holism and reductionism debate

Question 1

what is are the levels of explanation in psychology

Answer 1

lowest- biological explanations-reductionism

middle-psychological explanations

highest- social and cultural explanations-holism

Question 2

what is reductionism

Answer 2

this is the belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler component parts

Question 3

what are the 2 types of reductionism

Answer 3

biological- refers to the way a biological psychologist tries to reduce behaviour to a physical level and explain it in terms of neurons,neurotransmitters,hormones,brain structure

enviornmental- behaviourists assume all behaviour can be reduced to the simple building blocks of stimulus and response

Question 4

what is holism

Answer 4

this is the idea that human behaviour should be viewed as a whole integrated experience and not as seperate parts

Question 5

what is the A03 for reductionism

Answer 5

it enables psychological studies to be studied scientifically, e.g. reducing schizophrenia to dopamine allows you to research the brain with objective measures

practical application- reducing schizophrenia to dopamine has led to the development of SSRIS, antidepressants and antipsychotics-sormo et al

its oversimplistic and doesnt account the full range and context of a behaviour. e.g. the schizophrenia dopamine example is overly simplistic and isnt a valid diagnosis by itself.