Reductionism in Psychology

Introduction to reductionism as a technique in psychological research.

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Introduction

In psychology, reductionism refers to a theory that seems to over-simplify human behavior or cognitive processes, and in doing so, neglects to explain the complexities of the mind.

Reductionist theories tend to be based on the assumption that everything can be considered in terms of its smallest constituent parts. In psychology, therefore, we may see the brain in terms of the atoms that it is composed of, and assuming that no other "forces" are influencing them, our behavior and cognitive processes must be based on the way in which these atoms behave and interact with each other. This atomist approach lays the foundation for the biological research in psychology.

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Examples of Reductionism

"Reductionist" is a common criticism of many approaches and theories in psychology.

• The biological approach naturally ignores humans' free-will to act as they please when it explains behavior in terms of hereditary tendencies and chemical imbalance.
• In applying scientific methods, the cognitive approach to psychology, too, may be understood to ignore individual differences in animals and humans, which make us think or behave differently to one another. Instead, it attempts to apply generalised theories to human thinking in the hope that all humans think in a uniform manner.

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