Chapter 10: Is psychology a science? Flashcards
What two messages was psychology promoted on the basis of?
Respectful past - continued old and respected tradition
Scientific method - like other disciplines
Methodolatry
Tendency to see methodology as the only requirement for something to be a science
Why do psychologists keep on using the scientific method?
- systematicity and cumulativeness of knowledge
- well-defined methods
- clarity
- predictability
- revisability and falsification
Pseudoscience
Wants to be a science but doesn’t do the science things
Why is psychology not a science?
- public perception and stereotypes of psychologists compared to scientists
- practitioners usually are not interested in research
- psychological findings are perceived as easy and accessible
- too geared to how the mind works instead of thoughts, beliefs, feelings and wants
- ignores individual differences
- only topics that fall in research method were studied
- focused on white and Western males
- exaggerated promise of objectivity and truth
Dilthey’s types of science
Natural sciences - experiments give universal laws from observations
Mental sciences - personal history helps understand individuals
Dilthey’s main elements of psychology
- based on contents
- totality of experience - focused on the human experience as a whole
- context used to understand a person’s life
- understanding, not scientific method
Humanistic psychology
Developed by Maslow:
People are humans who are good and have free will
Feminist psychology
Understanding women and how they are treated in psychology
Postcolonial psychology
Understanding racism and dominance in groups
Critical psychology
Criticises mainstream psychology:
- should not believe in realism
- science is not fixed truth, but a social construction
- psychologists have moral responsibilities and effects on reality
