Issues and debates: reductionism (soc)

Question 1

INTRO

Reductionism

Answer 1

the idea that complex behaviors and mental processes can be explained by breaking them down into simpler, more fundamental components

Question 2

A01 & A03 (isn’t)

Answer 2

A01:
- Social can be seen as less reductionist as it considers multiple factors to explain human behaviour.
- For example, when examining explanations for obedience which consider multiple factors such as strength of authority, immediacy and number of people.

A03:
Sedikides and Jackson
- used a field experiment at NYC zoo and found strength of the source, immediacy and number of sources vs targets influenced whether visitors obeyed the instruction to not lean on the railings.

Question 3

A01 & A03 (is)

Answer 3

A01:
- However, social can be considered reductionist as it reduces complex behaviour such as prejudice down to a single factor, e.g. RCT explains prejudice as a result of competition.

A03:
Sherif
- found that introducing zero sum games (where there could only be one winner, such as tug of war) at a summer camp with 12-year-old boys led to increased prejudice, e.g. name calling between the Rattlers and Eagles.

Question 4

judgement

Answer 4

Overall social psychology can be seen as reductionist in explaining human behaviour as most theories and studies fail to recognise the influence of more than one factor on obedience and prejudice