Science is a way of understanding the natural world.

It entails three fundamental features that is

systematic empiricism, empirical questions, and public knowledge.

The scientific method entails a process of systematically collecting and evaluating evidence to
test ideas and answer questions. While scientists may use intuition, authority, rationalism, and
empiricism they put their research question in the context of previous research, describe in detail
the methods they used to answer their question, and clearly present their results and conclusions.

Psychology is a science that takes the scientific approach towards understanding one aspect of
the natural world, the human behavior. Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and
mental processes that uses the scientific method to collect, analyze, and interpret evidence to
draw a rational conclusion. By employing the scientific method scientists are able to collect
empirical data objectively, which adds to the accumulation of scientific knowledge. (Walinga,
n.d)

Psychological phenomena are complex, and making predictions about them is quite difficult due
to individual differences and they are multiply determined at different levels of explanation. The
different levels of explanation form the perspectives that are used to understand behavior. The
Lower levels of explanation are more closely tied to biological influences, like genes, neurons,
neurotransmitters, and hormones, while the middle levels of explanation refer to the abilities and
characteristics of individual people, and the highest levels of explanation related to social groups,
organizations, and cultures (Cacioppo, Berntson, Sheridan, & McClintock, 2000).

Ways through which Behavior can be .explained

Behaviorism and it’s the environment: Which illustrates that behavior is learned by interacting
with our environment, and all behaviors are learned through experience. This theory is steered by
two key doctrines;

 The classical conditioning which states that when something new is paired with
something that occurs naturally, after a while, this new stimulus triggers the same
reaction as the original stimulus, resulting in a new association. As illustrated by Ivan
Pavlov’s experiment with dogs. Where Pavlov paired the sound of a bell (new stimulus)
with the presentation of food (naturally occurring stimulus). Resulting to the dogs
 salivating when hearing the bell, even when no food was presented (new association).
Thus new behavior is learned.
 Operant conditioning: describes how our behavior is shaped by consequences.
Specifically, stating that reward and punishment can influence the likelihood that
behaviors occur again. For instance giving of golden stars to children on good behavior
and taking away a favorite toy upon mischief.

Social learning theory: its other people: The social learning theory proposes that people learn
from observing others while emphasizing that behavior is also influenced by mental states, like
motivation or thoughts.

Relational Frame Theory: it’s our language:

Its builds upon classic behaviorism which introduces the role of human language in learning new
behavior. Relational Frame Theory (RFT) researchers argue that language enables us to learn
new information indirectly. The key learning processes of this theory are based on relations
between stimuli, or relational frames.

References
Noldus Information Technology. (2021, Aug 26). How to study human behavior. Behavioral
Research Blog: https://www.noldus.com/blog/how-to-study-human-behavior

Walinga, J. (n.d). Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition.

https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/chapter/1-1-psychology-as-a-science/.

Cacioppo, J. T., Berntson, G. G., Sheridan, J. F., & McClintock, M. K. (2000). Multilevel
integrative analyses of human behavior: Social neuroscience and the complementing
nature of social and biological approaches. Psychological Bulletin, 126(6), 829–843.

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