Pschy Case

Ludy, B. (1986). Why don't they understand us? A history of psychology's public image. American Psychologists, 41, 941-946.

The history of psychology is in infancy at the present time. Many philosophers can be credited to the development of this science. Starting in the early 18th and 19th centuries philosophers such as Rene’ Descartes and John Locke opened the world of what we know as psychology today. The British empiricists also contributed to psychology. Some of these men include David Hume and David Hartley.

Theories are a series of interconnected proposals. Theories are an effort to describe, explain, predict, and finally control a period of events. We are able to base our experiments and select the contenders for the experiments off of our theories. We are able to test our theories by how well the cumulated data describes, relates to and predicts reality. Theories act as patterns for interpreting specific data that we may refer back to. These patterns ensure we stay on topic and are able to obtain the proper results needed to verify our theories.

Compare and contrast Wilhelm Wundt’s (1832-1920) and Edward Titchener’s (1867-1927) systems of Psychology.History of Psychology

1. A scientific theory is a concept that ties together many varied conclusions into a generalized

B. By finding places in the brain where behavioral traits lie, we can begin to understand that there may be people who have neuropathological disorders.

a. When you make a hypothesis, you have an idea that could potentially explain a phenomenon. A theory, on the other hand, is a hypothesis “that has withstood experimental tests” completed by numerous scientists independently. (Slater)

A theory is an explanation of why or how things are related to each other (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Additionally, a theory is defined as a plausible or scientifically acceptable principle, or a body of principles, offered to explain phenomena (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017). Furthermore, crime theories examine and attempt to identify relationships among humans, criminal behavior, and specific factors such as biological factors, psychological factors, sociological factors, and economic factors (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Since we have defined a theory, let us further discuss how theories are created beginning with the components of a theory.

Wood, S. , & Wood, E. (1999). The Essential World of Psychology. Maine: Allyn & Bacon

In the scientific world, the word “theory” is formally used to describe a collection of hypothesis, facts and observations of an aspect of the natural world. A theory for science is something that already has a very well grounded explanation, evidences and a model to confirm or not the theory. Also, a theory is open to new hypothesis and new observations. For example the Evolution Theory, Relativity Theory. However, in the daily language, “theory” is widely used to describe something that people are not sure about, some hypothesis that someone makes to suppose an event. For example, when a flashlight does not want to work, we make a theory that the batteries are dead.

Theories come after the observation of the fact. Theory is a proposed explanation to understand something and the fact is the something that can be observable or something that is

A theory is a group of ideas, which are testable to prove or disprove a hypothesis of a given situation. (Meriam Webster, 2011) A theory is the starting point of most research, when trying to determine an answer against a given situation or question. The goal of a theory is to justify and support a claim that needs to explain what is being done and demonstrate that it works. The components of a theory are concepts and principles. A concept is a general idea, a plan, and an intention. A principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning. Concepts and principles help us to understand or explain what is going on around us and predict impending events.

A theory is primarily meant to explain or predict an event, behaviour or outcome. Proponents of a theory look for evidence to support the theory. This evidence should be independently observed and consistent after repeated observations. Some theories are speculative or ideas or guesses floated to encourage researchers to undertake the observations required to prove or disprove the theory. The question often debated is what comes

Since the time of psychology’s origins in the 1500 's where Leonardo da Vinci 's stated that there might be a relationship between the human brain and a person 's psychological processes, psychology history and research has grown tremendously over centuries. Some of the most important events in psychology includes: William Wundt creating the first psychology lab in Germany to the American psychiatric Association (APA) publishing the first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). These events and many more have advanced the field of psychology, yet I found two other events in psychology history that caught my attention the most: G. Stanley Hall who established the first psychology lab in the United States at John Hopkins University and B.F skinner developing a theory called operant condition on animals through reinforcement and punishment. Both events are important to the growth of psychology. in the development of the discipline of psychology.

who had trained as a physician. He was the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United