Evolution of Psychology - Essay Example

According to Pratt, psychology describes mental processes by putting observations into communicable terms, “generalizing them into empirical laws, and explaining the particular by the general.” (Pratt 2005, p29) This variable enables psychology to be easily recognized as scientific because, as Pratt, emphasized, it covers a systematic description of verifiable facts of human experience. Here, the recognition was based on a looser meaning of science because once one followed a strict definition; it could only leave the field of mathematics as the only true scientific field.

The natural sciences would certainly be disqualified because of they are limited in the degree by which they can provide perfect and exact predictions. Psychology must take into account the humanistic principle that, according to O’Boyle, emphasizes the intuitive and emotional aspects of human experience besides the rational. (O’Boyle 2006, p162) But what makes it scientific and distinct from the philosophical approach is its use of scientific methods. As a science, psychology is bound to deal with facts about human behavior and that its main objective is to provide a scientific explanation regarding the reasons and motivations behind an individual’s behavior in a particular environmental context.

The recognition of psychology as a scientific branch, however, did not diminish the fact that the field is still considered young, immature and incomplete even. What this means is that, in comparison with the other established scientific disciplines, psychology has to further develop in order to gain universal acceptance especially with the numerous schools under it. Thomas Kuhn explained this more clearly when he published a book on the subject back in 1962. Here, he maintained that a branch of science can only achieve true maturity and, henceforth, universal recognition and authority, once it acquires a paradigm – that generally accepted underlying model, set of beliefs and methodology.

(cited in Ellington & Aris 2010, p276) This argument appears to be requiring a standard by which the numerous schools and psychological approaches could adhere to and evaluated against. A fundamental element in this paradigm is the use of scientific method that markedly differ from those employed by artistic and theological approaches. The method becomes not only a barometer of scientific worth but also a component in establishing standards in the discipline. It is also difficult for psychology to justify its scientific authority when it deals with abstract concepts such as emotions, thoughts and actions.

As previously mentioned, the degree of exactness and precision in predictions are important criteria in determining the authority of a scientific field. The lack in paradigm is highlighted in this area. Abstract concepts such as human nature and emotions cannot be quantified while some of which are not observable and, therefore cannot be reduced into some measurable phenomena. Here, psychology has a stronger affinity with philosophy. Psychologists, for instance, will favor the philosophical argument that human behavior is often motivated by emotions rather than the rational.

The fact is that there are numerous psychological schools espousing various psychological approaches, making them bound to explain a behavioral phenomenon in different ways. This is, hence, another dimension by which psychology must prove and establish itself in order not to fall in the fuzzy dimension that