Issues And Debates - Holism And Reductionism Flashcards
What is important to remember when doing Holism and reductionism?
There are levels of explanation
What is the highest level of explanation?
Explain it?
Holism
Holism is often referred to as Gestalt psychology
It argues that behaviour can’t be understood in terms of their components that make them up. This is commonly described as “the whole being greater than the sum of its parts”
What is the lowest level of explanation?
Reductionism
The theory that all complex systems can be completely understood in terms of their components
It is based on the scientific principle of parsimony - that all phenomena should be explained by its most basic principles
Draw out and label to reductionist and holism heirachy
What are extreme reductionism?
The hard sciences
What is the mid level of reductionism and holism?
Biology to psychology
What is the highest level of Holism?
Sociology
Explain in more detail the mid level of reductionism and holism?
Within the mid level
Biological reductionism is the basic level
Machine reductionism (cognitive theory) the idea that the brain can work like a computer
Environmental - less extreme form of reductionism
What is biological reductionism?
Biological reductionism - we are biological organisms made up of physiological structures and processes. All behaviour is at some level biological and can be explained through neurochemicals, neurophysiological, evolutionary and genetic influences
What is environmental reductionism?
Coming from the Behaviourist approach- studying observable behaviours which also believe that learning is broken down into stimulus-response.
What are the benefits of Holism?
• Reminds us that the whole is not just the sum of the parts so it explains how the combination of factors together causes behaviour.
• Provides a more complete understanding of behaviour. This is beneficial because it is a lot more reflective of how humans behave.
• Provides a more complete picture.
• Accepts and deals with the complex nature of behaviour.
• Behaviour is influenced by many factors, so holistic explanations may be more useful.
What are the limitations of Holism?
• It is difficult to establish how much each individual factor contributes to any particular behaviour so this means that explanations are unsatisfactory.
• Cannot be rigorously tested this means that reliable research can’t be gathered to support theories. (Its more hypothetical) so its not based on empirical evidence.
• It is difficult to investigate the many differing types and levels of explanation.
• Lacks predictive power of more scientific explanations.
• Neglects importance of biological influences.
What are the benefits of reductionism?
• Recognises the importance of biological explanations in human behaviour which is a positive as there is a lot of evidence for the influence of biology on behaviour.
• Consistent with the scientific approach so it has higher levels of predictive power
• Breaking phenomena down into smaller components means the
empirical method can be used.
• Easier to explain behaviour in concrete and concise terms.
What are the limitations of a reductionist approach?
• May oversimplify behaviour so therefore other factors are not considered that could influence behaviour (ignores complexity)
• Context is important in understanding meaning of behaviour.
• Focus on a single level of explanation leaves out other levels of explanation.
• Many different theories of cognitive functioning such as memory, perception and language have been created in psychology but little attempt has been made to combine the theories together which is an issue because behaviour is often the result of a combination of things together which means they don’t reflect real-life behaviours.
How can you remember some of the goods of holism and bads of reductionism?
The 3 C’s
Complexity
Completeness
Connections
