reductionism vs holism

Question 1

define holism

Answer 1

an argument that suggests it only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than o focus purely on its constituent parts

Question 2

define reductionism

Answer 2

the belief that all human behaviour should be divided into constituent parts to be studied and explained

Question 3

scientific parisomony- reductionism

Answer 3

the belief that the BEST way to study behaviour is in its simplelist form/ element

Question 4

levels of explanation in psych- reductionism

Answer 4

there are different ways of viewing behaviour- behaviour can be broken down in many ways
–highest level–
socio cultural eg humanism
psychological level eg psychodynamic
physical
environmental behavioural
neurochemical biological

Question 5

biological reductionism

Answer 5

behaviour is explained by being broken down to a purely genetic, neurochemical physical or hormonal constituent
it is baed on the premise that we are biological organisms thus all behaviour can be explained biologically
eg OCD is reduced to serotonin activity in the biological exp.

Question 5

environmental reductionism

Answer 5

all behaviour is learned and aqcuired though interactions with our environment

Question 6

experimental reductionism

Answer 6

that all behaviour can simply be reduced to an iv and a dv

Question 7

limitation of the holistic viewpoint

Answer 7

-lacks practical application
holistic accounts become harder to use practically because they are often more subjective