holism vs reductionism

Question 1

what 4 things do you have to remember for holism vs reductionism?

Answer 1

holism
reductionism
levels of explanation in psychology
types of reductionism

Question 2

what is holism?

Answer 2

it refers to any approach that emphasises the whole, rather than certain parts

Question 3

what did german psychologists say about holism?

Answer 3

‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’

Question 4

what approach supports holism?

Answer 4

the humanistic approach

Question 5

how is the humanistic approach holistic?

Answer 5

• it considers the person’s whole experience
• involves family and friends
• uses a mix of drug, cognitive and behavioural therapies

Question 6

what is reductionism?

Answer 6

breaking down complex human behaviour into simpler components

Question 7

why is reductionism desirable?

Answer 7

complex behaviour is better understood in simpler levels of explanation

Question 8

explain reductionism in the biological approach

Answer 8

biological reductionism = behaviour explained in terms of genes, hormones etc

Question 9

explain reductionism in the cognitive approach

Answer 9

machine reductionism = behaviour explained in terms of schemas and analogies

Question 10

explain reductionism in the behaviourist approach

Answer 10

environmental reductionism = behaviour explained in terms of environment, typically ignoring biology

Question 11

what is the interactionist approach?

Answer 11

suggesting that different levels of explanation may combine and interact to explain behaviour

Question 12

how has an interactionist approach led to better treatments?

Answer 12

by combining family therapy and drug treatments, it has led to lower relapse rates

Question 13

who researched treatment in the interactionist approach?

Answer 13

Tarrier et al.

Question 14

what are levels of explanation?

Answer 14

the idea that any behaviour can be explained at different levels of reduction

Question 15

what are lower levels of explanation?

Answer 15

lower levels are more reductionist in nature, as they aim to explain behaviour in simpler, broken down units

Question 16

what are higher levels of explanation?

Answer 16

higher levels of explanation reflect a more holistic approach, as they take into account all aspects of human behaviour

Question 17

explain OCD at it’s different levels of explanation

Answer 17

socio-cultural = behaviour such as excessive hand washing seen as irrational
psychological = explanation of having obsessive thoughts
physical = sequence of movements involving washing hands
physiological = hypersensitivity of basal ganglia
neurochemical =- underproduction of serotonin

Question 18

what are 2 lower levels of explanation?

Answer 18

the biological approach
the behaviourist approach

Question 19

how is the behaviourist approach reductionist?

Answer 19

it aims to explain behaviour in terms of simple environmental factors, such as stimulus-response associations

Question 20

how is the biological approach reductionist?

Answer 20

it offers explanations of behaviour by breaking it down to basic biological systems (genes, neural factors)

Question 21

what approach takes a higher level of explanation?

Answer 21

the humanistic approach

Question 22

list the order of approaches in levels of explanation
higher - lower

Answer 22

the humanistic approach
the psychodynamic approach
the cognitive approach
the behaviourist approach
the biological approach

Question 23

give 3 evaluation points of levels of explanation

Answer 23

• lower levels can be studied scientifically
• lower levels have practical applications
• danger of over-simplifying behaviour

Question 24

evaluation: lower levels can be studied scientifically

Answer 24

ID: one strength of lower-level, more reductionist levels of explanations, is that breaking down complex human behaviour into simple, basic units means that behaviour is studied scientifically
EV: for example, the use of objective and empirical methods, such as lab experiments in the behaviourist approach, can be used to establish cause and effect. on the other hand, higher-level, more holistic levels of explanations can become complex and vague and therefore, can’t be studied scientifically
AN: therefore, lower levels of explanations may be favoured in psychology due to being higher in internal validity

Question 25

evaluation: lower levels have practical applications

Answer 25

ID: furthermore, because cause and effect can be established more readily with lower-level explanations, Q: this has meant that such explanations are more likely to lead to practical applications compared to more holistic approaches.
EV: for example, serotonin is a key neurotransmitter in the development of anxiety seen in OCD, which has led to the production of drug treatments which regulate serotonin levels and have been effective at reducing OCD symptoms.
AN: therefore, using lower levels of explanation to explain human behaviour is an important part of applied psychology and may even lead to a reduced burden on the NHS, providing an economic benefit.

Question 26

evaluation: danger of over-simplifying behaviour

Answer 26

ID: on the other hand, despite the practical applications conferred by lower-level explanations, some critics may argue that there is a danger of oversimplifying complex behaviour.
Q: for example, a phobia may not be solely down to a stimulus-response association between a phobic stimulus and a frightening experience
EV: DiNardo found that 50% of those bitten by a dog did not develop a phobia of dogs, suggesting that there may be other influences on phobia development. such as an individual’s cognitive thought processes or cultural factors.
AN: therefore, a weakness of lower levels of explanation is that they can lead to psychologists losing sight of behaviour in context. meaning, an interactionist approach may be better suited to explain behaviour.

Question 27

holism strength: group contexts

Answer 27

ID: some aspects of human behaviour only occur when we look at a social context
Q: the holistic approach considers social factors to ensure a complete picture of behaviour is provided
EV: for example, Zimbardo’s findings on conformity to social roles would not be possible if we studied an individual’s biology only, it was the interaction between the people and the behaviour of the group that was important.
AN: therefore, this shows that a more holistic level of explanation provides a more complete and global understanding of behaviour

Question 28

holism weakness: cannot develop treatments for disorders

Answer 28

ID: a weakness of using a holistic explanation is that it is difficult to identify which explanation is the most influential.
Q: this poses a practical problem for researchers who attempt to decide which explanation is the most useful to base treatment upon
EV: for example, depression has several causes, however, it is difficult to establish which cause is the most influential as a basis for therapy.
AN: therefore, holistic explanations may not lead to the development of effective treatments for mental health disorders.

Question 29

reductionism strength: empirical methods

Answer 29

ID: breaking down behaviour into smaller components means that empirical methods can be used, such as the operationalisation of variables
Q: this means, reductionism is consistent with the aims of
science
EV: for example, smaller, constituent parts of behaviour are easily
measured and manipulated under strict laboratory conditions, and so cause and effect relationships between variables can be reliably established.
AN: therefore, findings will be replicable and testable due to operationalised concepts. furthermore, it rises the scientific credibility of psychology

Question 30

reductionism weakness: ignores the complexity of behaviour

Answer 30

ID: ignores the complexity of behaviour
Q: reductionism focuses on single levels of explanations, leading to a loss of validity because they ignore the social context where behaviour occurs
EV: for example, Wolpe. used systematic desensitisation to treat a woman’s fear of insects, and found no improvement. it was later found that it was linked to her husband, who she didn’t get along with, who had an insect nickname. showing that fear was a representation of her marriage.
AN: therefore, a reductionist approach isn’t able to explain complex behaviour in terms of one explanation, as different levels combine to explain behaviour. suggesting, reductionist
explanations may simplify complex phenomena too much.