Discuss Holism and Reductionism in Psychology (16 marks)
The Holism and reductionism debate focuses on whether complex human behaviour can be
reduced into simpler components.
The Holistic approach is the idea that human behaviour can be best understood by analysing a
person as a whole, rather than breaking their behaviour and experiences in separate distinct parts.
For example, Gestalt psychologists claimed the whole is greater than the sum of it parts' and its
inappropriate breaking up behavior as it should be viewed as a whole.
The Reductionist approach argues human behavior is best studied by breaking behaviors down
into smaller parts. For example, biological reductionism is a type of reductionism that sees all
biological organisms made up of physiological structure and processes and it reduces human
behavior no matter how complex in terms of neuron, neurotransmitter, hormones etc. For
example, biological psychologists argue that OCD is caused by the neurotransmitter dopamine
and serotonin. Whereas Environmental reductionism attempts to explain all behavior in terms of
stimuli and response links. A further example is that biological reductionism has led to the
development of biological therapies, such as drugs. For example, SSRIs are more effective than
placebos at treating the symptoms of OCD and reduce the symptoms for up to three months after
the treatment (Soomro et al., 2008). An example of environmental reductionism come from the
behavioral explanation of Phobias which argues phobias are acquired by classical conditioning
and are maintained by operant conditioning.
A strength of reductionism is that is has scientific credibility. For example, the reductionist
approach often forms the basis of scientific research as target behaviours are reduced into smaller
parts so they can be studied effectively. This as a result allows researchers to study different
factors that influence human behavior in a controlled manner while establishing causal
relationships. Thus, this gives psychology greater credibility as both biological and
environmental reductionism are viewed as scientific approaches whereas holism is not.
A strength of holism is that it can explain key aspect of social behaviour. This is because there
are some aspects of social behaviour which only begin within a group context and so cannot be
explained by looking at individual members. For example, the effects of deindividualization of
prisoners and guards in the Stanford prison experiment could not be understood by studying the
participants as individuals. This was because it was the interactions between the people that was
important. Therefore, this suggest holistic explanations are needed for a more complete
understanding of behaviour rather than reductionist approaches.
A limitation of reductionism is that some psychologists argue that biological reductionism can
lead to errors of understanding human behaviour because it ignores the fact that human
behaviour is complex. For example, to treat conditions such as ADHD with drugs it is believed
that the condition is caused because of neurochemical imbalances is to mistake the symptom of
the phenomenon for its true cause. Ritalin may reduce the symptoms, but the causes of ADHD
has not been addressed. Moreover, since success rates of drug therapies is highly variable, the
purely biological understanding seems inadequate. Whereas holistic explanations attempt to
The Holism and reductionism debate focuses on whether complex human behaviour can be
reduced into simpler components.
The Holistic approach is the idea that human behaviour can be best understood by analysing a
person as a whole, rather than breaking their behaviour and experiences in separate distinct parts.
For example, Gestalt psychologists claimed the whole is greater than the sum of it parts' and its
inappropriate breaking up behavior as it should be viewed as a whole.
The Reductionist approach argues human behavior is best studied by breaking behaviors down
into smaller parts. For example, biological reductionism is a type of reductionism that sees all
biological organisms made up of physiological structure and processes and it reduces human
behavior no matter how complex in terms of neuron, neurotransmitter, hormones etc. For
example, biological psychologists argue that OCD is caused by the neurotransmitter dopamine
and serotonin. Whereas Environmental reductionism attempts to explain all behavior in terms of
stimuli and response links. A further example is that biological reductionism has led to the
development of biological therapies, such as drugs. For example, SSRIs are more effective than
placebos at treating the symptoms of OCD and reduce the symptoms for up to three months after
the treatment (Soomro et al., 2008). An example of environmental reductionism come from the
behavioral explanation of Phobias which argues phobias are acquired by classical conditioning
and are maintained by operant conditioning.
A strength of reductionism is that is has scientific credibility. For example, the reductionist
approach often forms the basis of scientific research as target behaviours are reduced into smaller
parts so they can be studied effectively. This as a result allows researchers to study different
factors that influence human behavior in a controlled manner while establishing causal
relationships. Thus, this gives psychology greater credibility as both biological and
environmental reductionism are viewed as scientific approaches whereas holism is not.
A strength of holism is that it can explain key aspect of social behaviour. This is because there
are some aspects of social behaviour which only begin within a group context and so cannot be
explained by looking at individual members. For example, the effects of deindividualization of
prisoners and guards in the Stanford prison experiment could not be understood by studying the
participants as individuals. This was because it was the interactions between the people that was
important. Therefore, this suggest holistic explanations are needed for a more complete
understanding of behaviour rather than reductionist approaches.
A limitation of reductionism is that some psychologists argue that biological reductionism can
lead to errors of understanding human behaviour because it ignores the fact that human
behaviour is complex. For example, to treat conditions such as ADHD with drugs it is believed
that the condition is caused because of neurochemical imbalances is to mistake the symptom of
the phenomenon for its true cause. Ritalin may reduce the symptoms, but the causes of ADHD
has not been addressed. Moreover, since success rates of drug therapies is highly variable, the
purely biological understanding seems inadequate. Whereas holistic explanations attempt to
