What is the reductionism vs holism debate in psychology?
The debate raises questions regarding the extent to which a theory explains a behaviour.
A reductionist theory in order to explain a complex phenomena reduces its constituent parts. i.e behaviour is greatly simplified. This is unrepresentative of the true nature of human behaviour.
A holistic theory takes into account all the constituent parts/factors that may contribute to behaviour and accepts that they all play a role in the specific outcomes. Such theories are more realistic and representative of human behaviour but do not establish any causation.
AM
Related Psychology A Level answers
All answers ▸A Level: What's the difference between 'reliability' and 'validity'?
Discuss the nature nurture debate in Psychology?
What is the difference between determinism and reductionism?
Using theories and/or studies, evaluate how the retrieval of memory can be affected by misleading information on eyewitness testimony