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HOLISM & REDUCTIONISM - Coggle Diagram

- - - - socio-cultural level
        
        psyological level
        
        physical level
        
        environmental/behavioural level
        
        physiological level
        
        neurchemical level
- - - - holistic accounts of human behaviour tend to become hard to use as they become more complex. If there are many different factors that contribute to a mental illness then it becomes difficult to know which is he most influenetial 0 hard to know which to prioritise as basis of therapy. This suggest that holistic account may lack practical value
    - - for example zimabrdos stud shows that the effects of conformity to social roles in the prisoners and guards could not be understood by observing the participants as individuals. It was the interaction between people and the behaviour of the group that was important. There is no conformity gene so social processes like conformity can only be explained at the level at which the occur.
        
        This suggest that for some behaviours higher level explanation provide a more valid account
  - - - counterpoint: reductionism can oversimplify complex phenomena, leading to reduced validity. For example explanations that operate at the level of the gene or neurotransmitter do not include an analysis of the social context within which behaviour occurs and this could be where the behaviour derives from . This suggest that reductionism can only offer a partial explanation
      - by breaking down target behaviours not constituent parts it makes them easier t operationalise and this is necessary to conduct well-controlled research. This scientific approach gives psychology greater credibility, placing it on equal terms with the natural sciences
        
        example: Ainsworth's strange situation - operationalised componenet behaviours such as separation anxiety (behavioural categories)