holism vs reductionism Flashcards

Question

evaluation: lower levels have practical applications

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

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

Answer 6

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.

holism vs reductionism Flashcards

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