Holism + Reductionism Flashcards
Outline the holism and reduction debate
-question of whether holism/reductionism is better approach to use to understand human behaviour
-no continuum between holism-reductionism
-g humanistic psychologists take holistic whereas behaviourists are reductionist
-within reductionism, there is a continuum -> levels of explanation
What is meant by holism
- looks at a system as a whole and sees any attempt to subdivide behaviour into smaller units = inappropriate
-view of Gestalt psychologists , argued whole is greater than ‘sum of its parts’ , so knowing the parts (like characteristics) dont help us understand a persons essence
-humanistic focuses on individual experience ,not something reduced to for eg biological units
-use qualitative methods whereby themes are analysed rather than breaking the concept down into component behaviours
Whats meant by reductionism
-seeks to analyse behaviour by breaking it down into constituent parts
-based on principle of parsimony - that all phenomena should be explained using simplest principles
What are the levels of explanation for reductionism in psychology
-different ways to explain behaviour, some more reductionist than others, and each level is more reductionist than one before
For eg OCD may be understood at:
-socio-cultural level, eg OCD interrupts social relationships
-psychological , persons experience of anxiety
-physical, movements, washing hands
-environmental/ behavioural - learning experiences
-psychological - abnormal functioning in frontal lobes
-neurochemical - underproduction of serotonin
-psychology placed on hierarchy of science . Those who favour reductionism would see it being replaced by explanations derived from sciences lower down in hierarchy
Whats meant by biological reductionism
-includes neurochemical/physiological levels, and evolutionary/genetic influences
-based on premise that were biological organisms
-biological reductionism often works backwards , so for eg drugs that incr serotonin have been found effective in treating OCD , therefore backwards, low serotonin may be cause of OCD, and we’ve reduced OCD to level of neurotransmitters
Whats meant by environmental reductionism
-behaviourist approach built on this
-proposes all behaviour is learned/acquired through environmental interaction
-behaviourists explain in terms of conditioning , focused on stimulus-response links ,and reduces to basic elements
Eg learning theory of attachment reduces idea of love (between baby and person doing the feeding) to a learned association between person doing feeding (NS) and food (UCS) resulting in pleasure (CR)
Whats the difference between biological determinism/reductionism
Determinism - biology causes behaviour
Reductionism - biology explains behaviour , all bio organisms so can be explained through genetics etc , explanations are at most precise level
Whats the difference between environmental determinism/reductionism
Determinism - enviro causes behaviour , interactions w environment
Reductionism - all behaviours learnt acquired thru environment - an explanation
Whats a limitation of the holism approach and how it may lack practical value
Holistic accounts of human behaviour tend to become hard to use as become more complex
Presents practical dilemma
If we accept, from humanist perspective that there are many dif factors contributing to depression - past, present relationships, job, family circumstances - then becomes difficult to know which is most influential
Then difficult to know which to prioritise as basis of therapy
Suggests holistic accounts may lack practical value, (whereas reductionist accounts may be better)
Whats a strength of reductionist approaches (lim of holistic) is that they often form basis of scientific approach
To conduct well-controlled research , operationalisation of variables , break down target behaviours into constituent parts
Makes possible to conduct experiments , record observations (behavioural categories) in a way that’s objective/reliable
Eg research on attachment (SS) operationalised component behaviours such as separation anxiety y
Scientific approach gives psychology greater credibility, placing on equal terms with natural sciences
Whats the counterpoint to a strength of reductionist and its scientific approach
Accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena , reduces validity
Explanations that operate at the level of of the gene/neurotransmitter dont include analysis of social context within which behaviours occur , and this is where behaviour may derive its meaning
For instance, physiological processes involved in someone pointing their finger is same regardless of context
But an analysis will not tell us why this happens, it might be to draw attention to some object/person as an act of aggression
Suggests reductionist explanations can only ever form part of an explanation, wont help us understand behaviour
Whats a limitation of reductionism in that some behaviours can only be understood at a higher level
Often there are aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context, cant be understood in terms of individual group members
Eg the effects of conformity to social roles in prisoner and guards of SPE couldn’t be understood by observing p/s as individuals
It was interaction between ppl and behaviour of group that was important
There’s no conformity ‘gene’ so social processes like conformity can only be explained at the level they occur
Suggests that for some behaviours, higher level explanations / even holistic ones provide more validity
