Holism vs Reductionism

Holism

‘holos’ - means ‘all’ in Greek

the idea that human behaviour should be viewed as a whole integrated experience, not as separate parts

Reductionism

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

Levels of explanation using OCD as an example

different ways to explain behaviour

socio-cultural level - OCD interrupts social relationships

psychological level - the person’s experience of anxiety

physical level - movements, e.g. washing ones hands

environmental/behavioural level - learning experiences

physiological level - abnormal functioning in the frontal lobes

neurochemical level - underproduction of serotonin

increase in reductionism moving upwards

Biological reductionism

behaviour is reduced to a physical level and explained in terms of neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones, brain structure etc

Environmental reductionism

aka stimulus-response reductionism

behaviour can be reduced to the simple building blocks of stimulus response associations

Gestalt Psychology

when we perceive something in the real world, we do so as a whole rather than as a collection of bits and pieces (holistic)

Social and cultural explanations

the influence of social groups on behaviour

Psychological explanations

cognitive/behavioural/environmental

Example of social and cultural explanations in memory research

can be explained at a social and cultural level, as research suggests that cultural expectations affect what we remember and how we recall information (Bartlett, 1932 - schema theory)

Example of psychological explanations in memory research

e.g. cognitive psychologists examine certain aspects of memory. E.g., Miller (1956) examined the capacity of STM and Peterson and Peterson (1959) examined duration of STM

Example of biological explanations in memory research

e.g. Maguire et al. (2000) found an association between size of hippocampus and memory for spatial navigation

Example of biological reductionism in psychopathology research

biological approach claims OCD is caused by higher levels of dopamine and lower levels of serotonin

Example of environmental reductionism in psychopathology research

behaviourist approach claims phobias are initiated through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

Humanistic psychology

argues that humans react to stimuli as a whole, rather than a set of stimulus-response links. Uses qualitative methods to investigate all aspects of the individual, as well as the interactions between people (holism)¬a!q

Psychology as a science

STRENGTH

P: Scientists are drawn to reductionist explanations

E: E.g., most experimental psychology is based on the assumption that human behaviour can be studied effectively in relatively simple experiments, where complex behaviour is reduced to isolated variables (known as experimental reductionism)

C: This allows researchers to study the different factors that influence behaviour in a controlled manner while establishing causal relationships. Consequently, both biological and environmental reductionism are viewed as scientific approaches, whereas holism is not

Reductionism is limited

LIMITATION

P: Some psychologists argue that biological reductionism can lead to errors of understanding because it ignores the complexity of human behaviour

E: E.g., to treat conditions like ADHD with drugs in the belief that the condition consists of nothing more than neurochemical imbalances is to mistake the symptoms of the phenomenon for its true cause. Ritalin may reduce these symptoms, but the conditions which gave rise to the ADHD have not been addressed

C: Furthermore, since success rates of drug therapies are highly variable, the purely biological understanding seems inadequate and therefore explanations which consider multiple factors are more suitable

Approaches linked to reductionism

• Biological - biological reductionism

  behaviour is broken down into biological processes

• Behaviourist - environmental reductionism

  behaviour is broken down into simple stimulus-response associations

• Social learning theory - partially reductionist

  shares elements of both behaviourist and cognitive approach

• Cognitive - experimental reductionism

  behaviour is investigated in terms of isolated variables (e.g. STM capacity)

• Psychodynamic

  behaviour is reduced to innate drives

Approaches linked to holism

• Psychodynamic

  takes multiple aspects of human behaviour into account

• Humanist

  focuses on understanding all aspects of human experience and interaction

Holistic group insight

STRENGTH

P: An advantage of holism is that often, there are aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood at the level of the individual group members

E: For instance, the effects of conformity to social roles and the de-individuation 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

C: This shows that holistic/same level explanations provide a more complete and global understanding of behaviour than reductionist approaches

Effective combined approach

STRENGTH

P: Another alternative to reductionism, which is subtly different to holism, is the interactionist stance

E: Whereas holism is more concerned with higher level explanations of behaviour, such as the behaviour of individuals within a group,, interactionism considers how different levels of explanation may combine and interact. An example of this approach is the diathesis-stress model which has been used to explain the onset of mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and OCD. Such disorders are seen to come about as the result of a predisposition which is triggered by some stressor

C: This model has led to amore multidisciplinary and holistic approach to treatment - combining drugs and family therapy, for instance - and is associated with lower relapse rates

Difficulties with drug therapies

LIMITATION

P: Drug therapies are fraught with difficulties

E: Their success rates are variable and they treat the symptoms not the causes, and thus may not have lasting effects

C: Therefore, reducing mental illness to the biological level (i.e. biological reductionism) ignores the context and function of such behaviour. Psychological explanations take more account of these and have produced many successful therapies

Hierarchy of sciences

most reductionist at the bottom