Psychology as a Science
Cards (6)
- Principles and Concepts
- High control of variables (independent and extraneous)
- Measurement of outcomes (dependent variables)
- Standardised procedures – can replicate and check reliability
- Objective data (quantitative) and objective techniques (scanners, biological tests etc.)
- Establishing cause and effect (lab experiments)
- For
- Attempts to control variables and outcomes
- Research is standardised so can be replicated
- Some areas like the use of objective data collection techniques which reduces bias
- Against
- Extraneous variables will always influence human behaviour
- Bias can influence interpretation of results
- What makes something a science
- Controlled, experimental conditions that can 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 as 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 each other’s work so poor theories become redundant quickly.
- Against psychology as 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.
- Not all psychologists share the view that all human behaviour can be explored using scientific methods.