Reductionism and reductionist

Both of these terms refer to how behaviour and experiences are explained by a single factor, at the expense of all others. For example, it would be reductionist to state that development of a mental illness is only due to genetics. To say that aggression is only caused by learning would subject aggression to reductionism. There are several different types of reductionism:

• Physiological: where all behaviour and experiences are thought to be caused only by physiological factors, such as hormones
• Genetic: where all behaviour and experiences are thought to be caused by genetic inheritance
• Social: where all behaviour and experiences are thought to be caused by a person’s environment

When something is said to be reductionist, it is being criticised because it is not taking into account the full human experience – people are very complex and to state that their behaviour and experiences can be narrowed down (or reduced) to one single factor does not do justice to everything which makes them who they are.

Reductionism is also criticised because it gives people a very limited understanding of potential causes of behaviour and experience because it tends not to offer explanations for things. However, supporters of reductionism argue that it does help by breaking things down into small, basic parts in order for them to be explored more fully, the technical term for which is known as parsimony.

Reductionism tends to be applied in laboratory studies where it is easier to isolate variables and test whether or not they are influential. For example, testing if the temperature of the room affects the way in which people communicate with each other would be reductionist as the researchers are only looking at one variable – the temperature.

What is meant by holism and holistic?

In contrast to reductionism, holism refers to looking at the bigger picture – the sum of the parts, as it were. Qualitative methods of research are done holistically, as they reveal how and why things happen rather than simply stating that they do. Social psychology is also concerned with holism and, in this area, much of what is researched is done so in a holistic manner.

The holistic approach is one where all factors are taken into account, and it is in complete contrast to reductionism where a single factor is thought to account for all behaviour and experience.

In healthcare, people are cared for in a holistic way – their needs in all aspects of their life are taken into account in order for them to be fully understood and therefore have those needs met. In psychology we might argue that this works as a metaphor for finding out everything we can about something, so that we are better placed to understand it and do something about it, if this is what is required.

Qualitative methods are useful for carrying out holistic research as they look into why and how things are happening, which helps give a much broader overview of what is being studied.

How do reductionism and holism relate to research about human memory?

The cognitive approach, as we saw earlier in this unit, refers to how the mind is seen in the same way as a machine, where a series of mental processes are thought to account for certain functions such as memory, perception and language.

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Multi-store Model of Memory is considered to be reductionist. This is because it breaks memory up into separate components and tries to explain each one individually rather than looking at their effects as a whole. For example, it considers rehearsal as something separate when people are trying to remember something, without taking into account that it might be something else, which enables them to commit it to memory.

Bartlett’s study is more holistic because he used qualitative data collection methods to draw his conclusions. He tried to understand how individuals’ schemas contributed to the way in which they were able to reconstruct their memories by getting to know more about his participants before the start of the experiment. He considered their work role, for example, which he thought may be a contributing factor in the way they were able to remember.