Is Psychology A Science?

1. Is Psychology A Science? Understanding the features of Science

2. Whether or not Psychology can be considered a science subject is still one of the big debates

3. Is psychology a science? Psychology is a relatively new subject and it has often struggled to be taken as seriously as ‘traditional’ science subjects such as biology, chemistry and physics. If psychology was to be regarded as a science then: • there is the possibility that the subject could have a greater status. • This could lead to increased funding for research • it also helps us to define what psychology is and how psychology should be done.

4. Science uptake figures are 'science fiction', says report Labour has been accused of fiddling the figures on the number of students studying science and maths, covering up the nation's skills crisis. The Government now includes as "science", courses such as psychology. Telegraph, 27 September 2009 This is a hot topic!!

5. What you need to be able to do: • Describe what science is, including how far psychology fits the definition • Describe how modern day psychology emerged as a science • Be able to Identify and explain the features of science This links to the specification 4.2.1 the Origins of Psychology And also …4.2.3.1. Scientific Processes – the features of science

6. Key Terms Pages 82-83 PHG digi book Objectivity and the empirical method Replicability Falsifiability Theory Construction Hypothesis testing Paradigms Paradigm shifts

7. Psychology and scientific subject matter Consider the following questions • Are the subjects of interest to psychologists scientific? • Are the methods psychologists use scientific?

8. In general the scientific approach can be said to have the following features in common: • Objectivity: science subjects should be free from personal views and feeling (subjective) and be based on facts instead (objective). • Falsifiability: Psychological theories should be able to be disproved. In other words you should be able to TEST psychological theories in order to try and prove them false. • Replicability: You need to be sure of your findings. Only the findings from methods that can be replicated by others should be accepted.

9. Think Obese Fat Rat

10. What can you recall about the history of psychology ?

11. What is a science? According to ‘Khun’ a science should have a set of shared….. • Assumptions • Scientific methods • Terminology Shared assumptions and methods = paradigm American Science philosopher 1922-1996

12. What are the assumptions of the approaches? Biological approach Behaviourist approach Cognitive approach Are any of these assumptions shared?

13. How many scientific methods can you recall? Lab experiment Structured Interview Field Experiment Unstructured Interview Quasi experiment Content Analysis Natural experiment Thematic Analysis Structured observation Meta Analysis Unstructured observation Participant observation Survey/questionnaire Can you order them from most to least scientific

14. Terminology External validity unconscious Multi Store model Neurotransmitter Conditioning Obedience Null hypothesis Flashbulb memory Reinforcement Participants Do psychologists share terminology?

15. Induction & Deduction (combine to produce scientific method). Inductive process Deductive process

16. Scientific method Example: the spontaneous generation theory Life emerges from non-living matter Make Observations Theory Inductive process Mice emerge from dirty socks Reject the theory No mice!!!! Deductive process Hypothesis Place dirty socks in a glass jar for a few days Experiment

17. Deductive and Inductive reasoning. • Inductive process- Reasoning from a particular observation to making general laws e.g. Scientists may observe instances of a natural phenomenon and derive a general law (inductive) • Deductive process- Reasoning from general to particular. e.g. Start with a theory & look for instances that confirm this (deduction).

19. Therefore .... • A science should provide precise (operationalised) hypotheses which can be tested in order to support or refute a theory. Make up your own hypothesis – check with a partner to see if it is fully operationalised Falsification: something is "falsifiable" does not mean it is false; rather, that if it is false, then this can be shown by observation or experiment. Life emerges from non-living matter

20. and..... • The theories should provide general laws or principles which should allow predictions to be made for future events. • These should be internally consistent (parts of the same theory should not contradict each other) • They should be nomothetic, they should apply to the whole population. • Why then do some psychologists prefer an ideographic approach?

21. So according to Khun’s definition Does Psychology meet the criteria for being a science subject? Remember, a science should have a set of shared….. • Assumptions • Scientific methods • Terminology Khun says psychology lacks a universally accepted paradigm –there is no consensus therefore it is a pre-science

23. Read PHG p 82-83 It is important that you read and re-read this section as the content may not be as easy to follow as some of the other areas you have examined. <<<<<<<<<<Prep – answer the apply it question Does psychology have a paradigm?