5) Holism and Reductionism

Describe what is meant by reductionism?

Reductionism is based on the scientific assumption of parsimony.

• That complex phenomenas should be explained by the simplest underlying principles possible.

• ‘The sum of its parts equal the whole’.

Strong supporters of reductionism believe that behaviour and mental processes should be explained within the framework of basic sciences.

Describe what is meant by holism?

Holism argues that behaviours cannot be understood in terms of the components that make them up.

• ‘The whole being greater than the sum of its parts’.

In other words, human behaviour has its own properties that are not explicable in terms of the properties of the elements from which it derived.

Name the three levels of explanation for reductionism?

Highest level- social/cultural explanations:
When research attributes behaviour to social and cultural influences/norms.

Middle level- psychological explanations (cognitive, behavioural):

When research attributes behaviour to psychological explanations.

Lowest level- biological explanations(brain structure, genes, neurochemistry etc):
Where research attributes behaviour to strictly biological explanations.

Name the most reductionist level of explanation to the least reductionist?

MOST REDUCTIONIST:

• Biological

• Psychological

• Social and cultural

LEAST REDUCTIONIST:

Describe one concept that can be applied to all three levels of explaining reductionism?

MEMORY

Social and cultural:

BARTLETT: Suggests that cultural expectations affect our schemas which in turn, affect what we remember and how we recall information.

Psychological (cognitive, behavioural/environmental):
Cognitive psychologists examine particular aspects of memory.

MILLER: Examined the capacity of STM.

PETERSON AND PETERSON: Examined the duration of STM.

Biological (neurochemical, genetic, brain structure):

MAGUIRE ET AL: Found an association between the size of the hippocampus and memory for spatial navigation.

Name the two types of reductionism?

• Biological reductionism

• Environmental reductionism

Describe biological reductionism?

Biological reductionism refers to the way that biological psychology tries to reduce behaviour to a physical level.

• We are biological organisms made up of physiological structures and processes.

• It explains behaviours in terms of neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones, brain structure etc…

  • E.G: The biological approach to OCD claims that it is caused by high levels of dopamine and low levels of serotonin.

    • Reducing a complex disorder down to 2 neurotransmitters.

Describe environmental reductionism?

Environmental reductionism refers to the way behaviourists assume that all behaviour can be reduced to simple building blocks.

STIMULUS- RESPONSE (SR) ASSOCIATIONS:

As behaviourism is only interested in observable behaviours.

• They argue that complex behaviours are a series of different S-R association chains.

  • e.g: the behaviourist approach to phobias claims it is caused by classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.

  • Reduces the disorder to a series of S-R associations and links.

Name two examples of holistic psychology?

• Humanistic psychology

• Gestalt psychology

Describe gestalt psychology as an example of holism?

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY is an example of a holistic approach to the theory of perception.

• They claim that when we perceive something in the real world, that we do so as a whole rather than as a collection of bits and pieces.

What we see only makes sense when we see the whole image, and not just the individual elements.

Describe humanistic psychology as an example of psychology?

They claim that humans react to stimuli in a really organised and holistic manner rather than a set of stimulus response association links.

• They also use qualitative methods to investigate all aspects of the individual as well as the interactions between them.

The aim is to take an overview of human understanding.

Evaluate strengths of reductionism (and limitations of holism)?

REDUCTIONISM SUPPORTS PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE:

Scientists ( including psychologists wishing to be included in that description) are drawn to more reductionist explanations.

• For example, most experimental psychology is based on the assumption that human behaviour can be studied effectively if we reduce it to simple experiments.

  • Reducing a complex behaviour to its isolated variables.

This allows researchers to study the different factors that influence human behaviour in a controlled manner (allowing for replicability) while establishing a causal relationship.

• If we can claim causality then we can state that one factor has a clear effect on our dependant variable.

Consequently, both biological and environmental reductionism are therefore viewed as scientific approaches compared to holism which is not.

REDUCTIONISM SUPPORTS REAL WORLD APPLICATION:

Biological reductionism has led to the development of biological therapies.

SOOMORO ET AL:

Found that SSRIs are more effective than placebos at treating the symptoms of OCD and can reduce these symptoms for up to 3 months after treatment.

• Demonstrates that the use of SSRIs in OCD patients has helped to greatly reduce the anxiety associated with OCD.

• Thus providing relief for patients when drugs administered.

Therefore, many patients lives have been improved.

Evaluate limitations of reductionism (strengths of holism)?

REDUCTIONISM IS LIMITED:

Biological reductionism can lead to errors of understanding as it has a tendency to ignore the complexity of human behaviour.

• For example, to treat conditions such as depression with drugs, is holding the belief that the condition consists of nothing more than a neurochemical imbalance.

• We can treat depression with drugs but it does not mean we have cured it, just masked the symptoms.

• Furthermore, the causation argument applies- is it the imbalance of chemicals causing the behaviour change or vice versa?

As the success rates of drug therapies are highly variable and never 100%, the purely biologically reductionist point of view is inadequate.

Explanations need to consider other factors to gain real understanding of what causes depression.

REDUCTIONIST METHODOLOGY:

Environmental reductionism comes from behaviourist theory.

• Based on a stimulus-response association and much of the foundation of research comes from non-human animals.

• To what extent can we generalise findings from dogs and rats to people?

From a holistic perspective, it is too simplistic to say that these behaviours are universal, given how different we are.

• It does not appreciate the social context in which humans are born into.

Furthermore, if we rely purely on stimulus-response, then how do we test the more ‘difficult to measure’ variables such as emotion?

Using holistic methodology would arguably provide a fuller understanding.