Psychology: Is It a Science - Essay Example

Psychology: Is it a Science Psychology: Is it a Science Science, as wee know it, is concerned with experiments and measurements. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the definition of science is, "Any system of knowledge that is concerned with the physical world and its phenomena and that entails unbiased observations and systematic experimentation"(Encyclopedia p.553) The aim of science is to find out how everything is governed, and organize the facts to get a theory, with the help of which we predict things like eclipses, energy generated by a system and so on. For this, we must first know all the measurable data like speed, mass, electrical resistance etc, which are organized into specific formulae. One of the first persons to perform systematic experiments to study physical phenomena was Galileo. He studied motion by doing some well designed experiments, and discovered that all objects, whether made of heavy or lighter material, fall to the ground with the same acceleration. Newton expressed his finding mathematically. But certain things like behaviour and consciousness are not quantifiable. The area of science which is concerned with the study of mental functions like thought, emotions and behaviour is known as Psychology. Psychology has a long history going back to the ancient Greeks, Indians and Chinese. It is closely connected with epistemology and metaphysics of the Greeks, and also to social sciences and religion. It was only in the 1880's that psychology acquired the status of science, "when Johannes P. Muller and physicist Hermanl.F.von Helmholtz began the first systematic studies of sensation and perception"(W.B.Encyclopedia p. 849) In 1890, the American philosopher, William James wrote the first psychology textbook, "The Principles of Psychology".He also established a psychology laboratory in the U.S.A. Scientific methods of research generally follow some basic steps- 1) Observing nature or natural phenomena 2) classifying the collected information 3) Performing experiments 4) using logic to make a hypothesis 5) expressing the result in mathematical formulae, and modeling with the help of computers. Whether it is general science or psychology, most of the research done in these fields follow these steps. It is possible to form mathematical formulae to most of the phenomena in physical sciences, but the case of psychology is different. . In psychology, subjective methods like introspection have great value to describe mental events. The German psychologist Wundt wrote that while "experiments can find application in the purely psychological domain, it must nevertheless be admitted that it is primarily the sensory side of psychic life which accords the widest prospect for experimental investigation.."(Wundt p.7) Structuralists like James and Wundt believed that the main aim of psychology was to explain feelings and sensations which lead to conscious experience. Thus there is a bias in psychological research. On the other hand, behaviourists like Watson believed that the most reliable source of information was observable behaviour, and not mental experience. The father of psycho- analysis, Sigmund Freud based his theories on interpretation of dreams. He analyzed many of his own dreams and formed certain theories .He says , in his book, The Interpretation of Dreams, "We have found that the dream represents a wish as fulfilled. Our next purpose is to ascertain whether this is a general characteristic of dreams, or whether it is only the accidental content of the particular dream" (Freud) Since dreams are unreliable, interpreting dreams is not a viable scientific method. Science deals with facts interpreted objectively, science does not favour wishful thinking and personal interpretations of facts. Observing and measuring behaviour is a good scientific tool of psychology. Behaviourism is associated with Pavlov and his famous experiment with the dog and bell .Pavlov gave his dog food , and at the same time rang a bell. The dog salivated when it saw food, and food was accompanied by the sound of a bell. Pavlov repeated the process many times. After some time, the dog started to salivate at the sound of a bell even though no food was there. The dog had associated the sound of the bell with food. Pavlov's experiment demonstrated that a stimulus can have a predictable response. Similarly, we associate certain smells with childhood, and certain others with school, and so on. Most of the behaviorist experiments are done with animals. They cannot be done with human subjects because of legal and ethical problems. Therefore, the psychologist is forced to interpret the information he obtains from animal experiments. This also leads to bias in the interpretation. Behaviourism is useful for educational purposes such as skill development and for other areas of learning .In physical sciences, quantities can be measured. But in psychological experiments, behaviour cannot be measured. Also it depends on too many variables, and so cannot be predicted with great accuracy. Still, psychologists have devised means to predict human behaviour in certain situations pretty accurately. The research methods of psychology are different from those of physical sciences .Psychology uses qualitative research, more than quantitative research. These methods are naturalistic methods, like interviewing, observation, ethnography, and focus groups. The researcher observes the participant in his natural setting, which gives him a greater understanding of the behaviour of the participant. The researcher asks probing questions to the participant Qualitative research involves field work. For example, to study the behaviour of football fans, the researcher goes to a football match and does his research. Statistics is another tool for research. In his journal article, Wen-Jui Han of Columbia University mentions that data from "approximately 14000 children in the early childhood ..was analyzed to examine the associations between the children's immigrant status and their academic trajectories"( Wen Jui Han) Psychological research has bias generating from ethnocentrism, androcentrism, racism and methodological bias. Psychologists tend to perceive things from their own view point. They adopt the Western values , assuming them to be superior to others. Androcentrism is exhibited by many famous psychologists like Freud and Erikson, who believed in the superiority of the male. It can only lead to flawed research. Racism, especially scientific racism is still prevalent in psychological research, because many of the researchers believe in racial difference. A glaring example of racial bias is the Yerkes' Army alpha and beta tests. Methodological bias where people use uncorroborated averages and generalize from samples is also quite common. Psychological research has to be conducted in a subjective way. Structuralism lays greater stress on mental experiences like emotion and feeling, while behaviourism focuses on observable behaviour, without placing any significance on the feelings and emotions. Most of the experiments conducted are on animals, while human behaviour might be different. While psycho analysis has made great strides in the treatment of certain mental illnesses, abstract qualities like intelligence are never directly measured, but are inferred from observable behaviour. Explaining feelings and emotions has a built in bias, while interpreting samples is also biased. In spite of all the problems, psychology is a science in its own right. . References Freud, Sigmund. The Interprtation of dreams. (3rd edition ) A.A.Brille (translator) (1911) Koch, Sigmund. "Psychology's Bridgman vs. Bridgman's Bridgman " Theory of Psychology , Vol 2,No.3, (1991) Boston University Wen-Jui Han. "The Academic Trajectories of Children of Immigrants and Their School Environments" Developmental Psychology (2001) Vol 44 No.6. 1572-1590 Wundt, W. (1904). Principles of Physiological Psychology. Translated from the Fifth German Edition (1902) by Edward Bradford Titchener. London: Swan Sonnenschein. "Psychological Tests and Measurements" The Encyclopedia Britannica : Macropedia Vol 26 .(2003) 15 th Edition . Chicago. "Psychology Becomes a Science" World Book Encyclopedia. Vol 15. (2003) World Book Inc.Chicago Is Psychology a Science Plan Introduction Definition of science The aim of science: Aim of psychology Some historical background : The Greeks, Muller, William James Body Explanation ofScientific method :Rationalism and unreliability of sense experiences Psychological research Subjective methods of psychology Structuralism , Wundt,. Sigmund Freud: Interpretation of Dreams Behaviourism concept Human and animal behaviour . Pavlov's experiment Behaviour cannot be measured Psychology uses different research tools like interviewing, observation, and focus groups. Conclusion Read More