KAMPALA UNIVERSITY

NAME: DORIS KANANA KIOGORA

REG NO: 09/KUA/BBA/095K

COURSE: PRE – UNIVERSITY

UNIT: PSYCHOLOGY

LECTURER: MR. DARIUS

QUESTION:

WHY PSYCHOLOGY IS A SCIENCE

Psychology is the science of mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand behavior
and mental processes by researching and establishing both general principles and specific cases.
In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist, and can be
classified as a social scientist, behavioral scientist, or cognitive scientist. Psychologists attempt
to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring
the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie certain functions and behaviors.

Psychology's status as a science is a frequent subject of debate. A common criticism of the field
holds that psychology has not been around long enough to develop or establish a system of ideas
accepted by most professionals in the community, and thus lacks one of the essential
characteristics of a science. however certain characteristics of psychology, especially its
influence from established sciences and its reliance on the scientific method, are often cited as
examples of why psychology should indeed be considered a science. Examples of such include
but not limited to the following:

 A central feature of any science is its reliance on the scientific method: using
observation, experimentation and analysis to support theories in a process that can
be independently verified by others. Like other sciences, psychology relies on data to
reach conclusions about human and animal responses to situations and stimuli. A
physicist, for example, can study how much moving objects stretch by measuring the
length of an object while it is at rest and while it is moving.
 Sciences aim to be descriptive. They try to explain theories using observation of an
event or a series of events. Psychology does this through case studies, surveys,
observation of people and animals in nature, interviews and psychological tests. Such
research is designed to collect adequate samples of data from which psychologists can
make conclusions.
 Sciences consider a good theory one that can be proven false through
experimentation. This characteristic is a common measure of whether a discipline can
be considered a science. Psychology relies on theories derived through research. It
attempts to create experiments that measure social phenomena against a control,
mimicking the type of laboratory research conducted in more established scientific
disciplines.
 For any discipline to be considered a science it should be objective, a characteristic
that is ensured through careful observation and experimentation. psychology experiments
are much more influenced by external factors, such as influence from participants
themselves or changing social constructs over time, that make them harder to replicate
than other sciences. Psychologists, like sociologists, attempt to control such influences in
the way they structure their experiments, asking questions in an order designed to
disguise the purpose of the study.
 Science's goal is to create reasonable explanations (theories) to describe reality –
theories that rely, not on feelings or passions, but on evidence. Science defines
“evidence” in a special way that will seem rather strict to someone only familiar with the
legal definition. To science, evidence is gathered and evaluated (and sometimes
discarded) according to some rigid rules, rules meant to assure that a scientific theory
reflects reality to the best of our ability.
 Psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational
relationships between psychosocial variables. In addition, or in opposition, to
employing empirical and deductive methods, some—especially clinical and counseling
psychologists—at times rely upon symbolic interpretation and other inductive techniques.
Psychology incorporates research from the social sciences, natural sciences, and
humanities, such as philosophy.
 The scientific evidence for evolution is very strong, and evolution's message is that only
flexible and adaptable organisms survive in a world of constant change. Reduced to
everyday, individual terms, it means no single behavioral pattern can for all time be
branded “correct” or “normal.” This is the core reason religion fails to provide for real
human needs (which wasn't its original purpose anyway), and this failing is shared by
psychology – they both put forth a fixed behavioral model in a constantly changing
world.
 A scientific theory doesn't make testable predictions, or if the tests are not practical, or if
the tests cannot lead to a clear outcome that supports or falsifies the theory, the theory is
not scientific. Psychology as discipline meets this criteria upto a certain degree.

References
 American Psychological Association: What Psychology Is
 "Handbook of Psychology"; Psychology as a Science; Fuchs, Alfred H. and Milar,
Katherine S; John Wiley and Sons, Inc; 2003; pp 1-27
 Complete Psychology: "Psychology as Science"
 "Psychology: A Student's Handbook"; Is Psychology a Science?; Eysenck, Michael W;
pp 77