Psychology as a science

Question 1

What is a science?

Answer 1

• Science aims to find general laws which predict and control aspects of the world
  E.g. physics- the law of gravity

Question 2

What is psychology?

Answer 2

Psychology also aims to find general laws to predict and control people’s emotions behaviours and thinking.
E.g. mental health- to improve symptoms of depression

Question 3

What is a hypothesis in science?

Answer 3

Tends to mean choosing something scientific to study which can show reductionism and must be a falsifiable statement

Question 4

What is testing against reality in science?

Answer 4

Which is empiricism- the idea that knowledge comes from our senses.

Question 5

What is considering the strengths of the results in science?

Answer 5

Means considering limitations including reliability and objectivity

Question 6

What is amending the theory in science?

Answer 6

Amending it according to what was found and developing a new theory.

Question 7

What is a theory in science?

Answer 7

Something that has come from previous research which must have been scientifically credible research.

Question 8

When is scientific subject matter used in psychology?

Answer 8

• When psychology looks at biological aspects of the mind and behaviour, it is in scientific territory. Psychology uses evidence from brain scans for example.
• Cognitive psychology looks at how the brain processes information; not only are models developed about issues such as memory, but also brain structures and functioning are studies for evidence of those models
• Classical conditioning focused on how associations can be related to innate releces, which are in our biology
• Clinical psychology looks at mental health and mental disorders. Biological explanations, such as the biological and glutamate hypothesis to explain schizophrenia
• Drug therapy also involves chemicals and is said to be scientific

Question 9

When is unscientific subject matter in psychology used?

Answer 9

• Social psychology focuses on obedience and prejudice, both of which are complex behaviours and atttudes that involve looking at how people interact
• Some theories aim for scientific explanation such as social impact theory. However, it could be argues that the complexity of human behaviour and attitudes defies scientific study
• Some learning theories such as social learning theory can also be said to involve interactions between people, which makes a scientific reductionist approach difficult- because data is likely to lack validity if a scientific approach is taken
• When in clinical psychology studies the effectiveness of therapies a scientific apprach can be used, such as having randomised controlled trials. However, there are elements of tratments and therapies that are hard to study except by gathering in depth detailed qualitive data.