Question 1
The essay discusses about psychology and its relation to science in the 19th century. Psychology is an applied discipline that encompasses the scientific study of the functions and the behaviors of the mind. The main objective of psychology is to understand individuals or a group as it establishes the general principles and also it researches about the unique cases.
In the beginning psychology was not regarded as a branch of science. This changed when psychologists realized that they can apply the scientific methodologies in the study of the human mind and the behavior to come up with conclusions. The scientific methods mainly concentrated on carrying out the laboratory experiments o come out with evidence based research. (Carlson, 2010).
The study of physiology is also regarded as a main factor that led to emergence of psychology as a branch of science. The early physiology mainly concentrated on researching about the human mind and their behaviors and this resulted to an impact in the study of psychology. This was because there emerged the scientific methods to study the mind and behavior of the individuals.
The applied discipline entails the application of empirical methods to draw conclusions on the causal and interpersonal relationships among different variables. Psychology is seen as a hub science that involves the findings using methods of research and the viewpoint from the social and natural sciences, medicine and philosophy. (Van J, 2004). The knowledge of psychology is also applied to assess and treat the problems that arise in mental health.
The study of psychology is divided into different branches. This includes; clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, evolutionary psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, neuropsychology, occupational psychology and social psychology. Most of the branches are themselves sciences and this helps me to come up with a conclusion that psychology is a branch of science.
Question 2
There is a difference on how psychology differs from other approaches in explaining human and animal behavior and experiences. We can base the difference putting human destructiveness in mind. Psychology tries to explain that there is no innate human characteristic and everything is perceived as an impact of social conditioning. Despite man and animals having a characteristic of a certain level of aggression, this is seen to ensure that survival is only for the fittest. Psychology concludes that the point of aggression up to which man commits murder is a part of human character (Carlson, 2010).
The perspective on the integration of theology and psychology needs an individual to regard both disciplines. Psychology brings a lot of confusion if compared with the theological approaches. This is because, in psychology the scientists undertakes the experiments and supportive evidence about a certain human behavior or experience. (Van J, 2004). In theology, the individuals believe in a supreme being and their actions and behaviors are shaped by their beliefs. This brings a conflict between the scientific and scriptural data because psychology entails the facts when the bible is only interpreted without the supportive evidence.
In an artistic point of view, human beings are seen as a mystery of themselves. They are rational and irrational, civilized and uncivilized, friendly and dangerous, free and in bondage. When psychology is compared to other approaches it is unique by itself as it explains the human mind and their behavior drawing the supportive evidence from the experiments.
Question 3
Psychology differs from other branches of science since it is the science of human thought and behavior and focuses on explaining at the individual level. Some sections of psychology are difficult to distinguish from parts of neuroscience and ethnology. Psychology is different from other branches since it is the one which provides the key to hold them together. This is because it is the link between arts and humanities and it provides the knowledge of interpretation.
Psychology is a distinct science that depends on its own. The psychologists have come out with evidence based explanations on the eventualities that are concerned with the human thoughts, behaviors and patterns. (Carlson, 2010).The discipline is unique by its own and other scientific branches depend on it as it is the unifying factor that brings together the other branches.
Question 4
The difference between psychology and other branches of science is the main focus. Other branches of science, such as social science, concentrate more group and group dynamics instead of an individual. Although psychology may consider a group, it is more emphasizing on the individual work. Psychology also applies studies and experiments to look for clarifications.
Question 5
The researchers usually make various assumptions when they respond to their discipline that has its own sets of assumption and philosophies. One of these assumptions is the empiricism. This assumption stipulates that our conclusions must be founded on explanations that are objective and systematic. Data that cannot be freely observed and confirmed are not considered in the science of psychology.
The other assumption made in the science of psychology is the measurability. In order to understand something, we must be able to quantify the contents under the study i.e. one must be able to measure the contents. It is mostly accepted that nearly everything, including human “thing” such as guilt or anger, are measurable in some way.
Psychologists also assume the falsifiability and explanations of a theory. In the psychology science, the theory is properly investigated if its explanations are falsifiable. For instance, the understanding of human behavior is commonly grounded on evolutionary biology. Correspondingly, various empirical outcomes can be derived from story concerning evolutionary assortment pressures.
Finally, the other assumption involves the existence of proof. This assumption outlines on how proof has been established for some clarification for behavior. A psychological research may provide support for a certain clarification or may suggest the accuracy of the clarification.
The methodology that is applied by the psychologist involves disseminate and advancement of methods for collecting, analyzing, understanding and interpretation of data regarding psychology. The aim is to distribution of innovations in research design, methodology, measurement and qualitative and quantitative analysis to the psychological field.
Question 6
It is significant to note that, when evaluating a psychological theory, there is key aspect to emphasis on the evaluation in order to determine the applicability of the theory. These major aspects involve the descriptive adequacy, coherence and consistency, feasibility and prediction, post diction and explanation among others. In various areas of psychology, these aspects are differently applied in different degree and different ways. It is therefore, important to consider the above aspects to be able to know the suitability of the theory.
The field of psychology uses these aspects in the evaluation of the theory and hence helps the psychologists in selecting the appropriate theories to apply. The suitability of a theory is determined by its descriptive adequacy. To determine whether to choose or abandon the theory, one has to determine the extent to which a theory accords with data. In this case, theories that are reliable to the known data are preferred to those that their data is inconsistent.
The other aspect that assists the psychologists in determining the suitability of a psychological theory is precision and interpretability. Most of these theories are usually described in imprecise and vague language making them difficult to be used by an autonomous researcher. The researchers determine the suitability of a theory by concentrating on how well the ideas and their relationship are defined.
On the other hand, a suitable theory has to possess a consistency and coherence. Since theories should be open to reasonable flaws, the theory must therefore be in a better position to well define these flaws. The psychological theory should also be consistent in psychology and other fields outside psychology. In other terms each component of a good theory seems to be compatible with others into a comprehensible whole.
The other important aspect of suitability of a theory is its falsifiability and prediction. Preferably, an independent researcher should be able to derive unambiguous predictions from the theory and provide an experimental test that could potentially prove the theory is skeptical. Verified predictions play a vital role in gaining and improving self-confidence in a theory. However, predictions that interrupt one’s intuition are more substantial to a theory than those predictions that are conventional. In a nut shell, a good theory is formulated in a way that critical tests can be carried out which as a result leads to the approval of the theory.
References
Carlson, Heth et Al (2010). "Psychology, the science of behavior" Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Pearson Canada.
Van J. (2004). Phrenology and the origins of scientific naturalism. Alder shot, Hants, UK.
Myung, I. J., Balasubramanian, V., & Pitt, M. A. (2000). Counting probability distributions: Differential geometry and model selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
Myung, I. J., Kim, C. & Pitt, M. A. (2000). Towards an explanation of the power law artifact: Insights from response surface analysis. Memory & Cognition, 28, 83240.
Pitt, M. A. & Myung, I. J. (2002). When a good fit can be bad. Trends in cognitive sciences, 6(10), 421425.
