Holism & Reductionism^ Flashcards
Holism
Studying beh as a whole
Gestalt Psychologists
- Look at beh as whole
- Its inappropriate to subdivide it into different simpler parts
Humansitic Psychologists
- Look at individuals as a whole by focusing on their experience
- Use qualitative methods to investigate the self
Reductionist
Studying beh in constituent parts
No continuum between the two because as soon as we start breaking beh down, it becomes reductionist
Break down beh into diff levels (parsimony)
Levels Of Explanations
All phenomena should be explained by the lowest level principles
Diff levels of explanation (reductionism increases as you go down)
Socio-cultural
Psychological
Physical
Environmental
Physiological (general bio aspects)
Neurochemical (neurotransmitters)
Bio Reductionism
Tries to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower bio level (genes and hormones)
Works backwards: SSRIs are effective at treating OCD, so low levels of serotonin may be the cause of OCD
Envi Reductionism
Tries to explain all bhe in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience
Hierarchy of Science
Increasing levels of reductionism
Sociology
Psychology
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Favour reductionism
- Prefer psychology to be replaced by the science beneath it
Lacks Practical Value
Holism lacks practical value as they are too complex to understand
There is a combination of factors that contribute to the onset of depression
But its more important to know the most influential factor so it can be targeted through therapy
Scientific Approach
Reductionsim is more scientific
- Can be operationalised = can conduct experiements which can be replicated to test for reliability
This forms a basis of scientific explanations
- Gives psychology more credibility
VS Scientific Approach
reductionism can also reduce the explanation for beh too much
Leads to lack of validity and explanatory power
Higher Level
Some beh can only be understood at a higher level
- Understanding concepts in a group setting can’t be explained at an individual level
In some situations its only appropriate to have holistic explanations
Brain & Mind
Reductionsit account of consciousness says out thorugths are the product of what happens in our brain
- Brain = mental processing (basis of cognitive neuroscience)
Detailed knowledge of localisation in the brain will reveal the basis of consciousness
VS Brain & Mind
neuroscientists can’t explain the subjective experiences of the same neural process
Levine
- explanatory gap
- thinking about the colour blue involves the same brain region as thinking about red, but the thougth experienced is different
little room for individual inferences in the reductionsit perspective
