holism vs reductionism

Question 1

holism

Answer 1

The belief that human behaviour is best explained by considering the whole picture or whole system.

Question 2

reductionism

Answer 2

The belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller parts.

Question 3

levels of explanation

Answer 3

The notion of ‘levels of explanation’ suggests that there are different ways of viewing the same phenomena in psychology, some might be more reductionist than others. Societal level (LEAST extreme reductionism) -
Cognitive level - Physical/ behavioural level - Biological level (MOST extreme reductionism).

Question 4

biological reductionism

Answer 4

a form of reductionism which tries to explain phenomena at a biological level, in terms of the actions of genes and hormones.

Question 5

environmental reductionism

Answer 5

the attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience.

Question 6

machine reductionism

Answer 6

explains behaviour in mechanistic models. It compares the operations of the mind to those of a computer and produces simple input-processing-response models of the mind.

Question 7

case for holism

Answer 7

can use qualitative methods which give a more holistic approach, higher validity because looks at everything that may affect behaviour, some behaviours can only be understood at a higher or holistic level e.g. Zimbardo’s research.

Question 8

case against holism

Answer 8

cannot be studied scientifically, not breaking down behaviour so cannot establish cause and effect.

Question 9

case for reductionism

Answer 9

scientific, subjective, can reduce behaviour to cause and effect relationships, testable and falsifiable, used to treat symptoms of disorders.

Question 10

case against reductionism

Answer 10

oversimplifies complex behaviour so reduces validity, can be more effective to consider holistic explanations as it ignores the complexity of behaviour.