Is Psychology a Science?

• Factors that make something a science


  • Controlled, experimental conditions that show cause and effect and can test hypotheses
  • Highly standardised experiments that can be repeated in the same way- reliability
  • Use of IVs and DVs
  • The Scientific method- objective, systematic and replicable
  • The Scientific cycle- objective, systematic and replicable observation. Building, refining or falsifying development of a scientific theory, constant testing/refining and back to the theory
• FOR Psychology being a science


  • It relies on objective and systematic methods so is more than the passive acceptance of facts.
  • Because scientific methods rely on a belief in determinism, they are able to establish causes through use of methods that are empirical and replicable
  • If scientific theories no longer fit the facts, they can be refined/abandoned. Psychologists are always replicating eachothers work so poor theories become redundant quickly
• AGAINST Psychology being a science


  • It concentrates so much on objectivity and control that it tells us little about how people act in more natural environments
  • Much of the subject matter in psychology is unobservable, so cannot be measured with any degree of accuracy
  • ALLPORT (1947) took an eclectic approach to the study of psychology combining both the scientific methods of behaviourism and Freudian concepts of unconscious motivation.