Scientific Ststus Of Pschology Controversy Flashcards
(16 cards)
Main themes
- benefits of being a science to society and the economy
- changing nature of ‘science’
- costs of being a science
- methodologies used by the various approaches
Different stages of psychology over time (changing nature of science)
1879 - Wundt opened first psychology lab - tried to make more credible and scientific and to measure cognitive processes
- then psychodynamic approach Freud - behaviorist approach with Watson and skinner - humanistic approach with Roger’s and Maslow - cognitive - biological - positive - cognitive
whats paradigm shift (changing nature of science)
Paradigm = set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline
Paradigm shift = result of a scientific revolution - signif. Change in dominant unifying theory within this discipline
- argues that psych lacks paradigm eg behav argues psych causes by env while cognitive argues behaviour is caused by internal mental processes
How psychology changed significantly over time (changing nature)
Wundt started it in 1987
- paradigm shift from Wundt behav to bio to cog neuro
But humanitarian and positive approach have not shifted and not planning too
how approaches don’t have paradigm (changing nature of science)
Kuhn arguement (changing nature of science)
-3 main features of something becoming a science = pre-science, normal science, revolutionary science
-argued that psychology is pre science as it lacks paradigm and there is much to debate as to what the subject is and its theoretical matter
- hard to be considered a science while lacking key features of science e.g. freud case studies
changing nature of pschology means it can meet changing nature of science (changing nature of science)
pschology developed from no scientific elements (wundt and freud with no hypothesis or sceintific methods) to lab studies with pavlov and watson but no hypothesis
-now brain scans, lab studies, testable hypothesis = many paradigm shifts which is feature of Kuhns elements of science
-scientific reporting and checking thru peer reviews = all published work is up to scientific standards
conc (changing nature of science)
-more modern pyschological approaches could be considered to have scientific status
-utilises key featurs of objectivity and empiricism
- Not all approaches are scientific
Study that benefitted society and economy
- Drug therapies = randomised control trials with equal to or more than 99% certainty after statistical analysis, results were significant e.g. antipsychotics
saved NHS 22.5bil by not hospitalising as often, returning to work after MH episodes, institutions gone
-Loftus and Palmer - cognitive interviews which are used in the Justice system e.g. eye witness testimonies
What research lacks scientific rigor, causing unfounded claims about behaviour that can be harmful to society and economy
Freud - Oedipus and electra complex (attracted to parents) which lacks scientific rigor
harmful to society e.g. doesn’t account for same sex families, sexualises and harmful interpretations of healthy child-parent relations
-When research is published with no scientific rigor = less credible so peopel take pschology less seriously
pros of being a science
more funding from gov for therapies and research.
benefits of being a science to society and economy conclusion
scientific method allows for seperation of fact and opinion
-objective, scientific evidence leads to greater understanding of human behaviour but without it ? consequences can be harmful
-consequences = people won’t trust psychology so it won’t have applications
costs of being a science
by trying to force complex human behaviour to fit demands of scientific investigation, we could lose sight of what it is we are attempting to investigate in the first place
why are scientific methods not always suitable for psychology (costs of being a science)
-not always suitable for humans
-humans study other humans so its hard to be objective as we’ll already be looking for something and look at things with personal bias and viewpoints
- in labs, strangers interact in unusual ways = lacks ecological validity
alternatives to scientific approaches (costs of being a science)
-humans favour use of phenomenology (indivs report their conscious experiences in as pure and undistorted way as possible = argued to give deepest insight into experiences - would raise issues of reliability
costs of being a science conclusion
application of scientific method isn’t always suitbale for discpline - it can be argued that by following these scientific principles, the true nature of human behaviour can’t be studied
- The alternative of a more holistic, idiographic approach also has downfalls
