Reductionism/ Holism

Question 1

Key concepts?

Answer 1

Reductionism:
Complex explanations can be reduced to the sum of more fundamental things.

Holism:
Living matter is made up of unified wholes that are greater than the simple sum of their parts.

Question 2

Applications?

Answer 2

Medical models:
Help reduce complex psychological disorders to simple chemical changes in the brain leading to psychological disorders (depression)

Question 3

Links to core studies?

Answer 3

Casey:
Explained delay of gratification in terms of brain structures (frontal lobe)

Baron-Cohen:
Reduced explanations of autism spectrum disorder to a lack of theory of mind.

Question 4

Similarities and differences?

Answer 4

Similarities:
Reductionism is similar to determinism (reduce to chemical changed which control our behaviour)

differences:
Reductionism differs from situational explanations (where a more holistic approach is needed because behaviour is harder to quantify)

Question 5

Evaluations?

Answer 5

+ Scientific
breaking complex systems down to lower-level units may enhance understanding.

-Oversimplification
May fail to represent the true complexity of behaviour (emotions)