· Behaviorism – believes that behavior can be broken down to its simple building blocks of S-R (stimuli and response). Additionally, it also argues that complex behaviors are made up of a series of stimuli-response chains.

3 · STRUCTURALISM – THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST APPROACHES WHEN IT COMES TO PSYCHOLOGY. It attempts to break down conscious experience into its constituent parts or basic parts. The constituent parts of the conscious experience are feelings, sensations, and images.

· Biopsychology – reductionists are usually the explanation for the mental illness cause. The cause of mental disorder is neurochemical imbalance and genetics. 3 LOOKING AT SCHIZOPHRENIA AS ANOTHER EXAMPLE, THE PRODUCTION OF EXCESS NEUROTRANSMITTER CALLED DOPAMINE IS THE CAUSE OF THIS DISORDER.

The methods and thinking of reductionist are the foundation for many areas of modern science that is well-developed. What is commonly known it that many aspects of chemistry trace their roots to physics. The importance of reductionist approach relies on the reason to which they are put. For instance, investigating the response of brain to faces may show a lot about how people recognize faces.

Holism

Holism is a concept that calls for looking at something as a whole, but not the constituent parts. It argues that looking at something as a whole is better than the sum of its parts. Holistic position is reflected by humanistic approach. 3 HOLISTIC VIEW IS ALSO TAKEN BY SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. 7 IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF EXPLANATION ACCORDING TO HOLISTIC APPROACH. There are emergent properties at each and every level of explanation. These emergent properties cannot be reduced to ones that are below. The explanations of reductionists that may work during some situations are seen to be inappropriate when it comes to holism. The study of human subjectivity cannot be studied through the use of reductionism since the emergent properties that one is required to consider is that of the whole person.

Holistic approach makes it possible for researchers to look at processes by themselves and arrive at conclusion with regards to complex information, such as pattern, configuration, and process. The approach also turns out to be important when understanding a system in a collective manner. Examples of some elements that can be understood in a collective manner are an organization as a whole, group culture, and team spirit among others. Observation through a holistic view makes it easy to understand the verbal and physical behavior spontaneously. Most of holistic observations begin with a research question. 8 THE RESEARCH STRATEGIES THAT ARE UTILIZED WITH HOLISTIC APPROACH APPLY QUALITATIVE COMPARISON INSTEAD OF QUALIFICATION. This promotes theory building and assists in causal interferences. Provision of the holistic approach makes it possible to understand the whole system.

9 EXAMPLES OF HOLISM IN PSYCHOLOGY

· Humanistic – this psychology looks at all aspects of a person together with one’s interaction with other people (Jackson, 2006).

· Social – social psychology analyzes the behavior of people with regards to the social context. 3 GROUP BEHAVIOR, SUCH AS DE-INDIVIDUALIZATION OR CONFORMITY MAY GIVE SIGNS OF CHARACTERISTICS, WHICH ARE BIGGER THAN THE SUM OF PERSONS WHICH COMPRISE IT.

· PSYCHOANALYSIS – INTERACTIONIST APPROACH WAS ADOPTED BY FREUD BY CONSIDERING THAT BEHAVIOR OF PEOPLE BEING DUE TO DYNAMIC INTERACTION BETWEEN SUPEREGO, EGO, AND ID (MALANSON, 1999).

· ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY – MENTAL DISORDERS IN PEOPLE ARE EXPLAINED BY AN INTERACTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL FACTORS. 1 THERE IS AN APPROACH TO THERAPY THAT MAKES USE OF BOTH PSYCHOTHERAPY AND DRUGS. This approach is termed as eclectic.

· Perception – this is a process where the brain is able to understand and interpret sensory information. Visual illusion gives evidence that human beings perceive more than the small parts of the sensations in the retina.

Holism holds a better edge when compared to reductionism. This is because of interconnection, nature, and complexity of systems. Many organizations that have been facing problems with regards to performance have managed to move past their problems due to the use of holistic approach. Many changes that these organizations have managed to come up with are as a result of looking at their problems from the whole organization’s perspective. Wholes, such as a whole organization are composites. They have internal structure together with characteristic or function that differentiates them from mechanical contractions, aggregates, and addition. For example, science makes assumptions based on mechanical hypothesis. An organization can be termed as holistic when employees within the organization find their in the whole organization. This can also apply to a society when person can find his or her identity from the whole organization (Jackson, 2006).

10 COMPARE AND CONTRAST HOLISM VERSUS REDUCTIONISM

Both reductionism and holism are philosophical concepts that relates to the analysis of any system. There is difference when one looks at the origin of the two theories. The origin of reductionism can be traced back to 1600 when Newton and Descartes made use of the law of thought of Aristotle to explain their theories. Holism, on the other hand, was first used in the year 1926 by a South African statesman known as Jan Smut. Smuts first used the concept in his book titled Holism and evolution.

Holism argues that entity or natural system can be viewed as a whole. For example human behavior and human mind can be looked at as a whole. Looking at components parts is not enough to explain one’s behavior. Reductionists, on the other hand, try to explain their argument through the use of machine. They state that machine is the sum of its smaller parts.

Emotions, such as sarcasm and anger cannot be understood by analyzing the individual body parts. It is only possible to study them through the holistic view point that is, looking at it as a whole. Turbulence, which is a phenomenon usually learned in fluid dynamics cannot be explained by reductionist view point. The concept is about irregular motion of air. It can only be explained through holism. When it comes to neurology, those supporting holism state that human brain is a homogeneous part, which has no specific sub parts. However, localizationists argue in a different manner. They argue that human brain is organized in unique cortical areas. These unique cortical areas function differently.

References

11 JACKSON, M.C (2006). Creative holism: 12 A CRITICAL SYSTEMS APPROACH TO COMPLEX PROBLEM

situations. 6 SYSTEMS RESEARCH & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, 23(5), 647-657. doi: 13 10.1002/SRES.799.

Malanson, G. P. (1999). Considering complexity. Annals of The Association Of American

14 OSTRENG.PDF VERSCHUREN, P.M (2001). 6 HOLISM VERSUS REDUCTIONISM IN MODERN SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH,

13 QUALITY AND QUANTITY, 35(4). 389.

Citations (14/14)

1. 1Another student's paper

2. 2Another student's paper

3. 3http://www.simplypsychology.org/reductionism-holism.html

4. 4Another student's paper

5. 5Another student's paper

6. 6Another student's paper

7. 7Another student's paper

8. 8Another student's paper

9. 9http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations/AAI8422829/

10. 10Another student's paper

11. 11Another student's paper

12. 12Another user's paper

13. 13Another student's paper

14. 14Another student's paper

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