Holism and Reductionism

Question 1

Reductionism provides a basis for scientific research

Answer 1

A strength of reductionist
approaches is that most psychologists are drawn to them as they often form the basis of
scientific research. In order to create operationalised variables it is necessary to break target behaviours down into constituent parts. This makes it possible to conduct experiments or record observations (behavioural categories) in a way that is meaningful and reliable. Whereas, a problem with holism is that it is difficult to test integrated theories because you cannot isolate the variables – this means it is hard to establish cause and effect. Therefore, reductionism gives psychology greater credibility, placing it on equal terms with the natural sciences.

Question 2

Reductionism ignores the complexity of human behaviour

Answer 2

A limitation of reductionist
approaches is that they have been accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena. This can lead to errors of understanding because it ignores the complexity of human behaviour. For example, schizophrenia is often treated with anti-psychotic medication in the belief that the condition consists of nothing more than imbalanced neurochemicals.
This is problematic because even though anti-psychotic medications may reduce the symptoms in many individuals, the cause of the condition may not have been addressed. For example, the schizophrenia may be due to high levels of expressed emotion or double bind communication (Bateson et al). Furthermore, the success rates of anti-psychotic
medication are so variable, that the purely biological understanding seems inadequate. This suggests that we have to be careful in that, reductionist explanations may distract us from a more appropriate level of explanation. Reductionist explanations can only ever form part of an explanation.

Question 3

Holistic explanations provide a more complete understanding of human behaviour

Answer 3

One strength of holism is that, often there are aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood by purely examining the
individual group members. For instance, Zimbardo’s research into the effects of conformity to social roles and the deindividuation of the prisoners and guards in the
Stanford prison experiment, could not be understood by studying the participants as individuals. It was the interaction between people and the behaviour of the group that
was important. This shows that holistic explanations provide a more complete and global understanding of behaviour than reductionist approaches.