Holism & Reductionism Flashcards
Define holism. Which approach has this view?
A theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system.
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”
- Gestalt psychologists
The humanistic approach
Define reductionism
The belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts.
What are the different levels of explanation in psychology and give an example in terms of OCD
Explanation level How OCD is understood
socio-cultural Produces behaviour
that most people would regard
as odd or irrational.
Psychological level The experience of obsessive
thoughts.
Physical level A sequence of movements
Physiological level Hypersensitivity of the basal
ganglia
Neurochemical level Underproduction of
serotonin
Define biological reductionism. Which approach is this an assumption of and how has this been applied in psychology?
Explaining behaviour through biological processes.
The biological approach.
The effects of psychoactive drugs on the brain has furthered understanding of biochemical processes.
Define environmental reductionism and which approach is this an assumption of?
Explains behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learnt through experience.
The behaviourist approach
Which level of explanation does the approach which has the assumption of environmental reductionism occur at? And what does it ignore.
The physical level
It ignores any cognitive processes at the psychological level, as the mind is seen as a ‘black box’ irrelevant to our understanding of behaviour.
Give the case for holism
Holism gives a more complete understanding as it includes social context.
E.g. The effects of conformity to social roles and the deindividuation of the prisoners and guards in the Stanford prison experiment couldn’t be understood by studying the participants as individuals, as it was the interaction between people and the behaviour of the group that was important.
Give the case against holism
Holistic explanations can become vague and speculative as they become more complex.
For example the humanistic approach has been criticised for its lack of empirical evidence.
Explanations combining different perspectives make it difficult to to put into practical use.
For example of we say there are many factors that contribute to depression it becomes difficult to establish which to use as a basis for therapy.
Give the case for reductionism
To create operationalised variables, target behaviours need to be broken down into constituent parts, making it easier to record observations in a meaningful and reliable way.
(E.g. The behaviourist approach was able to break down complex learning into simple stimulus-response links).
This gives psychology credibility.
Give the case against reductionism
Oversimplifying complex phenomena may lead to a loss of validity.
Explanations at a genetic level don’t include an analysis of the social context in which a behaviour occurs, which is where the behaviour may derive its meaning.
(E.g. Pointing a finger has the same physiological process regardless of the context, but may have many different social meanings.)
This means the reductionist approach only forms part of the explanation.
Explain the interactionist approach to the holism-reductionism debate
Interactionism considers how different explanations may combine and interact.
For example the diathesis-stress model, which has lead to a more holistic approach to treatment, such as combining drugs and family therapy.
