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Essay / Discussion of whether psychology is a science
Science is generally understood as a method of producing reliable knowledge by testing falsifiable claims against objective evidence. Psychological phenomena, however, are traditionally considered "subjective" and hidden. Science and psychology are complex and multifaceted constructs. The globally accepted definition of science is “the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” Science is believed to consist of a “scientific” mindset that involves assumptions about victims, complexity, and how an observer can know how the world works. Many believe that psychology does not meet the five basic requirements for a field to be considered scientifically rigorous: Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Clearly defined terminology for regular use and understanding by psychologists and juniors Quantifiability Highly controlled experimental conditions Reproducibility Predictability and testability. Psychologists have little control over a large number of variables, which influence the behavior they measure. They can control the environment of the participants in the laboratory thanks to their implementation by the experimenter. There are several human factors that cannot necessarily be controlled by the psychologist, such as the participant receiving bad news before this practice or their lunch not agreeing with them. A question considered central to psychology, denied its label as a science, is how can psychologists reproduce reliable and robust conclusions about human behavior given this problem? The answer is that they use many individuals in each experiment, hoping that individual errors cancel each other out. Their use of experimental techniques (e.g. placebos) protects them against systematic bias which then allows them to bring a 'control' or 'medium' into the method; this can then lead to a generalization of their results before use of statistical inference tools on their sample to help support their results The ultimate product desired by scientists is a cumulative body of knowledge ideally, the body of knowledge will have a consensus-agreed center, such as the periodic table; , which is not at all given in psychology due to the difference within research and measurements that are constantly different from previous ones. Science relies on systematic methods of collecting data and critically analyzing related ideas. to science These include: systematic observation, measurements, gratification, data collection, hypothesis testing, theory construction, control experimentation (where possible). The given definition of psychology that many people use is "the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those that affect behavior in a given context." The dismissive attitude of scientists towards psychologists is seen as pure intellectual frustration. Academic psychology values the principle of a science and aspires to be a science, but not a fundamental science that specifically follows the exact methodology of "what it takes to be a science", but a science that evolves to the.