Exam (elaborations)
issues and debates 16 marker questions and answers
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- Issues and Debates
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- AQA
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1. ‘Psychologists sometimes adopt a reductionist approach to their investigations whenthey want their research to be objective and empirical.’
Discuss reductionism in psychological research. Refer to the statement above in your
answer. [16 marks] ✔13/16
PLAN
- Reductionism : breaking someone’s behaviour down to one thing.
- Environmental reductionism (behaviourist approach), cognitive reductionism
(cognitive approach) and biological reductionism (biological approach)
- Objective : reduces researcher bias
- Empirical : making something observable and measurable
- However SLT? (both cognitive and environmental)
Reductionism is breaking someone’s behaviour down to being influenced by purely one
thing. Researchers tend to have research which is more objective (limits researcher bias)
and empirical (something that is observable and measurable) when it is reductionist because
it is focusing on one cause rather than many other factors which is seen in a holistic
approach.
Environmental reductionism is breaking someone down based on their environment. The
behaviourist approach is a great example of this as it demonstrates how our behaviour is
influenced purely by the factors in our environment e.g operant and classical conditioning.
For example in operant conditioning it looks at how our behaviour is learnt through
consequences. Positive reinforcement is when we do a behaviour and get rewarded and so
we repeat the behaviour, punishment is when we do a certain behaviour we are punished
(negative outcome) and so it discourages us from repeating the behaviour. Negative
reinforcement is avoiding/escaping a situation to prevent a consequence. B/F skinner did a
test on rats which showed objectivity and how the research was empirical. He had a rat
press a lever and everytime it pressed the lever it wa rewarded with food (positive
reinforcement), whenerve it didn’t press the lever it was punished with an electric shock
(punishment) and so to avoid the pain of electrocution, the rat would press the lever
(negative reinforcement). This is empirical because the study is observable as he looked at
the behaviour of the rat when its environment changed in turn with its behaviour and it was
also objective as Skinner was not biassed with the sample because it was on animals. One
strength is that it goes into depth about how our environment causes behaviour specifically
through consequences and this is a great foundation to our knowledge of how a person can
be purely encouraged by their environment. However it was very unethical as the rats were
poorly treated and harmed them considerably but without this study we would be limited in
explanation. Another strength is that due to this reductionist study we can apply it to real
world application and it explains why human behaviour is easily caused by the external
world.
Cognitive reductionism is breaking someone down to their internal mental states. The
cognitive approach is a good example of this sort of reductionism however the research
gathered is solely based on subjective results as looking at someone’s mental state is very
hard to measure, therefore it may not be as empirical as we would like it to be. Furthermore
research can also be quite biassed as we are gaining the information via self report of
, interviews, therapies etc. Therefore participants may withhold information, make up or forget
information therefore we cannot rely on this data. Unlike reductionism, holism shows how
more than one factor can shape an individual and in this case it can make it easier to
observe someone and also make it measurable. Social learning theory is more holistic as it
looks at both cognitive and environmental aspects. Cognitive includes the mediational
factors of how someone observes and then imitates someone else's behaviour and
environment through vicarious reinforcement. Still it has empirical evidence and is objective
e.g Bandura’s study looked at how children observe and imitate people that they would see
as role models as well as through vicarious reinforcement. It was done in a controlled
environment making it empirical and the researcher collected data through observation
making it more objective as well. Therefore not all research that is reductionist shows
empirical evidence and objectivity.
Biological reductionism is reducing someone’s behaviour to their biology. Evidence and
psychological research is incredibly empirical and objective which supports the statement
above. The study on Phineas Gage was to look at the localisation and function of the brain.
He had an iron pole in his frontal lobe and from his friends, his personality completely
changed from a welcoming and kind personality to a headstrong and stubborn person. This
shows how he can measure that the frontal lobes are to do with his personality functioning
and it was easily observable by how that affected his behaviour. This shows how this
highlights empirical evidence successfully and it was value free from bias, therefore good
objectivity. This shows how biological research can be very reliable as it then provides us
with a more in depth understanding of the bodily functions and how that can be a primary
cause of behaviour as well.
contrasts with holism – studying and valuing human experience as a whole, considering
meaning, feeling, personal experience/context. Only by studying the whole can we really
understand human experience • some behaviours, particularly social behaviours can only
really be investigated in the holistic context in which they occur • usefulness of reductionist
treatments, eg use of drugs – effectiveness can be empirically tested
1. There are different levels of explanation in psychology, ranging from reductionism to
holism.
Discuss levels of explanation in psychology. Refer to one or more topics in your answer.[16
marks]
The levels of explanation stem from reductionism. Reductionism ultimately is when you
reduce/break down someone’s behaviour to one specific thing. The levels decrease from the
most reductionist to the least : socio-cultural (believing it is based on the social norms and
cultural standards), psychological (based on internal mental processes), physical (based on
what you do physically), environmental (based on what is in your environment/surroundings),
physiological (based on what happens internally in your body) and lastly, neurochemical (to
do with nerves etc.)
Biological and environmental reductionism are 2 main types. Biological is to do with the
neurochemical and physiological categories. It is when we break someone down based on
their biology only. There are many studies that do that including research into the SCN. The
SCN is said to govern our sleep/wake cycle and is known as a endogenous pacemaker (an
internal body clock that influences our biological rhythms), it is said to be located in the
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