Reductionism Flashcards
Describe reductionism.
Describe reductionism says that cognitions, emotions and behaviour can best be understood by breaking explanations down to the smallest possible parts.
(For example, a reductionist view would say that we best investigate and explain aspects of sleep and dreams by looking at the role of individual neurotransmitters such as serotonin on the sleep process or the regions of the brain that are involved).
What is the opposing side to the reductionism debate?
Holism- says that cognitions, emotions and behaviour can best be explained by taking a wider perspective.
(For example a holistic view would argue that whole brain processes of dream production and the waking experience of recalling and understanding our dreams is more valuable and informative).
What is a strength of the holistic explanation?
Holistic theory and approaches attempt to provide a complete and realistic understanding of human behaviour. This is a strength as it considers the complex nature of human behaviour.
What is a weakness of the holistic explanation?
However, holistic explanations do not establish causation because they do not examine behaviour in terms of operationalised variables that can be manipulated and measured. This means that holistic explanations are viewed as unscientific.
Define biological reductionism.
Refers to the way that biological psychologists try to reduce behaviour to a physical level and explain it in terms of neurotransmitters, neurons, brain structure, genes and hormones.
(For example, explanations of psychological disorders are often biologically reductionist, as genes and neurochemical imbalances are offered as the main cause. For example, aggression can be explained on a hormonal level due to production of testosterone).
What is a strength of biological reductionism?
-Biological reductionism is viewed as scientific. Breaking complex behaviours into small constituent parts means that they can be scientifically tested, and over time explanations based on scientific evidence will emerge. In addition, biological reductionism has led to the development of biological therapies, such as drugs.
-For example, SSRIs are more effective than placebos at treating the symptoms of OCD and reduce the symptoms for up to three months after the treatment (Soomro et al, 2008). The use of SSRIs in patients with OCD has helped to reduce the anxiety associated with OCD, thus providing relief for some patients.
What is a weakness of biological reductionism?
Some psychologists argue that biological reductionism can lead to errors of understanding because it ignores the complexity of human behaviour. For example, to treat conditions like ADHD with drugs in the belief that the condition consists of nothing more than neurochemical imbalances is to mistake the symptoms of the phenomenon for its true cause. Ritalin may reduce these symptoms, but the conditions which gave rise to the ADHD have not been addressed. Whether or not this is true depends on what one thinks of as causation, but since success rates of drug therapy are so highly variable, the purely biological understanding seems inadequate.
Define environmental reductionism.
Known as stimulus response reductionism. Behaviourists assume that all behaviour can be reduced to the simple building blocks of stimulus-response associations and that complex behaviours are a series of stimulus-response chains.
(For example, behaviourists reduce the complex behaviour of maintaining a phobia down to a stimulus-response link, where the avoidance of the feared item or situation is reinforced as anxiety reduces through avoidance. Therefore the phobia can be perpetuated due to learning that the anxiety is reduced through avoidance).
What is a strength of environmental reductionism?
-Environmental reductionism is viewed as scientific. Breaking complex behaviours into small constituent parts means that they can be scientifically tested, and over time explanations based on scientific evidence will emerge. In addition, environmental reductionism has led to the development of learning therapies, such as systematic desensitisation and flooding therapy.
-For example, phobias are a common disorder which can be successfully treated through reconditioning the individual using systematic desensitisation or flooding to change the associations the person feels with the feared object from fear to relaxation or calm.
What is a weakness of environmental reductionism?
However, a limitation is that much of the relevant research in the behaviourist tradition has made use of non-human animals as subjects. The classic Pavlovian experiments are an iconic example. But is human behaviour simply a scaled-up version of that of dogs or rats? Critics of reductionism point to the social context in which humans are embedded from the earliest moments of life, and to hard-to-measure factors like cognition, emotion, and intentionality. In this case as well, the reductionist position seems, if not clearly incorrect, then at least inadequate.
Define machine reductionism.
Psychological phenomenon is linked to a machine and how a machine functions, with processes, stores, inputs and outputs.
Define evolutionary reductionism.
Refers to the attempt to explain psychological phenomenon, via the principles of adaptiveness. For example, survival of the fittest.
Define experimental reductionism.
Where a complex behaviour is reduced to a single (isolated) variable for the purpose of testing.
What is a strength of experimental reductionism?
Experimental Reductionism allows researchers to study the different factors that influence human behaviour in a controlled manner while establishing a causal relationship. This would not be possible if psychologists attempted to study all of the factors that influence human behaviour at once, as it would be too complex to interpret the findings.
What is a weakness of experimental reductionism?
However, although experimental research has produced a wealth of findings, the results of highly controlled laboratory studies are often questionable. For example, the findings of laboratory research examining the reliability of eye-witnesses (eg Loftus and Palmer) have not been confirmed by studies examining real-life witnesses (eg Yuille and Cutshall).
