.
Biological - Biological Reductionism
1) Suggest all behaviour can be explained through neurochemical, physiological, evolutionary and/or genetic influences.
E.g. Drugs that increase serotonin are used to treat OCD - so low serotonin may be a cause of OCD –> we have reduced OCD to the level of neurotransmitter activity.
Behaviourist - Environmental Reductionism
1) Proposes all behaviour is gained through interactions with environment, e.g. behaviourist stimulus-response links.
E.g. learning theory of attachment reduces idea of love to a learned association between mother (NS) & food (UCS) resulting in pleasure (CR).
Cognitive - Machine Reductionism
Looks at cognition as being like a computer.
1) A computer takes in info (input), processes the info, then generates an output –> Humans take in sensory info, the brain processes the info, then it generates a response.
2) Does not take into account how humans differ from computers e.g. forgetting.
Psychodynamic & Humanistic
Holistic Approaches
Psychodynamic:
1) Considers the conscious, unconscious and childhood events, which are multiple factors, so it is a holistic approach.
–> As a result, not as scientific because it is difficult to test the various parts.
Humanistic:
1) Examine the individual as a whole by looking at interactions of all of a person’s experiences and their feelings.
–> Qualitative and subjective because it tends to use self-reporting techniques - This looks at the whole individual, not basic parts.
Limitation of Holism
NOT SCIENTIFIC
1) Variables are difficult to control and isolate.
So scientific method is difficult to carry out since there can be many extraneous variables.
–> Cause and effect relationships can be difficult to find.
Reductionism Evaluation
ITS SCIENTIFIC STATUS:
1) More scientific than other approaches as cause and effect relationships can more easily be tested through the scientific method.
SIMPLISTIC:
2) These experiments can be too simplistic. They are narrow and can ignore other influences.
Limitation of Reductionism
FOCUSES ONLY ON 1 LEVEL OF EXPLANATION
1) Some aspects of social behaviour only emerge in a group context & can’t be understood in individual terms.
E.g. Stanford Prison study couldn’t be understood by observing pps as individuals, it was group behaviour that was important.
–> Shows for some behaviours, higher levels of explanations provide a more valid account.
Holism Overall
Strengths:
+ Provides a more complete picture
+ Accepts and deals with complex nature of behaviour.
Limitations:
- More hypothetical - not based on empirical evidence.
- Lacks predictive power of more scientific explanations.
Reductionism Overall
Strengths:
+ Easier to explain behaviour in concrete & concise terms.
+ High level of predictive power.
Limitations:
- Ignores complexity of behaviour.
- Focuses only on one level of explanation.
