Q. ‘Psychologists sometimes adopt a reductionist approach to their investigations when they want
their research to be objective and empirical.’ Discuss reductionism in psychological research. Refer to
the statement above in your answer. (16 marks)
AO1= 6
AO2= 4
AO3= 6
A. Reductionism is the belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller
constituent parts, however it may be also be seen as a theory that oversimplifies complex processes.
This is often seen as a problem as it means that the reductionist approach often ignores variables that
contribute to the subject being discussed. Three examples of reductionism include:
Biological reductionism states that we are biological organisms made up of physiological structures and
processes. Thus, all behaviour is at some level biological and so can be explained through
neurochemical, neurophysiological, evolutionary and genetic influences. This is the assumption of the
biological approach. It has been successfully applied, the effects of psychoactive drugs on the brain have
contributed much to our understanding of neural processes and the fact it might be possible to explain
serious mental disorders such as OCD, depression and schizophrenia at a biochemical level.
The behaviorist approach is built on environmental reductionism. Behaviorists study observable
behaviour only, and in doing so, break complex learning up into simple stimulus-response links that are
measurable within the laboratory.
The key unit of analysis occurs at the physical level- the behaviorist approach doesn’t concern itself with
cognitive processes of the mind that occur at the psychological level. The mind is regarded as a “black
box”- irrelevant to our understanding of behaviour. John Watson saw the process as a form of “sub-
vocal” (silent) speech, characterized by physical movement the same as any other behaviour.
Many psychologists may adapt experimental reductionism for the purpose of investigation in order to
make it more empirical is it allows them to reduce complex behaviour down to an isolated variable for
the purpose of testing. While the multi-store memory model suggest that memory consists of three
stores and each store has its own coding, capacity and duration; cognitive psychologists often examine
memory in terms of isolated variables. Thus, experimental reductionism underpins the experimental
approach as complex behaviors are reduced to operationalised isolated variables in order to measure
and determine casual relationships.
Milgram also used nomothetic methods in his obedience study- this was used as it makes the
investigation more objective and empirical, as it is statistic based. However, he later used idiographic
interviews to understand individual and this made it less reductionist as reductionist approach is not the
only answer to understanding a subject as there are other factors, which it may ignore- making the
results obtained inaccurate.
Some researchers would suggest that the disciplines towards the top of a reductionist hierarchy
(sociology, psychology) will eventually be replaced by those towards the bottom (biology, chemistry,
physics) as our understanding of social and psychological phenomena increases.
1
their research to be objective and empirical.’ Discuss reductionism in psychological research. Refer to
the statement above in your answer. (16 marks)
AO1= 6
AO2= 4
AO3= 6
A. Reductionism is the belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller
constituent parts, however it may be also be seen as a theory that oversimplifies complex processes.
This is often seen as a problem as it means that the reductionist approach often ignores variables that
contribute to the subject being discussed. Three examples of reductionism include:
Biological reductionism states that we are biological organisms made up of physiological structures and
processes. Thus, all behaviour is at some level biological and so can be explained through
neurochemical, neurophysiological, evolutionary and genetic influences. This is the assumption of the
biological approach. It has been successfully applied, the effects of psychoactive drugs on the brain have
contributed much to our understanding of neural processes and the fact it might be possible to explain
serious mental disorders such as OCD, depression and schizophrenia at a biochemical level.
The behaviorist approach is built on environmental reductionism. Behaviorists study observable
behaviour only, and in doing so, break complex learning up into simple stimulus-response links that are
measurable within the laboratory.
The key unit of analysis occurs at the physical level- the behaviorist approach doesn’t concern itself with
cognitive processes of the mind that occur at the psychological level. The mind is regarded as a “black
box”- irrelevant to our understanding of behaviour. John Watson saw the process as a form of “sub-
vocal” (silent) speech, characterized by physical movement the same as any other behaviour.
Many psychologists may adapt experimental reductionism for the purpose of investigation in order to
make it more empirical is it allows them to reduce complex behaviour down to an isolated variable for
the purpose of testing. While the multi-store memory model suggest that memory consists of three
stores and each store has its own coding, capacity and duration; cognitive psychologists often examine
memory in terms of isolated variables. Thus, experimental reductionism underpins the experimental
approach as complex behaviors are reduced to operationalised isolated variables in order to measure
and determine casual relationships.
Milgram also used nomothetic methods in his obedience study- this was used as it makes the
investigation more objective and empirical, as it is statistic based. However, he later used idiographic
interviews to understand individual and this made it less reductionist as reductionist approach is not the
only answer to understanding a subject as there are other factors, which it may ignore- making the
results obtained inaccurate.
Some researchers would suggest that the disciplines towards the top of a reductionist hierarchy
(sociology, psychology) will eventually be replaced by those towards the bottom (biology, chemistry,
physics) as our understanding of social and psychological phenomena increases.
1
