holism and reductionism Flashcards
(17 cards)
What does the holism vs. reductionism debate focus on
Whether human behaviour is best understood as a whole (holism) or broken down into simpler components (reductionism)
holism
Behaviour cannot be fully understood by looking at its individual parts alone; the whole person and complex interactions must be considered
reductionism
Complex behaviours can be explained by breaking them down into their simpler components
levels of explanation in psychology
Highest Level: Social and Cultural Explanation
Middle Level: Psychological Explanation
Lower Level: Biological Explanation
What does the highest level of explanation focus on
How social and cultural factors influence behaviour
What does the middle level of explanation consider
Individual cognitive, emotional, and psychological factors that influence behaviour
What does the cognitive explanation of depression focus on
Negative thinking patterns and cognitive distortions
What is the lower level of explanation focused on
Biological processes that influence behaviour
What does the dopamine hypothesis in schizophrenia suggest
Schizophrenia is caused by excess dopamine activity in the brain
biological reductionism
An approach that focuses on biological factors to explain behaviour
an example of biological reductionism
role of genes in schizophrenia
What does environmental reductionism reduce behaviour to
Learned experiences through conditioning
What was the Little Albert Experiment an example of
Environmental reductionism
psychic reductionism
The unconscious mind and its influence on behaviour
What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs an example of
A holistic explanation of behaviour
strengths
✅ Holism provides a complete understanding
→ Example: Zimbardo’s prison study (Forensics) took a holistic approach by looking at social, situational, and dispositional factors together — offering a richer, more complete understanding of behaviour in prisons.
✅ Reductionism allows for scientific testing
→ Example: Biological explanations of Schizophrenia (Ripke et al., 2014) reduce complex symptoms to genetic and neurochemical factors, making it possible to test cause-and-effect relationships scientifically
limitations
❌ Holism is less practical
→ Example: Zimbardo’s holistic explanation is difficult to apply to real-world policy because it’s hard to isolate which factor had the greatest effect — making interventions less clear.
❌ Reductionism oversimplifies complex behaviours
→ Example: Eysenck’s personality theory (Forensics) reduces criminality to biological personality traits like extraversion and neuroticism, ignoring social context and upbringing influences
