Question

Read the following statements and discuss about the same in the classroom:

1. Psychology is a science because it fulfills many conditions of science.
2. Psychology is not an exact science like physics or chemistry.
3. Psychology is a social science that studies human (and animal) behavior and mental processes.
4. Psychology uses some objective research methods, it examines cause-and-effect relationships to produce laws governing human behavior and its findings can be verified.
5. Psychology can be distinguished from pseudoscience and folk wisdom as psychology has evidence against its theories.
6. The subject matter of psychology is complex as human behavior is dynamic and the mental processes are abstract. Therefore, the theories of psychology are not as universal, exact and precise as those in physics and chemistry.

Answer 1

1. Psychology fulfils to scientific principles such as empirical evidence, objectivity, predictability, and scientific causality.
2. Psychology is a social science dealing with human beings. This is not a physical science.
3. Psychology refers to the scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes.
4. Psychology uses objective methods like controlled laboratory experiments to establish scientific causality and test theories.
5. Psychology is not based on folk wisdom, pseudo knowledge or myths. It is based on systematic exploration and acquisition of empirical evidence.
6. Psychology is a social science so its theories cannot be universal or exact as in the physical science. Human behaviour is constantly evolving and unpredictable.