issues and debates

Question 1

reductionism

Answer 1

studying complex phenomena by breaking them down into their simplest components and testing the individual elements empirically

Question 2

biological reductionism

Answer 2

complex human behaviour is due to basic biological elements, such as the inheritance or absence of specific neurotransmitter-related genes. for example, it suggests depression is caused by inherited genes affecting neurochemistry, leading to a neurological imbalance.

Question 3

environmental reductionism (behaviourism) (stimulus and response)

Answer 3

pavlov and skinner explain behaviour as due to the result of simple stimulus-response mechanisms. for example they might argue that criminal behaviour in adults is a result of learning in childhood, where criminal acts were rewarded rather than punished, reinforcing criminal behaviour.

Question 4

machine reductionism (cognitive psychology)

Answer 4

this includes the computer analogy that the brain functions like a computers CPU and thought processes as software running on the brain. the working model of memory is an example of an overly simplistic computational model. this mechanistic perspective simplifies complex mental processes by ignoring the role of emotions and irrationality

Question 5

holism

Answer 5

the perspective that a valid explanation of behaviour must include all of an individuals experiences and factors influencing their behaviour, such as biological processes, the effects of reinforcement, internal mental processes (including emotions) and the broader social context. a complete explanation must also include how these various components interact and influence each other.

Question 6

humanistic psychologists

Answer 6

they take the most holistic approach to psychology. they argue that individuals are more than the sum of their parts and that their experiences, perceptions and feelings are interconnected. they suggest that we can understand behaviour only by studying the whole person, any attempt to reduce human experience down to separate elements would lead to a loss of the essence of what it means to be human. humanistic psychologists like Maslow and rogers use ideographic methods to investigate behaviour, such as case studies and interviews as these methods produce richer and more detailed information.