Psychology as a Science: Jaegwon Kim's Argument and Why it is Faulty

In 10 Myths About Psychology, Ben Ambridge discusses many of the myths that are used in psychology. The first common myth is about gender. Many believe that women are better with grammar and men are more intelligent when it comes to reading maps. While this is true the difference between the two genders in each of these subjects is very minimal. However, many believe that there is a dramatic difference. Another interesting myth involves being a right or left brained learner. In school many are led to believe that one side of the brain involves creativity and the other works with equations. Depending on which side of the brain is more active dictates which type of learner a person is. This leads to the assumption that left-handed people

There are eight theoretical perspectives in contemporary psychology. Any topic in psychology has many approaches that have a variety of perspectives for each that is given. Starting with the biological perspective, it is noted that physiology has played a major role in psychology. The organ systems such as the nervous system, endocrine system, immune system, and genetics are greatly emphasized in studying physical bases of human and animal behavior. Neuroscience more specifically studies the nervous system, particularly the brain. The next theoretical perspective is the cognitive perspective, which is a relatively modern approach. It focuses on the important role of mental processes in how people process and remember information, develop language,

There are 3 basic views that can be taken on the view of determinism, (1) deny its reality, either because of the existence of free will or on independent grounds; (2) accept its reality but argue for its compatibility with free will; or (3) accept its reality and deny its compatibility with free will.In this paper I am going to be defending the view compatibilism, specifically W. T. Stace’s view of compatibilism.

There are many different sub - fields of psychology, however it is possible to draw similarities and differences to all aspects of these fields. The main fields deal with the different approaches used by various psychologists throughout history. Whilst there are no 100% correct theories in Psychology to help to

In this approach we see the theories of psychology that see the human mind function based upon the interaction of forces and drives within the mind, normally this means unconscious thoughts, but it also includes looking at the different structures of the personality.

Ever since taking the decision to take a philosophy course I wonder if it was truly my own decision to take it or if it was determined by external factors. Now and then I keep in mind if my actions and thoughts are truly free or not. Is my daily routine of waking up in the morning, eating breakfast, driving to school, going to philosophy class, talking with friends, my own decision or not? In this paper I will present how Derk Pereboom argument against compatibilism does succeed. Furthermore, explain the reason why I agree with Pereboom’s defense on how hard incompatibilsm does exist, and explain why compatibilism does not.

The first term relevant to this paper is determinism. (Hard) Determinism is the philosophical idea that every action and decision a

The compatibilist’s rejection of premise five is rooted in his issue with how, in his view, Van Inwagen combines physical determinism and agent determinism, even though the two concepts are, in the

In the following paper I intend to compare and contrast the three major philosophical viewpoints regarding this question, and come to a

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

Studies such as the afore mentioned Milgram study showed that what may appear to be the most expected outcome may, in truth, be very different. I would also go on to argue that in actuality all sciences are some adaptation of common sense (Oppenheimer, 1956), leaving Psychology in this way, no different to any of the others. Ben Goldacre even argues that particular forms of science, such as neuroscience, regularly offer empirically incorrect research in reputable journals, claiming statistically significant results without the appropriate statistical tests (Guardian).

The field of psychology is steadily expanding due to the progression in technology, which is being driven by the advancement of civilization. More and more time is spent on the internet, which has gradually altered the method in which primary communication takes place. Previously face-to-face interaction was touted as the primary method of interfacing with one another, now communication via the internet is almost mandatory to establish and maintain healthy relationships (Greenfield and Yan, 2006). This is especially true amongst children, adolescents and teenagers. The need for psychologists have never been greater in order to assess how individuals are able to acclimate to this societal change. Traditionally, there are two methods in which children, adolescents and teenagers communicate via the internet, through social media and video games. Each primary method presents their own unique social challenge. In response to the issues in of teenagers over use of the internet, psychologists are providing assistance for internet addictions at a greater rate. The first method utilized by mental health professionals is traditionally counseling and if those efforts fail, then the potential exists for adolescents to be placed on medications.

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.

The subject of this paper has at least five names. Documentary Hypothesis and JEDP Theory are the most common. In this paper, this scholarly position will always be referred to as Documentary Hypothesis with a few exceptions.

We might think, on the basis of this last notion, that Gassendi has a good enough seventeenth century grasp of inductivist logic, and that it's rather deductivist logic he doesn't fully understand. Yet, while something is surely amiss in calling deductivist inference 'probabilistic', it seems Gassendi has hit upon a now-familiar, sensible point—that the use of deductive reasoning in empirical contexts, while providing certain formal guarantees, does not insulate empirical arguments from judgement by the measure of belief we invest in their premises. Such a view is possible for Gassendi to begin with because he is among those early Moderns who allow that we may have warrant for claims though we are not certain of them; this is the 'degrees of belief' concept which figures prominently in the development of modern probability theory. The more general point, which distinguishes Gassendi among his contemporaries, is that the strength all empirical claims share, irrespective of the way we infer them, consists in the