The Science of Psychology

1. The Science of Psychology Going further

2. Going further • Much was made about defining science and we looked at some key philosophers of science from the 20th century • For a pocket-sized and “oldie but still goodie resource”, see Alan Chalmers What is This Thing Called Science? • However there has been a philosophy of science since science’s inception, which unlike the common misconception would suggest, was actually starting out in the Middle Ages (not the Renaissance1) • Do some searching on Roger Bacon, and even earlier Muslim scientists • For psychology, America’s first experimental psychologist, founder of pragmatism, and discoverer of experimental control via randomization gave his own account of science • What follows is a brief profile of Charles Sanders Peirce, the first American experimental psychologist2, and at the end are some other places you might go to investigate ‘science’ further

3. Charles Sanders Peirce • 1839-1914 • "Beyond doubt … he was one of the most original minds of the later nineteenth century, and certainly the greatest American thinker ever." ~ Bertrand Russell • “One of the greatest philosophers of all times” ~ Karl Popper • Published works run to about 12,000 printed pages and his known unpublished manuscripts run to about 80,000 handwritten pages • Widely regarded as the greatest logician of his day, also made key contributions in many areas of the sciences including the philosophy of science • Wrote on mathematics and the hard sciences, economics, psychology, anthropology, history of science, and the theory of signs (semiotics) • Only held an academic position for 5 years but in that time some of his students included James McKeen Cattell, Joseph Jastrow (9th president of APA, succeeded Dewey), Christine Ladd-Franklin, John Dewey1

4. Pragmaticism: Clear Ideas Revisited • William James1 regarded Peirce and two of Peirce's papers, "The Fixation of Belief" (1877) and "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" (1878) as the origin of pragmatism, which itself lies at the heart of the scientific approach • “Consider what effects that might conceivably have practical bearings you conceive the objects of your conception to have. Then, your conception of those effects is the whole of your conception of the object.” • Peirce conceived pragmatism to be a method for clarifying the meaning of difficult ideas through the application of the maxim above • The meaning of a concept consists in the entire set of its practical consequences • A meaningful conception must have some experiential "cash value," capable of being specified as some sort of collection of possible empirical observations under specifiable conditions2

5. Pragmaticism • What is important in developing knowledge is the application of the scientific method, which is observable and self-correcting • The scientific method can be understood in three stages or variations • Deduction, the drawing of conclusions as to what observable phenomena should be expected if the hypothesis is correct • Rationalism, prediction; if A  B and B  C, A  C • Induction, the entire process of experimentation performed in service of hypothesis testing • Empiricism • Abduction, defined as inference to and provisional acceptance of an explanatory hypothesis for the purposes of testing it • Not always the best explanation, but at least inference to some explanation or at least to something that helps to clarify some information that has previously been uncertain given our current state of knowledge.

6. Theory A Truth/Reality Theory B Pragmaticism • Two avenues of thought will eventually arrive at the same conclusions as long as they adhere to the (scientific) method, and this is what we may call truth, and reality is that truth • Note that at any one point we don’t know where we are with regard to that reality1 • Science is fallible, and at any given time we may be very close to very far off

7. Pragmaticism • Peirce understood very well the economics and social aspects of research • And obviously well before Polanyi, Kuhn etc. emphasized the social aspects • Science always operates in some given historical and socio-economic context in which certain problems are more important and other problems trivial or frivolous • In such a context some experiments may be crucial and others insignificant • The economic resources of the scientist are severely limited, while the "great ocean of truth" that lies undiscovered is infinite • Such resources, such as personnel, time, and apparatus, are costly, and it is irrational to squander them. • Peirce suggested that the attempt should be made to discern how to obtain the biggest epistemological bang for the buck1 • The economics of research regards a cost/benefit analysis in connection with current states of knowledge and this is central to the scientific method and to the idea of rational behavior

8. Charles Sanders Peirce • Cognitive Psychology • Wrote a series of papers now referred to as the Cognition papers and did much thinking on representation in terms of his semiotics • In general his ideas involve the associationism of the Empiricists as well as the notion of spreading activation • The whole of pragmatism itself is the study of thought and much of it began with these works

9. Charles Sanders Peirce • For a scientist like Peirce, introspection as a method was untenable • Experimental psychology • Published what is perhaps the first experimental psychology work in America in 1877* • “Note on the Sensation of Color” regarding the Young-Helmholtz color theory and Fechner’s law, the latter of which he found to be approximate for such stimulation • With Joseph Jastrow, in 1884, published “On small differences in sensation” • It included many methodological techniques that would not gain widespread usage for decades • First experiment (anywhere) to use randomization as a means of control • Forced-choice approach • Confidence ratings • The first issue of the American Journal of Psychology had his paper “Logical Machines” • As the name implies here was someone thinking about AI well before its time would come

10. Charles Sanders Peirce • Summary • Founder of the pragmatic movement taken to heart by ‘functional’ psychologists • Influenced psychology in terms of experimental research and direct influence on the ideas of key members in its history in America • Perhaps nowhere else in the history of psychology is such a figure that did as much for (American) psychology directly and indirectly been so well ignored*, but his contributions in all areas of science and philosophy continue to increase in recognition

11. Other suggested places to go, things of note • Science and Relativism, Larry Laudan • Written as a dialog between a pragmatist, relativist, realist, and positivist • Isis, the journal of the history of science • General readings on the history of western science • Sigmund Koch is probably psych’s best known philosopher of science • There is an actual discipline of study, the psychology of science • While only recently formalized, it’s been around for decades, getting its start in the 70s • One of the classic works is by Michael Mahoney, Scientist as Subject. He was part of UNT’s faculty from 1990-2005.