Analysis: Is Psychology A Real Science?

mind and behavior”. A fuller description is offered by the NHS “Psychology is a science

Psychological studies are mainly based on the direct observation of human behavior, rather than reasoning or speculation. Psychology is like any other subject- the majority of people have a very shallow and basic understanding of what the study involves, and yet they lack a crucial knowledge of the major struggles and disagreements among those who study it. It does not surprise me that psychology is one of the more popular majors available. By nature, it sparks human curiosity, especially as to what contributes to the system of our thoughts and the pattern in our behaviors. For the first eighteen

Psychology is defined as the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, psychology is useful in many ways.

Psychology can be presented by the media in forms such as magazine or newspaper articles, and the most popular today is through commercials watched on TV. Psychology is presented in a form of science today compared to what it was viewed as in the late 1800s and onto the 1900s. It is more of a science nature because viewers have to think about the meaning of the article or commercial to understand the message that is being presented. Then, psychology was viewed as a form or common sense. Psychology was never really looked at as a science but rather as philosophy in the 1980s. The public was often confused with the subject of psychology because it was always

There has been an ongoing debate on whether psychology is indeed scientific, although recent, psychology is now considered a science. This is because it uses scientific methodology in researching, devising treatments and measuring the outcomes. These methods include collecting and analysing data and concluding their findings in order to identify whether the research or treatment adequality solves the problem. Scientific studies must be replicable, this means the if repeated exactly the same, the results should produce an identical outcome. Replicability can be increased by ruling out any alternatives that may not have originally been thought of. Objectivity in science is the idea that scientist, in an attempt to get the best results, must first

Psychology is defined by Merriam-Webster, as the science of mind and behavior. It is a study of how an individual's psyche can be created, developed, altered or destroyed. Carol Gilligan, a Harvard Graduate School professor, for many years has analyzed the psychological theory and development, specifically in a book entitled In A Different Voice.

Psychology is an integrated science that is based in research that challenges us to explore the connection between our behavior and the brain (Cherry). This definition is very similar to what Dr. Correia does. He does research and clinical work to figure out the connection of the behavior of his patients to their brain to

Jaegwon Kim thinks that multiple realizability of mental properties would bring about the conclusion that psychology is most likely not a science. Several functionalists, specially, Fodor, take up the opposing stance to Kim, supporting that the multiple realizability of mental states is one of the reasons why psychology is an autonomous and justifiable science. Essentially, Kim think that in order for mental states to be multiply realizable then psychology must be fundamentally broken; with human psychology encompassing properties realized for humans and alien psychology encompassing those mental states realized in the alien way etc. I will demonstrate that even if one supports and allows the principles behind Kim’s argument they do not

Many centuries have passed and a majority of the public still rejects the belief that psychology is not a science, however, there are many points made in How to Think Straight about Psychology that supports the idea that psychology is, in fact, a science. It first begins with the problem that Freud created; ultimately making theories with no science-based evidence which I think made the science and subject of psychology begin with a bad start. Stanovich explains in this chapter that, because there are multiple fields of psychology, it doesn’t make much sense to put them all in the same category. The public was not clearly seeing one important characteristic of psychology that made it a science: “the main search for psychologists was to completely understand human behavior by using the methods of science.” (p. 2) I am convinced that, because psychologists were

In order to be considered a science, Psychology must consequently adhere to using a scientific method. If this were, as usual,

* Refers to the private thoughts, emotions, feelings, and motives that other people can not directly observe.

Authored by Keith E. Stanovich, How to Think Straight About Psychology is a known work of the psychology world which was published in 1986. Beginning courses in psychology use his text frequently. Stanovich primary purpose for writing the text is to bring attention to his observation that the public’s understanding of psychology is different from psychology as a modern science. Psychology as a modern science explains the underlying functions that shape human attitudes and behavior. To the people who misunderstand this, the field of psychology is not a real science, but a pseudo-science instead. How to Think Straight About Psychology describes people’s several false impressions of psychology and it gives its readers a factual understanding of the field as a modern and scientific psychology while explaining how this science works.

Psychology is the study of the science of the mind and the resulting behaviour. Looking to understand and explain to an extent how we think, act and feel. There are many branches of psychology looking at treatments of mental health issues, studying a variety of issues that may impact our health and daily life’s.

Psychology is defined as the study of the human mind and its functions the mind is studied through experimentation and observation and just like the other sciences, needs empirical evidence, therefore, it is a science. There has always been a large debate about it though because the mind is such a tricky topic, some people even go on to call it an art which they back up with valid points. Psychology is different from many other sciences because it’s less concrete. For example in chemistry, biology and physics most things we learn about are laws, well in Psychology there are no laws that have been discovered yet. Because the mind is such a sensitive thing laws are tricky because there could always be one outcast, the same doesn’t apply for the other sciences though because if we are told that the mass of one Oxygen atom is 15.999 g/mol, we could never find one Oxygen atom that wasn’t 15.999 g/mol. As there are differences there are also similarities between Psychology and other sciences. One similarity as stated before is that psychology as all other sciences need empirical evidence to support claims and make theories and, for other sciences, laws. Another similarity is that things like “common sense” and popular opinion aren’t always the best to use to find answers you’re looking for.

Together, can a conclusion be made? The conclusion being that science helps many parts of our lives? “Like all science, psychology is knowledge: and like science, it is knowledge of a definite thing, the mind” in this quote by James Mark Baldwin, it states that psychology is a science, a science that is being used in many different ways. Unlike usual science, that teach us about cells, rocks, and animals, this science gives us a glimpse of something that everyone has and something that everyone has questions about… the mind! Psychology helps us in many different ways, and one of those ways is to help police catch criminals. Psychology helps the police force catch criminals by looking at behavior patterns that these criminals have when it comes to committing crimes, looking into the criminals’ past, and allowing the formation of a special unit. It is important to remember that the use of psychology to catch criminals isn’t just for any type of criminal, but mostly helps law enforcement catch violent criminals namely, serial killers, serial rapists, serial arsonists, and terrorists. Many argue that using psychology in profiling is not a sound science and law enforcement is making a guess rather than an educated assessment.