Reductionism Vs Holism

Question 1

What is reductionism

Answer 1

It refers to an explanation of behaviour (studies tend to break down the behaviour to its constituent part, so they study the part of the behaviour rather than a whole behaviour/situation

Question 2

What is Holism

Answer 2

Means that the whole is more than the sum of its parts

Question 3

What is parsimony

Answer 3

A scientific idea that the simplest way of explaining something complex is best

Question 4

Social psych arguments

Answer 4

• milgrams work reduced obedience to authority to a lab experimental task
• milgram used variations to test different factors, they were still tested individually which is reductionist
• being social is a whole thing and looking at parts can lose the whole
• social impact theory looks at parts of social behaviour, this is reductionist and can help to study an area that is complex

Question 5

Cognitive psych arguments

Answer 5

• memory is reduced into 2 main parts, ST an LT or in different types (semantic and acoustic)
• memory as a whole is hard to study
  -using experiment to try and find cause and effect conclusions about memory so that a firm body of knowledge can be built does tend to require a narrow way of looking at memory
• neurophysiology looks at how different parts of the brain relate to memory in real life which overlooks the brain as a holistic processor

Question 6

Learning theories arguments

Answer 6

• looking at a stimulus and seeing the effect on a response is a reductionist approach
• uses experiments and fit this idea of science well, so they also fit with the idea of being reductionist. In considering a treatment for someone there might be a holistic approach which means considering everything about that individual
• systematic desensitisation treats the whole person as the individual can build their own hierarchy