Holism vs Reductionism

Holism

Theory which suggest that it’s more logical to study an entire system rather than its individual parts

Reductionism

Belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down

Biological reductionism

Theory which argues that human behaviour is caused purely by biology

Environmental reductionism

Theory which suggest that human behaviour is caused purely by stimulus-response links

Levels of explanation in psychology

• Sociocultural

• Psychological

• Physical

• Physiological

  • Neurochemical

Holism Evaluation

• Holism provides a more global and complete understanding of behaviour, especially social behaviours

• Hard to scientifically test holistic theories e.g. humanism

  • Do not identify what in particular may cause a behaviour, limiting treatment options

Reductionism evaluation

• In order to conduct experiments, behaviour must be broken down and attributed to a certain cause

• Highly scientific

• Oversimplifies complex phenomena