IS PSYCHOLOGY A SCIENCE?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TMXnh2wtUY

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 BIOLOGICAL approach – behaviour is determined by neurotransmitters and hormones?

• Perhaps you went for the COGNITIVE approach – humans behave like computers?

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.

• 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.