ID - Holism and Reduction

Question 1

Holism

Answer 1

• The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
• The idea that human behaviour should be seen as a whole integrated experience and not as separate parts, analysing separate parts is not enough as it does not capture the whole person

Question 2

Reductionism

Answer 2

Explaining behaviour by breaking it down into simple or more basic parts

Question 3

Biological reductionism

Answer 3

Explaining behaviour by reducing it to biology and explaining it in terms of neurons, genes, hormones etc.

Question 4

Environmental reductionism

Answer 4

Explaining behaviours by reducing it to simple stimulus-response relationships influenced by external factor

Question 5

Positive evaluation of holism

Answer 5

• Often social behaviours that only happen within a group context cannot be understood by an individual within the group and rather the group as a whole
• For example: The Stanford prison experiment could not be understood by individuals

Question 6

Evaluation of reductionism

Answer 6

• Can be beneficial to psychological research as it helps to isolate variable which can then lead to establishing a cause and effect relationship
  But…
• Reductionist theories are good at showing what but not why which means It may oversimplify complex behaviours

Question 7

What is the levels of explanation in reductionism and holism and what are they?

Answer 7

• Different ways of viewing the same phenomena
• Lower level = biological explanation e.g. candidate genes
• Middle level = psychological explanation
• Higher level = cultural/social explanation