The holism-reductionism debate Flashcards
This debate is concerned with …
the level at which it is appropriate to explain human behaviour
Reductionism involves …
explaining a phenomenon in terms of constituent parts and studying the underlying elements
What are the 2 types of reductionism?
biological reductionism
environmental determinism
Make 1 point explaining what biological reductionism is based on
its based on the assumption that were all biological organisms therefore all behaviour can be explained at the biological level
Make 2 points explaining what environmental reductionism is based on
-assumes complex behaviour can be broken down to simple stimulus-response links that are measurable in a lab
-any mental processes are ignored because these occur at the psychological level
Make 3 points explaining holism
-focuses on a whole system or person
-believes breaking down experiences / behaviour is inappropriate as these can only be understood by analysing the person or behaviour as a whole
-a holistic approach also considers social context
In terms of evaluating this debate , which psychological disorder is used
schizophrenia
What supporting evidence is there for taking a reductionist approach?
Give a follow on strength of this point
+ in schizophrenia there is evidence that an imbalance in dopamine levels are a cause , this is reductionist as the cause of schizophrenia is suggested to be solely due to a biological component
+taking a reductionist view allows researchers to develop drugs to treat conditions
-for example drugs have been developed to alter dopamine levels
Give a weakness of taking a reductionist view
-by focusing on simple parts like dopamine levels researchers can miss other explanations or aspects that contribute to conditions
-researchers have found that family dysfunction is a key trigger of schizophrenia
-this evidence suggests a more holistic view would be more appropriate
Give another general weakness of this debate
-other explanations such as an interactionist approach may be more complete
for example the diathesis stress model suggests the cause of schizophrenia can only be understood by considering the interaction between genetic make up and environment
this suggests neither side of the debate is complete on its own
What is a strength of taking a more interactionist approach ?
+it has led to us having a more holistic approach to treatments , for example a combination of drugs and CBT has been found to be the most effective treatment for schizophrenia
Make an extra evaluation point about the holism vs reductionism debate
(hint: what does parsimonious mean?)
parsimonious-means using simplest explanation that fits the evidence
a reductionist approach is parsimonious which is consistent with all other scientific disciplines as they all use this approach
holism does not have this feature , therefore does not lend itself to being scientifically tested
