HOLLISM AND REDUCTIONISM

Question 1

Discuss holism and reductionism approaches in psychology

Answer 1

• The debate focuses on an important question, can complex behaviours be reduced to their simpler components or should we consider the whole being when studying behaviour

Question 1

Holism

Answer 1

• refers to the idea that any attempt to break down behaviour and experience is inappropriate as
  these can only be understood by analysing the person or behaviour as a whole.
• Gestalt psychologists adopt a holistic approach to perception- when we perceive something in the real world we perceive it as
  a whole rather than as a collection of bits and pieces.
• Similarly, humanistic psychologists also look at theindividual as a whole.
• This is evident through their use of client centred therapy where they assess all aspects of individual and tailor therapy suited to the individual

Question 2

reductionist

Answer 2

• argues that HB can be explained by breaking it down into simpler component parts. It’s based on the scientific assumption of parsimony, that the best way to understand behaviour is to look closely at the parts that make up our systems, and then use the simplest explanations to understand how they work.
• For example, biopsychologists argue that OCD is caused by the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine (bio reductionism), whereas behaviourists insist that behaviour is nothing more than a series of stimulus response links (env reductionism).
• An example of environmental reductionism comes from the behavioural explanation of phobias, which argue that phobias are learnt and maintained through classical and operant conditioning

Question 3

Holism is useful for studying social behaviours.

Answer 3

• There are aspects of social behaviour that only serve within a group context and cannot be understood at an individual level.
• For example, in the Stanford
  Prison Experiment studying prisoners and guards individually would not be useful, as it was the interaction between people and the behaviour of the group that was important.
• Adv as it provides a more complete and global understanding of HB than the reductionist approach.
• Furthermore Kohler’s insight learning, supports taking a holistic stance as it demonstrates when solving problems on a daily basis you have to consider the whole picture, rather than solving part of the problem and not finding a solution

Question 4

One limitation of holistic Explanations is that they lack scientific credibility.

Answer 4

• For instance, they do not use much scientific testing when studying human behaviour. Concepts such as self actualisation and congruence may be difficult to test/operationalise as they are abstract concepts.
• This means unable to falsify/test any of these concepts, and so unable to empirical evidence.
• This is a disadvantage as holism is not a scientific approach and has limited psychology’s credibility as a science due to not meeting any of
  the scientific criteria .
• Furthermore, using holistic explanations may limits real life application as you cannot pinpoint a cause, and so we cannot pinpoint an exact treatment

Question 5

Reductionist explanations oversimplify complex ideas by focusing on just one factor.

Answer 5

• For example,OCDis said to occur due to the mutation of the SERT/COMT gene which doesn’t explain the experience/severity and only tells you that a person has OCD.
• This means we don’t get an understanding of the social context in which behaviour occurs.
• This is a disadvantage as it can only ever form part of an explanation, and psychologists want to get a complete understanding of human behaviour.
• Furthermore, holistic explanations can create more holistic therapies when combining treatments, such as CBT, which tackles both cognitive and environmental aspects.
• This means multiple symptoms can be assessed and addressed not just one part- which increases the quality of life

Question 6

The reductionist approach is considered scientific.

Answer 6

• This is because in order to create operationalised variables it is necessary to to break target behaviours down into constituent parts.
• This makes it possible to conduct experiments or record observations in a meaningful and reliable way.
• For example, when studying OCD from a neurochemical perspective we are clearly able to measure the impact of a high/low amount of particular chemicals which can cause psychological disturbances.
• This is an advantage as it increases psychology’s credibility as a science, as it meets the criteria of a science.
• Furthermore, biological reductionism has led to the development of therapies such as drug therapy, by altering the
  levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, which helps increase the quality of life