IS PSYCHOLOGY A SCIENCE?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TMXnh2
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Scientific Hierarchy
• List school subjects offered at this school
• Rank in order of how scientific they are.
• 2 minutes
• How did you come to the decision about
whether the subject was scientific?
These are the official criteria of a
science
1. It must use CONTROLLED
OBSERVATIONS
2. It must collect data in an
OBJECTIVE way and should not be
biased
3. It must test out the predictions
produced by its theories.
These are the official criteria of a
science
4. Scientific theories must be able to be
disproved by evidence
5. It should have a PARADIGM - a generally
agreement about WHAT should be studied
and HOW
6. REPLICABILITY – research need to be
able to be repeated to check findings
In groups of 2-3
• Good Science.
• Find examples of numbers 1-6 from what you
know e.g core studies, memory, approaches.
• Bad science.
• Use the same examples and make them
unscientific using 1-6 of the criteria.
Objectives for Lesson 2
• To look at the arguments about whether
psychology meets the criteria needed to be
considered a science.
• To understand the importance of reductionism
in science
• To look at the advantages of using the
scientific method in psychology
• To look at counterarguments.
The Controversial Questions
• If psychology – meets these criteria, then it is
a science.
• BUT – maybe not all of psychology can be
seen as scientific
• AND – maybe the scientific approach is not
the best way of understanding the complex
behaviour psychology is interested in
Some “levels” of Psychology are
scientific (so maybe it’s a science?)
• Biology explains a complex physical illness like
Flu by talking about the effect of a virus
getting into our blood.
• All the Flu symptoms we experience are
explained by the activity of the virus.
• This allows doctors to develop drugs to
counteract the effects of the virus.
• This is reductionism in action – and it works.
Some aspects of Psychology are
reductionist
• In pairs, think of two psychological approaches
that are reductionist in the way they explain
complex human behaviours.
• Perhaps you went for the COGNITIVE
approach – humans behave like computers?
• Perhaps you went for the BIOLOGICAL
approach – behaviour is determined by
neurotransmitters and hormones?
Reductionism is desirable in
Science
• Reduction is good in science because it allows
us to create testable predictions which we can
use in experiments - think of an example.
• Testing predictions in controlled experiments
is the basis of the scientific method
Scientific Method – why should
psychologists use it?
Empirical – information is gained from direct
observation
Objective – not affected by the researcher’s
expectations
Replication – experiments can be repeated to
check findings.
Scientific Method – why should
psychologists use it?
Reductionist theories are FALSIFIABLE. Popper
says the real goal of science is to try and
disprove a theory. Non-falsifiable theories are
unscientific.
In pairs, come up with some falsifiable theories
from psychology, and explain HOW they can be
falsified
Scientific Method – why should
psychologists use it?
However some areas of psychology have been
described as non-falsifiable.
In pairs, come up with a non-falsifiable theory
from psychology, and explain WHY it can’t be
falsified
Recap – Write down responses.
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•
•
•
•
What are the criteria for a science?
What is reductionism?
Why is reductionism desirable in science?
What is falsifiability?
Why is this a problem for some areas of
psychology?
• What do the words empirical and objective
mean?
• Ensure sheets are complete to page 2
Evaluation of the use of the
Scientific Method in Psychology –
Answer questions in pairs
Can all human behaviour be broken down into
it’s simplest parts? (Is he waving or drowning?)
Do reductionist explanations tell us the full
truth about human behaviour?
What issues arise from using the Scientific
method in psychology?
Objectivity, validity, ethics.
Counterargument – Psychology
can’t be objective
Psychological research is based on opinion, and
so can’t be objective like a “real science”. What
would you research if you had funding and
why?
Popper argued that scientists don’t just
observe, they base their observations on
theories. So it is impossible to be completely
objective. Read 1B on sheet and come up with
an example.
Counterargument – Psychology
can’t be objective
BUT – if humans study other humans, lots of
biases are likely – like what?
How could psychology be affected by Gender
Bias, Cultural Bias and Social Class Bias?
Also, psychological investigations often rely on
the INTERPRETATION of the observer
(Gibson&Walk, Langer&Rodin)
Counterargument – Psychology
can’t be objective
Skinner’s Box automatically records lever
presses by the rat – why could we still question
the box’s objectivity?
Why was Heather so dismissive of experiments?
What is the issue with EXTERNAL Validity?
What is Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle –
does it apply only to Psychology?
Objectives for Lesson 3
• To look at the argument that psychology is a
science because it shares the goals of science.
• To define Prediction, understanding and
control
Objectives for Lesson 3
• To look at the arguments about whether
psychology SHOULD be considered a science.
• To consider whether psychology has a
paradigm.
• To think about essay planning
Goals of Science
•
•
•
•
Definitions needed
Prediction
Understanding
Control
• In pairs identify examples in psychology
• Answer questions on the worksheet.
Goals of Science – Appropriate for
Psychology?
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs - Scientific
• Therapy – a science?
• Read and highlight the key points of
counterargument 2B
Arguments 3 – Scientific Research
is desirable
• Write a paragraph explaining WHY.
Arguments 4 – Does Psychology
have a pardigm?
• Explain Kuhn’s theory
• How does Psychology fit in?
Rough Essay Plan
• Controversial question
• What are the criteria for a science?
• Which aspects of psychology meet these?
Solid examples of research.
• What are the counterarguments? How is psychology
not scientific?
• How does psychology share the goals of science?
• Counter-arguments – do we want psychology to be
scientific? What are the disadvantages?
• Conclusions – is psychology a science? Should it be?
Example paragraph
• For a discipline to be seen as scientific it should have
a unified paradigm or shared set of assumptions
about the area of study, like biology studies all things
natural. It is generally agreed that Psychology is
about the human mind and behaviour even though
there are different ways of studying them. However
Kuhn argues that Psychology has no unifying
paradigm as psychologists disagree about whether to
study biology, the unconscious or conscious
thoughts. This suggests that it is questionable
whether psychology is a true science.