Psychology is an integral part of our modern society, and its influence is quite widespread. Many important decisions, which are made in our society, can be based on psychology - decisions which affect the lives of many people. This is why it is important to determine whether or not psychology is a science. The answer to the question if psychology is a science is not a simple 'yes' or 'no' – it depends on the area of psychological study, on the theory used within an area, and often on the way the researcher chooses to study a phenomenon ( Makunda, 1997). It also depends on what is meant by 'scientific' – for the philosopher of science Karl Popper, for instance, the most important criterion was what he called 'falsifiability'. There are also other criteria of science, which I am going to present in this essay. I will examine different psychological theories in the light of different aspects of scientific endeavour. Defining science is not an easy task. There are many different concepts of science. According to Webster (1992) science is the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena, through objective means. Put it simply scientists conduct experiments and observations to collect data about world and to explain these facts. Chalmers (1999) states that science is something visible, touchable, hearable, rather than opinions or beliefs. Davies says that: “Science is a structure based upon facts”(as cited in Chalmers, 1999, p. 1). The American Heritage Science Dictionary appears to encompass the general consensus, and defines science as: “The investigation of natural phenomena through observation, theoretical explanation, and experimentation, or the knowledge produced... ... middle of paper ... ...aim at scientific principles to measure the whole world. In many areas of psychology there is no attempt to generalise from some human behaviour to all human behaviour. .It might be a more worthwhile exercise to divide psychology into its separate fields and ask the question of each. It could be argued that the behaviorist approach is the most scientific, focussing on what people do, rather than how they think; something that is observable. The approach ignores speculation while putting emphasis on objectivity. Conversely, most of Freud’s theories within the psychodynamic approach seem untestable, unfalsifiable and, ultimately, unscientific. The question and answer sessions associated with psychoanalysis rely on introspection, of which there is scientific doubt. Without doubt is that he debate of psychology as a science will probably remain a debate for some time.
As Fodor states in his 1997 papers conclusion one must not only attack the generalizations but also the evidence, predictions and then the generalizations don’t actually yield true results. As he simply states, “You have to actually do the science,” (Fodor, 1997. p.162). Once you do this you can clearly see that mental states can be multiply realized in so far that results are logically confirmed. Through examples and explicating why Kim’s conclusion is a fallacy I have shown that Fodor’s conclusion that psychology is a science is valid.
Science is a word that carries with it many meanings - knowledge, truth, a process of examination. But when it comes to setting a clear definition of the term, difficulties arise. Certainly physics is science, and theology isn't. But many disciplines are less intuitively dichotomized, such as the fields of psychology, history, ethics, and many others. Are these sciences?
Westen, D. (1998). The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud: toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 333.
Humans have inhabited the Earth for thousands of years and it is perceived by many that we are among the most intellectual species on this planet. Although having lived on this planet for so long, being able to distinguish fact from fiction has escaped the minds of many. People of today’s society are easily influenced by what is told to them instead of what can be proven. Believing in something that has no scientific evidence is not only absurd but can be classified simply as ignorance. Many of the erratic ideas that are believed by many today have originated in a time where superstition was more popular than science. These beliefs appear to be proven by science, but in reality are not valid and frequently confused with true psychology, this is called pseudoscience or psuedopyschology. These beliefs remain intact for many years primarily because those who choose to believe these psuedopyschologies are the ones who try to prove that they are in fact valid, and tend to ignore the evidence that proves them wrong.
The development of psychology like all other sciences started with great minds debating unknown topics and searching for unknown answers. Early philosophers and psychologists such as Sir Francis Bacon and Charles Darwin took a scientific approach to psychology by introducing the ideas of measurement and biology into the way an indi...
The problem that plagues Sir Popper is the clear definition of science and pseudoscience. Though the empirical method is common to both, the level of inferential data varies greatly. One can amass large amounts of data by observing human behavior, but data alone is not the stuff of scientific theory. Theories must be assembled fusing factual data, and inducive reasoning. The point of induction seems to be where science and pseudoscience must part ways. A scientific theory will, after applying raw data, leave little room for inference. On the other hand, a pseudoscience allows the experiment to progress in any number of directions. Popper becomes quite aware of this dilemna of the social scientist when he applies both Freud and Adlers conflicting psychological theories to the same test case, and they perform equally well. This brings him to the question of whether social theories explain human behavior or simply adapt to it. Physical sciences, as the name implies, depend on physical eveidence to defend their theories.
There is a claim that psychoanalysis fails at the fourth stage of the standard scientific method model because there has not been any significant accumulation of knowledge for the theory since it was introduced. It seems that nothing has progressed, and as such, one could state that since there has not been any advancements, psychoanalysis is simply unscientific.
When applying different theories to different individuals it is important to consider your own thoughts and feelings about the person and the situation being analyzed. Freud believed we are products of our own environment. The environment that influences me may not be the same environment or society that influences our two case studies Hal, or Ellen. Beware of ethnocentrism. Different cultures may exhibit different behaviors than one's own. Know your own egocentric viewpoint. Not everyone perceives or thinks as I do. And finally just because one theory seemed to explain the thoughts and behaviors of an individual does not mean that theory applies to all people.
Psychology is the investigation of the mind and how it processes and directs our thoughts, actions and conceptions. However, in 1879 Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Nevertheless, the origins of psychology go all the way back thousands of years starting with the early Greeks. This foundation is closely connected to biology and philosophy; and especially the subfields of physiology which is the study of the roles of living things and epistemology, which is the study of comprehension and how we understand what we have learned. The connection to physiology and epistemology is often viewed as psychology, which is the hybrid offspring of those two fields of investigation.
Psychology formerly integrated with the subject philosophy; these two formerly considered as one. Philosophy was the center of all learning but many academicians focus more on mathematics, physics, and biology. By the late 1800s, many philosophers created their own disciplines and the era of modern psychology slowly emerged. They soon began calling themselves psychologist. Authors have varying opinion about the founding fathers of the said science; some traces its roots as far as Aristotle and Plato (Benjafield 1996). Other authors believe that modern psychology started at the introduction of experimental psychology and for this reason, several experimental psychologist were also named the father of psychology including, Wilhelm Wundt and Gustav Fechner (Matson, 2009). However, one thing is for sure about psychology – it originated in Europe and introduced in the United States sometime in the late 1880s. Prior to this period, psychology crosses the realms of the paranormal because many practitioners at that time engaged themselves in psychic healing and spiritual quest. They were known as pseudo-psychologists and they were particularly popular in Germany. At the onset of modern psychology in the United State, the discipline focused more on the academics. American psychologists at that time put more emphasis on teaching rather than engaging themselves in research. It was at this period when several schools of thoughts emerged to explain behavior, cognition, and consciousness. In this paper, two of the earliest school of thoughts will be discussed. These are Structuralism and Functionalism. These two will be compared and contrasted.
In terms of a traditional science, one key point is empiricism: a reliance on observations of behaviours instead of our logical reasoning, to further aid explanations of why humans act in certain ways (Valentine, 1992:5). In this way Psychology could be considered a science as psychologists are constantly monitoring behaviours some may perceive as common sense, for example Milgram’s study into obedience (1974). However, for an outcome of any observation to be correct, we must have faith in how it was measured. Two further questions arise from this in relation to Psychology as a scientific measure: whether Psychology doe’s mis-measure, and secondly whether, as some propose, Psychology is ordinari...
In psychology, like other disciplines of science, it is important to be conscious of the processes used in research. Peer-review and critical reflection are valuable for advancement in any area of science. Early in the study of cognition, described as the mental processes we use to gain knowledge, form thoughts, and understand these, behaviorism and introspection were found to be of limited use.
Personal observations of human behavior are often unreliable because their interpretations are not conducted in an objective, unbiased manner. The observations will often be subjective, and may reflect that person’s feelings or perspectives. When a personal observation is made of human behavior, prior life experiences, personal feelings and perceptions render the results unreliable, because they cannot be viewed or interpreted by anyone else. The general purpose of psychology is to describe, explain, predict and control or influence behavior and mental processes. Psychologists use these goals to observe and research, along with the use of the scientific method. The scientific method is a way of conducting research, and is used to guide scientists by demanding that the evidence is always valid and verifiable, and not subjective. The scientific method serves as a guideline for researchers and assists in lessening the possibility of unreliable results or errors in their conclusions.
Sigmund Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory suggests that human behavior and personality is influenced by unconscious motives. In the early 1900s, Freud proposed this theory, stating that the personality consists of the id, the ego, and the superego. Psychodynamic psychologists see behavior as a compromise between the three areas of our psyche. These psychologists study human behavior by looking for deeper meanings in peoples’ thoughts and actions. Today, many of Freud’s ideas have been criticized for being too abstract and objective, but that does not mean that his work is without merit. The Psychodynamic Theory has redefined patient-therapist relationships and our understanding of thought processes and response patterns.
Science is the body of organized knowledge. Science is the collection of ideas and theories and the methodology used by people to prove them. It is the set of methods that people follow in order to explain the things that they see, the things that they perceive and the things that they believe in.