Holism Vs Reductionism Flashcards
What is the holism vs reductionism debate about
Is holism or reductionism better to use to understand human behaviour?
What is holism
The idea of looking at something as a whole
What is reductionism
When a component is broken down
When does something stop being holistic
As soon as it gets subdivided
What was gesalts psychologists view on holism
They beloved that if a concept gets subdivided, its inappropriate and that the ‘whole’ is better than ‘the sum of its parts’
What approach does the concept of holism link with
Humanistic approach
What type of experience does holism focus on
Individual experiences
What principle is reductionism based on
Principle of parsimony
What is the principle of parsimony
That all phenomena should be explained in its simplest way
What are the different levels of explanations of behaviour in psychology
-socio cultural
-psychological
- physical
-environmental
-physiological
-neurochemical
Do all the different levels of behavioural explanations have the same level of reductionism?
No
What are the 2 main types of reductionism
Biological and environmental
What is biological reductionism
The idea that all behaviour has a biological basis to some extent and it is based on the fact that we are biological organisms
What does the biological reductionism consist of (including the level of explanations)
Neurochemical and physiological level and evolutionary and genetic influences
What does it mean when we say that biological reductionism works backwards
That we see certain treatments target a specific cause which can ultimately reduce that illness to a certain basis
What is an example of biological reductionism working backwards
Ocd is treated with drugs which increase levels of serotonin therefore ocd can be caused by a lack of serotonin which therefore shows that ocd is reduced to a neurochemical basis
What is environmental determinism
The idea that there is a stimulus which creates a response and that behaviour is learnt and retrieved from environmental interaction
What approach does environmental determinism link to
Behaviourist approach
What is conditioning based on in relation to environmental determinism
It’s based on stimulus and response
What is an example of how environmental reductionism is expressed in psychology
learning theory of attachment reduces the idea of love between an infant and caregiver to the association of a food provider as the infant gains pleasure from receiving food and so they associate the pleasure they get from the food to the one who provides it
What is the strengths of reductionism
.scientific approach to reductionist approaches which gives psych a greater credibility
.well controlled research needs operationalised variables which mental that the target behaviour is broken down
What is the counterpoint of scientific strength of reductionism
.the use of scientific approach for reductionism is that it has been accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena which has reduced validity.
.Some observations don’t include the analysis of another context which it could do
.This means that reductionism can only ever be a part of an explanation of a behaviour
What is a limitation of holism
.Holistic accounts of human behaviour tend to become hard to use as they become more complex. This can present researchers with a practical dilemma
. If we accept, from a humanistic perspective, that there are many different factors that contribute to a disorder then it becomes difficult to know which is most influential
.This suggests that holistic accounts may lack practical value
What is a limitation of reductionism
.only some behaviours can be understood at a higher level
. social behaviours emerge within a group and cannot be explained by looking at individuals alone.
. Eg in the Stanford prison study, the effects of conformity in prisoners and guards were due to group interactions, not individual actions
.This means that for some behaviours, higher-level or holistic explanations are more accurate
