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

Evaluation of holism

Answer 5

• Some social behaviour can be better explained from a group context rather than an individual one. In the Stanford prison experiment, the behaviours could not be understood by studying participants as individuals but rather through the interactions between people and behaviours of the group
  But…
• If there are too many variables at play, it’s difficult to establish what is the most influential factor. Holism suggests that crime results from the interactions of biological, psychological, and social factors which makes it difficult to suggest which is the most influential factor
• Less empirical, more hypothetical (than reductionism)

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