Reductionism Flashcards
Define ‘reductionism’.
The means of looking at the isolated parts of something when studying it, rather than the whole
Define ‘holism’. (2 points)
Explains complex phenomena (human behaviour) without compartmentalising them into smaller subunits
Instead, it accepts a complex interaction and relationships between many smaller units
What is the essay plan for the reductionism essay? (3 points)
Most reductionist: Bio
Supported by: Raine et al
Challenged by: Brendgen et al
Mostly: LT
Supported by: Classical conditioning
Challenged by: SLT
Cognitive - Memory models
Social - Sherif + RCT
Clinical - Carlsson + Sekar et al
How does reductionism apply to biological psychology? (2 points)
Theories and studies rooted in biological psychology focus on subunits such as a gene, hormone, neurotransmitter or a specific brain region
Scientific methods, such as PET, and fMRI scans are reductionist - they test small units which are measurable and testable
How does Raine et al support biological psychology being the most reductionist? (
Found that NGRI patients exhibited lower levels of activity in their amygdala (0.94) when compared to controls (0.97) - suggests structural brain abnormalities could lead to aggression
Biologically reductionist - doesn’t consider any external factors which may contribute to aggression given the entirely nature-based approach
E.g. whether a participant’s differences in brain activity were due to traumatic brain injury, which involves damage through external forces, thus being a product of nurture
How does Brendgen et al challenge biological psychology being the most reductionist? (3 points)
They conducted a twin study looking into the cause of aggression and found that although 54% of physical aggression was caused by genes, only 20% of social aggression was genetic
This suggests an element of nurture in social aggression - social learning theory states that aggressive behaviour is learnt through the observation and imitation of role models
Biological psychology alone is reductionist, but when alternative theories are applied, a more holistic picture is drawn about the impact of multiple valid explanations of aggression
How does reductionism apply to learning theories?
Learning Theories look to explain learning through isolated processes
How does classical conditioning support learning theories being mostly reductionist? (3 points)
Classical conditioning (CC) outlines that learning is done through association through the pairing of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus, causing a conditioned response
Research support from Watson and Raynor found that phobias could be formed in human babies through CC
CC ignores the cognitive processes of an individual - this leaves a ‘black box’ regarding conscious thought
How does SLT challenge learning theories being mostly reductionist? (4 points)
SLT - a more holistic theory that explains behaviour as learnt through observing and imitating other people
SLT takes cognitive psychology into account with Retention - the MSM explains how memory works and how information is retained
Areas of biological psychology are also included:
+ Bandura’s bobo doll study explored how gender and different role models can affect a child’s aggressive behaviour
+ Found that males are naturally more aggressive than females
SLT combines the influence of experience/socialisation with nature shows that while omplex processes of human learning can be understood with reductionism, but it is also practical to explore more holistic ideas
How does reductionism apply to cognitive psychology?
Reductionism applies when studying memory processes because of the scientific way it is studied - using empirical experiments which can be falsified
How do the memory models support cognitive psychology being reductionist? (5 points)
The MSM assumed that the STM and LTM are single unitary stores, with unique capacities, durations and encoding
Peterson & Peterson found that the STM has a duration of 18 seconds through isolating variables, which created the holistic all-encompassing MSM theory
However, the KF case study caused the MSM to be criticised for being reductionist - didn’t consider the complexity of STM
This led to the WMM which was still reductionist but regarding LTM - led to Tulving’s theory of semantic and episodic memory being produced
Cognitive psychology has created a holistic picture of memory processing using a series of reductionist studies and theories
What is the difference between reductionism and holism? (2 points)
Reductionism often ignores the interactions between parts
Holism considers combining the influence of experience, culture and socialisation combined with nature, as seen in social psychology
How does Sherif’s study support social psychology being reductionist? (4 points)
Sherif encouraged competition such as tug of war between 11-year-old boys, which led to hostile behaviours such as raiding each other’s cabins and calling each other ‘sneaks’
The Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT) can be argued to be reductionist because it states that intergroup conflict is caused by competition for limited resources - does not account for biological factors contributing to hostile behaviour like aggression
E.g. Testosterone is a male androgen hormone that has been linked with higher levels of aggression, as it affects the development of the prefrontal cortex
Despite this, it could be argued that social research is holistic by examining both nature and nurture - an individual’s nature on their behaviour cannot be removed from their environment
How do Carlsson and Sekar et al support clinical psychology being the least reductionist? (5 points)
Carlsson (2000) concluded that the ‘dopamine hypothesis” supports the fact that hyperactive dopamine transmission results in Sz symptoms
However, this explanation of SZ is reductionist - it does not consider all factors that can increase the incidence rate of the condition
Sekar et al:
+ Analysed 65,000 samples and found that the gene C4 is associated with excessive synaptic pruning which can lead to Sz in adolescents
+ There is a genetic factor which contributes to the condition
However, SZ patients are also proposed to be cognitively overloaded and not able to filter information resulting in positive symptoms like hallucinations
Whilst a single gene-causing behaviour could class psychology as being reductionist, epigenetics suggest that genes only predispose individuals and that social factors are needed too - less reductionist
What is the conclusion of your reductionism essay? (2 points)
Psychology is reductionist in many ways due to its tendency to investigate one variable at a time - often gives a somewhat inconclusive picture of the science
However, holism occurs when inevitable factors such as individual differences (participant variables) and nurture factors (situational variables) occur
