Holism and reductionism: levels of explanation in psychology. Biological reductionism and environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism.

Qualification: A-Level Psychology
Paper: Issues and options in psychology
Unit: Issues and debates in psychology
Assessment criteria: Holism and reductionism: levels of explanation in psychology. Biological reductionism and environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism.

• Holism = A way of understanding behaviour and the mind by focusing on looking at things as a whole from an outside perspective.
• Holism looks at multiple factors such as biology, environment and social in order to determine why behaviour may have occurred.
• Reductionism = Opposite to holism as it looks at things more closely and simply in order to understand behaviour.
• Biological reductionism = The belief human characteristics, both mental and external, are determined by hereditary factors.
• Environmental reductionism = The belief our external sources such as our environment determines our behaviour.