Assessing Psychology 's Public Image Essay

Psychological studies are mainly based on the direct observation of human behavior, rather than reasoning or speculation. Psychology is like any other subject- the majority of people have a very shallow and basic understanding of what the study involves, and yet they lack a crucial knowledge of the major struggles and disagreements among those who study it. It does not surprise me that psychology is one of the more popular majors available. By nature, it sparks human curiosity, especially as to what contributes to the system of our thoughts and the pattern in our behaviors. For the first eighteen

It is noted that for some people, technology in general is associate with harm, and for other people, technology is not mainly associated with harm [32]. Lack of trust of the biosensor technology may come at a high price for the society if participants with low level of trust for the biosensor demand stricter regulations.

When people hear that you are majoring in psychology, there are some negative connotations that come with it. As a science, psychology isn’t taken seriously, and is only thought of as a pseudoscience. Of course, this isn’t the case. As a student of psychology I know how arduous it can be and I believe that psychology deserves a lot more respect than it gets. The skewed view of psychology that the public has begins with the media. Psychology is marketed in the form of self-help books, TV shows like Dr.Phil where “patients” problems are solved within a 45 minute reality TV show, and arbitrary books about ESP. These all make psychology seem like sensationalized intuition or an absurd theory. There is also “The Freud Problem”.

The books main objective is to answer the question: can an understanding of human behavior be based on the use of scientific methodology? Augustine Brannigan the author of The Rise and Fall of Social Psychology critically traces experiments and social psychology's attempt to forge a scientific understanding of human behavior. Brannigan explains that after fully studying social psychology's past and present, it has failed to live up to its expectations of new and interesting theories. The critical portrays the widespread discontent felt by social psychologists themselves. Brannigan talks about what has gone wrong and why large expectations of social psychology have not been metHe highlights crucial methodological mistakes in social psychological research. For instance, the use of experiments to illustrate

(2013, August 13). Is psychology a “real” science? Does it really matter ... Retrieved October 20, 2016, from

A wise person recognizes the face of necessity. It is important to identify with a specific goal in life, especially a career goal. When one considers the field of psychology it is important to acknowledge the various possibilities that are available to an individual who wants to pursue a career in this field. A psychologists are those who study the “cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behaviors by observing, interpreting, and recording how people relate to one another and their environment”(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). The field of psychology constitutes a number of subfields. However, I will discuss this subfield of my interests, why I chose it, and what I found most interesting about the field of psychology.

The excerpt from “How to Think Straight about Psychology” by Keith E. Stanovich discusses many things about misconceptions and ideas that people have about psychology. One of the major points Stanovich made in this excerpt was the fact that psychology is such a broad subject that it's hard to find a common ground between all the different kinds of psychology. The one thing that does bring them all together is the fact that they all use the “scientific method to understand behavior.” (p 18) In this excerpt Stanovich refutes some folk wisdom's that have been associated with psychology. An example of some would be “opposites always attract” and “children bring happiness to their parents.” He speaks of the importance of replication for the scientific process and about how many people are drawn to psychology because of how it refutes things people once thought were “common sense.”

Psychology is the “science or study of the thought process and behavior of humans and other animals by their interactions with the environment”.(The Columbia Encyclopedia,2015) Studying sense perception, thinking, learning, cognition, emotions and motivation, personality, abnormal behavior, interactions between themselves and the environment are all vital to the interpretation of Psychology. With the formulation of the Hypothesis, based on casual observations, a systematic scientific testing procedure begins in order to obtain a resolution or determine if further test needs to be done. Psychology is considered to be a science in that it has many disciplines organized around them. Also data collection through “observation and measurement, using scientific research methods, and the research gathered in a controlled approach by sifting through all the information to derive all the descriptive, and measurable data needed for justification of the hypothesis” realizing that results may vary due to different factors.(Feist & Rosenberg, 2015, p.6)

The next heated debate, and just as important, in psychology is whether or not there is a common core of knowledge that every psychologist knows or should know. Benjamin (2001)’s article titled, American Psychology‘s Struggles With It’s Curriculum, discussed the history of psychology and the many attempts there has been to create a core curriculum for doctorate programs. Conferences and conferences over many years have fallen shorts to identifying what a common core should like and what a student graduating with a doctorate ought to know. However, the lack of a core isn’t a down fall for psychology, in fact it is a strength of its field. As a field right now there is enough of a core to create an environment within it, where all psychologists

Psychology is riddled with stereotypes. Thomas Brinthaupt, Victoria Counts, and Jennifer Hurst conducted a study about the stereotypes of not only majoring in Psychology but also the subject. Many people believe that Psychology is an ‘easy’ major because it doesn’t involve hard science such as chemistry or physics. What most don’t know is that Psychology is not just theories and examples. It combines history, science, analytical thinking, formulas, experiments, and math. The study goes on to say that some think that people who go into Psychology must have a mental illness. While there are a

There exists a prevailing myth that psychology is only a soft science. Soft science, indicating that the practice of psychology is less rigorous, less precise, and, to some degree, less worthy than the hard sciences--- chemistry, biology, physics. This study, conducted by Maureen A, McCarthy and Sue Frantz called “Challenging the Status Quo: Evidence that Introductory Psychology Can Dispel Myths”, attempts to do just that. Their hypothesis was that when given the chance to take an introduction to psychology course, participants would walk away with enough information to distinguish psych fact from psych fiction. This would indeed prove how valuable of a science psychology is.

Psychology is an ever evolving field of study that is truly just in its infancy. Although tremendous strides have been made in our understanding of behavior, cognitions, emotions and brain functions, it has only been in the last 130 years that psychology has been studied as a science (Goodwin, 2015, p. 4). It is important for mental health professionals to understand the history and evolution of psychology because it is difficult, if not impossible, to fully grasp the subject without understanding its history. Goodwin (2015) explains that knowing the history of psychology helps us critically think about current issues and puts us in a better position to evaluate new claims of

Swales defined discourse communities as “groups of people that have the same goals or purposes, and use the same communication to achieve such goals.”

It is difficult to determine whether psychology enhances our scientific understanding of human behaviour, according to Kuhn (1962) psychology is a pre-science. This essay concerns the evaluation to whether contemporary psychology enhances scientific understanding of human behaviour. Psychology is commonly referred to as the scientific study of one’s mind and behaviour. In order to research the extent to which this is true, it is important to consider the definition of science. Sciences are objective as it aims to study observable facts which direct theories. A science is also characterised by the concept that variables are testable and can be either verified or falsified. According to Popper (1963) science is the process where theories are created first then hypotheses are generated allowing it to be confirmed or disconfirmed. When psychological theories are falsifiable and can be proved or disproved its content becomes more robust and tenable. Further research by Kuhn (1962) suggested that paradigms (beliefs that replace old ones) are an important underpinning aspect of scientific approaches. More recent research by Boyack, Klavans and Borner (2005) identified the most influential areas in science by analysing a million scientific research articles and found psychology to be widely influential in science and therefore highlighting the importance of psychology’s position as a science. Finally, this essay aims to establish whether psychology can enhance scientific

Psychology is defined as the study of the human mind and its functions the mind is studied through experimentation and observation and just like the other sciences, needs empirical evidence, therefore, it is a science. There has always been a large debate about it though because the mind is such a tricky topic, some people even go on to call it an art which they back up with valid points. Psychology is different from many other sciences because it’s less concrete. For example in chemistry, biology and physics most things we learn about are laws, well in Psychology there are no laws that have been discovered yet. Because the mind is such a sensitive thing laws are tricky because there could always be one outcast, the same doesn’t apply for the other sciences though because if we are told that the mass of one Oxygen atom is 15.999 g/mol, we could never find one Oxygen atom that wasn’t 15.999 g/mol. As there are differences there are also similarities between Psychology and other sciences. One similarity as stated before is that psychology as all other sciences need empirical evidence to support claims and make theories and, for other sciences, laws. Another similarity is that things like “common sense” and popular opinion aren’t always the best to use to find answers you’re looking for.