What Makes Psychology Scientific?

496 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Advantages and disadvantages of scientific method in Psychology

Science is the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. (Science(2017) https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/science) Components of scientific knowledge are both Theory and Data. If all we have is a theory and no data to back it up then all we have is speculation. If you have data and no theory we have nothing but senseless information. (T.L.Brink (2011) what makes psychology scientific? https://canvas.instructure.com ) Because of this, the scientific method is a crucial part of psychology, as it analyses and investigates human behaviour the study of; past, controlled and natural observations of the present …show more content…

This is the first step of the scientific method, which is a problem that has been identified; the next step would be to gather as much relevant data on the situation and could come in the form of case studies or sampling, surveys, interviews, naturalistic observations and lab, field and true experiments. This formulates a hypothesis using the data collected; a small pilot study would then be used to check your study is feasible before a long and full investigation. The last and most important step which is testing and modifying the hypothesis as this is where your hypothesis is proven true or false and a review of the data to find a new hypothesis till the true answer is revealed. While conducting these experiments three variables must be used they are Dependant variable, which is tested and measured, independent variable which is manipulated to test the effects on the dependant variable and the extraneous variable which can cause errors or challenges.(Kendra Cherry(2016)What

Show More
Related

  • Ap Psychology Research Paper

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychology can be broadly defined as the scientific and systematic study of people’s behavior and mental processes.

    Read More

  • First Hand Investigations

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, when observations are made, hypothesises are formed. To test these hypothesises scientists conduct experiments. If their hypothesis is right, it is confirmed by further experiments and validated by other scientists. After many experiments and confirmations, a theory is formed. A scientific theory is a broad and general idea or explanation provided by scientists and is related to observations and is supported by a large amount of evidence. A theory is not a fact however it is just a possible explanation. An example of a theory is the Big Bang Theory.

    Read More

  • The Effect Of Negative Body Talk On An Diverse Sample Of College Students

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    The scientific method is how psychologists gain knowledge about the mind and behavior. It is used by all scientists. The experimental method is the one way to engage the scientific method, and the only way to find a cause and effect in relationships. It is summarized in five steps, observing some phenomenon in the world, forming a hypothesis which is an educated prediction about relationships between two or more variables, examining the gathered information by using empirical research, determining what the results are and drawing them, and evaluating the results whether it will support the hypothesis or not. Researchers, at the end, submit their work for publication for all to see and read (King, 2016). There are three types of psychological research in the scientific method, descriptive research, correlation, and experimental research (King, 2016). The article The Effects of Negative Body Talk in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of College Students (Katrevich, Register, & Aruguete, 2014) is an example of the experimental method.

    Read More

  • What Is Psychology?

    384 Words  | 1 Pages

    Psychology is the study of the behavior of living organisms. The people that study the behaviors are called psychologists. There have been many studies done by these people to try and figure out why people or animal do the things they do. Psychology's four main goals are to describe what occurred, explain why it occurred, predict what event is likely to occur next, and to change to prevent unwanted outcomes. Psychologists study the process of thinking, learning, cognition, emotions, motivations, and personalities. An example of one study that has been done would be why a dog salivates to the sound of a bell and show. This behavior is due to a conditioned stimulus becoming a conditioned response. Another experiment done was with a baby and a white mouse to see if the baby would be scared if something happened while grabbing for the mouse.

    Read More

  • The Use of the Scientific Method in Psychology

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    This essay examines the advantages and disadvantages of using a method primarily for gathering research on human subjects that can be examined for later use. It will give a basic outline of the methods of investigation, their uses and their suitability. I will also look at the scientific method as a whole and examine the criticisms of this method using the writings of Hume and Popper.

    Read More

  • What´s Psychology?

    1373 Words  | 3 Pages

    My choice of research was in the play behaviors of children as well as aggression. Breaking the topic down more, behavior relates to the psychology and the psyche of each individual. The definition of psychology is “science of mind and behavior” (Clavijo, 2013). After reading the article by Clavijo, I have realized that psychology can be defined in three ways such as the study of the mind, the study of behavior, and the study of the mind and behavior. In the text “The Developing Person” by Berger, behavior is learned through social learning. Children learn different behaviors through the observation of others, others being children and adults. Different people have affects on a child’s life that can affect their behavior. A child’s behavior is heavily influenced by their parents. A son may speak aggressively and without respect towards his mother because this is the way that his father speaks to her therefore he feels that is how to communicate with his mother (Berger, 200, 2012). Moving into play behaviors, children learn from other children in how to play. Most believe cognitive growth relies on child’s play time. Vygotsky and Piaget both believe that when children play it is beneficial, but according to Vygotsky, playing enables a child to think outside the box and create their own meaning from objects, using their imagination. Piaget believes that child benefit from playing together because children and sharing their knowledge and making it more concrete ideas and thoughts. There are four stages of plays, with the fourth stage being the highest most complicated play which consists of rules and guidelines for the game. The lowest level or play would be functional play being infants shaking rattles, clapping their hands, or blow...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Psychology In Psychology

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior. In psychology, and all of the other sciences, relying on opinions is abandoned in order to find out which explanations best fit the evidence or data given. Science continually forces us to question our findings and conclusions. Over time, psychology has advanced greatly and a main reason for such progressiveness is because of the change in the research model used.

    Read More

  • Is Psychology a Science?

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order to be considered a science, Psychology must consequently adhere to using a scientific method. If this were, as usual, taken to mean the accumulation of knowledge through systematic observation or experimentation, Psychology would likely not have an issue in being recognised, however traditional views of a science mean most areas, with the exception of Behaviourism, would not be considered a science in their own right.

    Read More

  • Scientific Method Essay

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    resolve problems. With the scientific method you have four steps to follow which include defining the

    Read More

  • What is Science

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Science is the observation of natural events and conditions in order to discover facts about them and to formulate laws and principles based on these facts. Academic Press Dictionary of Science & Technology --------------------------------------------------------------------- Science is an intellectual activity carried on by humans that is designed to discover information about the natural world in which humans live and to discover the ways in which this information can be organized into meaningful patterns. A primary aim of science is to collect facts (data).

    Read More

  • The Difference Between Scientific Knowledge and Other Types of Knowledge

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Common Sense Sociology

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    The fourth step is to formulate a hypothesis; a statement of what you expect your result to be. The fifth step is to choose a research method; a way that you can collect data accurately and precisely. The sixth step is to collect the data and to make sure it is as reliable as possible. The seventh step is analyzing the results, and the eighth step is to share the results. a. There is a combination of things in a person’s life that can contribute to that person becoming a rapist, but we cannot pin point one exact thing as the cause; it is a variety of things.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Research in Psychology

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    Research is a necessary skill in the Psychology field because it is the key to observing, diagnosing, and treating clients with psychological problems. “Among the health care professions clinical psychology is one of few to provide extensive research training.” (Howes, 1996) Clinical Psychologist uses the scientific method as the procedure for research. Psychology is the only mental health discipline that has its roots in academic research rather than in practice. “Research is the foundation of all Clinical Psychology activities.” (Plante, 2005)

    Read More

  • The Myth Of Science Essay

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    The steps that are included in most pre-college textbooks are defining the problem, gathering background information, forming a hypothesis, making observations, testing the hypothesis, drawing conclusions, and communicating the results, but this method is not used. One reason for this myth is the way results are published in research journals because it makes people believe that scientists follow a certain research plan. Philosophers have shown that no research procedure is applied by all scientists. Usually scientists use imagination, knowledge, perseverance, and other methods used by problem solvers. This myth teaches that science is not different from other challenges that humans face. This myth has a chance to be corrected because many newer textbooks are taking the method out of the discussions of

    Read More

  • The Nature of Psychology

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    Psychology is the scientific study and practical application of observable behavior and mental processes of organisms. Psychology differs from other social sciences such as: Sociology, History, or Economics, because psychology specifically deals with the study of an individual. The other social sciences will study groups, or history. Psychology is less a science of reported findings, it attempts asks and answers questions using observable behavior and what can be determined as mental processes of the subject. The symbol for psychology is the Greek letter “psi” (Ø). The subject matter of psychology is, affect, behavior, and cognition. The affect for psychology is the actual mental processes that make up: moods, feeling, and emotional state. An example for affect would be feeling sad about something happening. Behavior includes the actually actions and responses of organisms. Behavior can include the way we act in any given situation, for example when we get up in the morning. The order in the way we prepare ourselves for going out into public can be categorized as our behavior. Cognition is the actual mental events and the processes that result from them. Memories of an event are a great example of an organism’s cognition. The components and corresponding faces of psychology include the body of knowledge which is considered the teaching face, set of investigative methods or research face, and array of techniques the therapy face. The goals of psychology are: to explain behaviors, to describe behaviors, to predict behavior, and to modify inappropriate behaviors. Explaining behaviors would be a question similar to “Why does this happen?”, and example of how describing behavior could be accomplished would be asking “What causes this behavior, where does it come from?”. Predictions can be elaborated on by asking “When will the behavior occur?”. An example of a behavioral modification question is “What can be changed in the environment to alter this behavior?”. A specialized subfield of psychology that most interests me is, Forensic Psychology, because it would be appealing to me to understand a potential criminal mind and to make the determination if the criminal was sane at the time the crime was committed or if he/she was operating with full judgment. In studying the 9/11 attack on America, a Forensic Psyc...

    Read More

More about What Makes Psychology Scientific?

Open Document