Holism & Reductionism

Question 1

Holism

Answer 1

The idea that that human behaviour should be viewed as a whole integrated experience and not as separate parts

Question 2

Reductionism

Answer 2

The belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler components

Question 3

Levels of explanation

Answer 3

Suggests that explanations begin at the highest level and progressively look at component elements:
Highest level- Cultural & social explanations
Middle level- Psychological explanations
Lowest level- Biological explanations

Question 4

Biological reductionism

Answer 4

All behaviour can be explained on a physical level & behaviour can be reduced to the action of neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones etc.

Question 5

Environmental reductionism
(Stimulus-Response)

Answer 5

All behaviour can be explained in simple terms of simple Stimulus-Response links and complex behaviours are a series of S-R links, that can be reduced to a simple relationship between behaviour & events in the environment

Question 6

Experimental reductionism

Answer 6

All behaviour can be reduced to operationalised variables for testing, so a simple set of variables can be manipulated & measured to determine cause and effect

Question 7

Gestalt psychology

Answer 7

‘Gestalten’ means ‘the whole’ in German
Favoured by a group of German psychologists in the beginning of the 20th century
Focussed on perception a consideration of the whole rather than individual elements

Question 8

Humanistic psychology

Answer 8

An individual reacts as an organised whole, rather than a set of S-R links
Lack of a sense of ‘wholeness’ leads to mental disorder

Question 9

Cognitive psychology

Answer 9

The idea of a network is that each unit (neurons) is linked to many other units (other neurons)