Reduction and Holism

What are the levels of explanation in reductionism?

Neurochemical< biological<environmental < psychological level< social-cultural level

What is biological reductionism and an example?

Reducing behaviour down to neurochemical and physiological levels of explanation

Abnormal Dopamine as the sole cause of SZ

What is environmental reductionism and an example of it?

Reducing behaviour down to learning from experience via stimulus response links

Two process for phobias

What is holism?

Complex phenomena as a whole should be explained without breaking it down into smaller components as behaviour is greater than the sum of its parts

The whole relies on the human experience

How does the development of antipsychotics support the use of reductionism to SZ?

Development of antipsychotics allow patients to participate in CBT, giving reductionism practical value

Cause of SZ can be more easily established if SZ is broken down into a biochemical level

Why can holism be argued for in the case of the DA hypothesis to treat SZ?

SZ is not just the sum of risk factors since biological factors like DA can interact with other risk factors differently in each person based on their individual experience

How can a holistic explanation the genetics in offending be a strength?

Can tailor approach for tackling and preventing offending behaviour to the individual, so better suit the individual compared to pre made programmes, leading to greater reduction in crime

What are some Arguements for reductionism?

-breaking down behaviour into smaller parts allow scientific testing, so cause of behaviour established more easily

-recognise importance of biological explanations which is beneficial as it allows for biological treatments like antipsychotics for SZ

What are some arguments against reductionism?

It may oversimplify behaviour, which leads to reduced validity of studies

Other factors influencing behaviour is not considered so less valid to explain individual cases

What are some arguments for holism?

Provides a more complete understanding of behaviours, so internal validity of studies using this approach is increased

More complete understanding so more reflective of how humans behave

Whole is not the sum of parts and it explains how factors combine together to cause behaviour

What are some arguments against holism?

It cannot be rigorously tested, since there are no variables to operationalise so holism is unscientific in comparison to reductionism, and reliable research can’t be gathered to support theories