Scientific Status

Question 1

Wilhem Wundt

Answer 1

Psychology in its modern form was only established in the late 19th Century.
He aimed to make the process of investigating human behaviour more scientific by training students in the skill of introspection.

Question 2

Kuhn (1962)

Answer 2

Paradigm
A theoretic orientation which is accepted by the great majority of workers in that field. A paradigm is a set of assumptions which can govern the subject.

Question 3

Kuhn (1970)

Answer 3

argued that there are three distinct stages in the development of a science.
Pre-science: no paradigm exists, and there is much debate about what the subject is and its theoretical approach.

Question 4

Miller (1983)

Answer 4

suggests that psychologists who attempt to be scientists are doing no more than “dressing up”.

Question 5

Heather (1976)

Answer 5

was very dismissive of laboratory experiments. He argued that they were very artificial, and all that can be learned from them was how strangers interact in an unusual situation. This is an issue as what we find in psychological studies may not actually reflect real life, yet they are published and discussed as facts.

Question 6

Laing (1965)

Answer 6

argued that by using scientific explanations to explain and treat schizophrenia, important factors were missed out such as the distress and suffering experienced by the patient. He argued that each individual could only be treated by seeing them as a unique individual rather than a set of symptoms.

Question 7

Pavlov’s Research

Answer 7

• into classical conditioning he could eliminate extraneous variables by keeping the dogs in controlled conditions and determining that an object rather than food affected salivation. This meant that his hypothesis could be tested and that his theory was falsifiable.