holism and reductionism

Question 1

what is holism?

Answer 1

attempts to understanding human behaviour can only be done by analysing the person/the behaviour as a whole rather than constitutional parts
consider whole person’s experience:
- cognitive
- emotional
- social
- economic

Question 2

what is reductionism?

Answer 2

• analysing behaviour by breaking down into constituent parts
• based around scientific principle of parsimony (all behaviour should be explained using the most basic - lowest levels - principles)
• consider major systems involved: biological (sera system) + behaviourist (learned behaviours + stimulus response then treat symptoms according to each system

Question 3

what are the types of reductionism?

Answer 3

• biological
• environmental (stimulus-response)
• machine

Question 4

what is biological reductionism?

Answer 4

explains social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level - genes + hormones
example
- drugs that increase serotonin help treat ocd - low sera may cause - reduced ocd to NT activity

Question 5

what is environmental reductionism?

Answer 5

explains all behaviour in terms of stimulus and response (physical level) and does not concern itself with mental processes (psychological level)
example
- learning theory of attachment - reduces love to learned association of person feeding and food which results in pleasure

Question 6

what is machine reductionism?

Answer 6

suggests the brain is like a computer in terms of input-process-output
example
- models of memory (WMM and MSM) as they reduce the function of memory down into component parts

Question 7

what are levels of explanation to explain behaviour?

Answer 7

low to high in reductionism
- socio-cultural level
- psychological level
- physical level
- environmental/beh level
- physiological level
- neurochemical level

Question 8

what is a strength of reductionism when it comes to scientific research?

Answer 8

• has a scientific approach - cause-effect rship can be established between influence and behaviour
• breaking down behaviour makes it possible to conduct experiments and record observations objectively and standardised way - can be tested to be reliable
• SS broken down behavioural categories - can be repeated

Question 9

how is oversimplification of behaviour a limitation of reductionism?

Answer 9

• reducing validity
• one level of explanation will disregard another so potentially ignoring a factor that could have a much larger influence on behaviour
• wolpe (1973) treated a woman for her fear of insects by systematic desensitisation - failed because he fear was of her husband with an insect nickname
• ignored context of phobia thus preventing an effective treatment
• reductionism only forms part of an explanation

Question 10

how is a lack of practical value a limitation of holism?

Answer 10

• holism approach to human behaviour - hard when complex
• if accept humanistic perspective - many different factors that contribute to depression (rships, family circumstances)
• difficulty in knowing which to prioritise as basis for therapy as most influential unclear

Question 11

how does holism increase understanding of behaviour?

Answer 11

• researchers can assess multiple factors that can contribute to psychological problem > focus on small constituent parts
• can decide which is most influential from both internal + external factors which more effective