controversy 3 : scientific status of psychology Flashcards
(16 cards)
what are the scientific criteria?
- science uses empirical methods to gather data
- methods should also be reported in detail so other can replicate results and verify findings
- controlled conditions so extraneous variables reduced and can establish cause and effect in IV and DV
- should be able to generalise findings
what is the hypothetico-deductive model?
Karl Popper - falsifiability
- hypothetico phase, observations yield information that is used to formulate theories
- deductive phase, predictions are made from theories (hypothesis) that can be tested leading to adjustments
what is a paradigm?
a paradigm is a dominant framework or set of shared assumptions, theories and methods that guide scientific research
- for a subject to be scientific it needs a shared paradigm
is psychology a science according to Kuhn?
- yes because psychology has gone through some paradigm shifts, from behaviourism to cognitive psychology
- no because it is not as unified as physics or biology since multiple paradigms still exist today
Kuhn suggests that psychology is still in a ‘pre-paradigm’ or ‘multi-paradigm’ phase rather than having a single dominant scientific framework. this challenges psychology’s status as a fully developed science
what does psychology need to be a science?
- use empirical methods rather than speculation, belief or subjective interpretation
- report the methods so others can attempt to replicate and verify findings
- conduct research under controlled conditions so extraneous variables are minimised and to establish cause and effect
- follow the hypothetico-deductive model
- follow one unifying paradigm
what are the arguments for psychology being a science?
in most parts, psychology is scientific as the theories come from observed and general hypotheses that can be tested and falsified
- Raine’s brain scans from NGRI murderers, participants were matched on key variables like age so replicability is possible
- behaviourists like Pavlov and Skinner conducted controlled experiments on animals to assess operant and classical conditioning, their hypotheses could be falsified
- Loftus and Palmer’s cognitive research used controlled lab settings to see relationship between IV and DV, methods were reported to be replicated
- psychology has gone through paradigm shifts
what are the arguments against psychology being a science?
- not all areas of psychology follow the scientific process, idiographic models tend themselves to research bias and subjective interpretation, Freud’s theory can explain many things so there’s no way to disprove it so the approach is pseudoscientific because it can’t be falsified
- some concepts are difficult to measure and operationalise
-human behaviour has more extraneous variables that are difficult to control and isolate than other sciences - can’t always run rigorous experiments due to ethical issues
- psychology doesn’t have a unified paradigm like the other sciences
(costs + benefits) what are the benefits of psychology being a science?
- scientific credibility
- by using a nomothetic approach, we can help more people
- predictive and deterministic
- high internal validity
(costs + benefits) what are the costs of psychology being a science?
- loss of subjective experience
- nomothetic approach mean we aren’t tailoring explanations to individual circumstances
- ignores free will
- lack of ecological validity
(changing nature) brief history of psychology as a science
- Wundt officially started psychology in 1879 at the first experimental psychology lab in Germany
- he studied human internal mental processing by using experimental methods and introspection, introspection is self-observation where people carefully analyse the contents of their own thoughts
- introspection is now seen as unreliable and unscientific, it is open to falsification
(changing nature) psychodynamic era
- late C19th Freud developed the psychodynamic approach which focused more on the unconscious mind
- many psychologists thought mental illness was caused by physical problems but psychodynamics stressed the importance of psychological factors and childhood experience
- more idiographic techniques and many believe that psychodynamic methods reduce the scientific status of psychology as they are unfalsifiable
(changing nature) rise of behaviourism and scientific methodology
- 1920s to 1950s behaviourism rose ad became the key paradigm
- they said that if you can’t see the mind then you can’t study it
- behaviourism wanted to make psychology more scientifically disciplined by focusing only on observable behaviour and following Popper’s hypothetico-deductive model, their theories could be tested and falsified
- behaviourists also felt you could conduct controlled experiments on animals and generalise findings to humans, showing a change in methodology
(changing nature) the cognitive revolution
- 1950s to 1960s the cognitive revolution began to take hold of psychology and replace psychodynamic and behaviourism, showing another paradigm shift
- they were still interested in looking at observable things but also mental processes
- the emergence of computers and new technology enabled psychologists to study the mind scientifically by using computer or technology analogies to explain mental processes then testing these with experiments
- their models could be falsified and followed the hypothetico-deductive process
(changing nature) neuroscientific paradigm
1990s to present
- neuroscientific and biological paradigm has solidified psychology’s status as a science by emphasising biological mechanisms, brain function and empirical methodologies
- advances in technology and genetics allowed psychology to study the biological basis of behaviour objectively and psychology aligning itself with natural sciences like biology and chemistry
- the neuroscientific paradigm has strengthened psychology’s scientific credibility by providing objective, replicable, falsifiable and biologically based explanations for human behaviour
(changing nature) psychology today and into the future
- major replication crisis as many famous studies have failed to replicate, crisis has led to psychology refining its methods and adopting better research practices
- more idiographic and qualitative research has come back to fashion
- to combat the issue of ecological validity, some research is moving out of labs and into real world applications
- AI can improve data collection, analysis and prediction. it can analyse massive datasets, used to analyse patient data to the most effective therapy/medication, design experiments and generate hypotheses
- many psychologists don’t identify with just one single school of thought, this eclectic approach has contributed new ideas and theories which will continue to shape psychology for years to come
(methodologies)
