reductionism vs holism

Question 1

Reductionism is…

Answer 1

the view that we can understand things by breaking them down into simpler parts.

Question 2

Holism is…

Answer 2

Athe view that, to understand something, we must look at it as a whole.

Question 3

As we go down the levels of explanation, we’re explaining Chloe’s behaviour in terms of simpler parts. This means…

Answer 3

Cwe’re using more reductionist explanations.

Question 4

We’ve now seen that, as we go down the levels of explanation…

Answer 4

Cthe explanations are more reductionist.

Question 5

The most reductionist level of explanation is a biological explanation, because…

Answer 5

Bit involves explaining behaviour in terms of the simplest parts: tiny genes in the body.

Question 6

What is the lowest, most reductionist level of explanation in psychology?

Answer 6

Ebiological reductionism

Question 7

The cognitive approach involves…

Answer 7

using theoretical models to break down behaviour into sequences of mental processes.

Question 8

The cognitive approach is reductionist to an extent, because…

Answer 8

Cit breaks behaviour down into simpler parts.

Question 9

The cognitive psychologist Aaron Beck explained depression using a model of a negative triad, which is…

Answer 9

Da psychological level of explanation.

Question 10

Since reductionism involves explaining complex things in terms of simpler parts, we can say that…

Answer 10

Athe cognitive approach is less reductionist than the behaviourist approach.

Question 11

When we compare social learning theory to the behaviourist approach, we can say that…

Answer 11

Csocial learning theory is less reductionist than the behaviourist approach.

Question 12

The psychodynamic approach does use reductionism to an extent, because…

Answer 12

Cit breaks down personality into three simpler parts: the id, ego and super-ego.

Question 13

Question
$1$
. Outline what is meant by the term holism.

Answer 13

Holism is the view that, to understand something, we must look at it as a whole rather than breaking it down into parts.

Question 14

. Briefly outline the ‘reductionism-holism’ debate in psychology.

Answer 14

The reductionism-holism debate is about whether we should explain behaviours by breaking them down into simpler parts, as supported by reductionism, or if we should understand behaviours by looking at them as a whole, as supported by holism.

Question 15

All stimulus-response relations and biological processes are…

Answer 15

Dcause and effect relationships.

Question 16

Reductionist explanations involve cause and effect relationships that can be empirically tested. This means that…

Answer 16

Bthey are falsifiable.

Cthey can be studied using the scientific method.

Question 17

Humanists argue that…

Answer 17

Dwe shouldn’t break down behaviour into simpler parts.

Awe must focus on all aspects of behaviour.

Question 18

Cognitive psychologists use these inferences to test theoretical models of mental processes, which are…

Answer 18

Afalsifiable.

Question 19

Reductionist explanations are scientific because they reduce down to relationships that are empirically testable, and therefore falsifiable.
These relationships are…

Answer 19

Reductionist explanations are scientific because they reduce behaviour down to cause and effect relationships that are empirically testable, and therefore falsifiable.

: falsifiable

Question 20

Very holistic explanations can’t be studied scientifically, because…

Answer 20

Bthey insist that we shouldn’t break down behaviour into cause and effect relationships.

Question 21

The principle of parsimony states that if there are several different explanations that completely explain something…

Answer 21

Bwe should choose the simplest explanation.

Question 22

In psychopathology, we saw that treatments for OCD involve…

Answer 22

Bbiological reductionism.

Question 23

A second strength of a reductionist approach to psychology is…

Answer 23

Ait can be used to treat symptoms of mental disorders

Question 24

In the reduction-holism debate, interactionism is the interaction between…

Answer 24

Adifferent levels of explanation.

Question 25

One advantage of interactionism is that…

Answer 25

Dit fits the evidence we have about the causes of conditions like depression.

Question 26

More holistic levels of explanation are difficult to test scientifically because…

Answer 26

Dthey don’t break things down into cause and effect relationships.

Question 27

What is the principle of parsimony?

Answer 27

BIf we have different explanations which completely explain the same thing, we should always choose the simplest one.

Question 28

Why might interactionism violate the principle of parsimony?

Answer 28

CIt introduces higher levels of explanation.

DIt requires us to use more than one level of explanation.

Question 29

Question
$1$
. Which of the following are strengths of reductionism? | Select all that apply.

Answer 29

DReductionist explanations are scientific and therefore falsifiable.

BReductionism breaks down behaviour into cause and effect relationships that can be empirically tested.

Question 30

Outline the principle of parsimony.

Answer 30

The principle of parsimony states that if there are several different explanations that completely explain something, we should choose the simplest one.

Question 31

: Outline two weaknesses of interactionism. [3 marks]

Answer 31

The first weakness is that interactionism is less scientific than very reductionist explanations. The second weakness of interactionism is that it violates the principle of parsimony because it introduces higher levels of explanation and it also requires us to use more than one level of explanation.