REDUCTIONISM VS HOLISM

Definition of Reductionism:  behaviour can best explained by Reducing the whole person down to the simplest and smallest component,single simple explanation.

Definition of Holism: behaviour can be best explained by considering the whole person. A person cannot be broken down  into diffrent parts,

Interactionism is the mid point between the two extremes, Behaviour is best explained by studying how  several  diffrent levels of explanations interact together 

Approach:Biological reductionism,(biological).Enviroment reductionism,(Behaviourist)

 STRENGTH OF REDUCTI0NISM

 Has brought with it both analytic and scientific ways of attempting to understand and explain behaviour.

Helps with treatments 

Weakness of  reductionism

reductionism is over-simplistic,ignores the whole person 

ignores important interactions between various explanations

APPROACHES: Humanistic 

Strength of Holism 

1) Reminds us the whole person is important 

2) The holistic approach has helped in introducing  therapies (PCT) 

                                           Weakness of Holism 

1) Difficult to test scientifically 

negelects the importance of biological explanations