Travis Liladhar

Nov. 4, 2014
Psych 4012 KMA
Midterm Paper

The question Is Psychology a science? has definitely been under heavy scrutiny over the
decades and posed as a controversial question. The main reason behind this is that psychology isnt easily
comparable to the accepted sciences of today such as biology and physics which raises the question
What is a science?. Under reasonable universal assumptions, one could agree that science is generally
defined as a testable method that can be falsified by new evidence that creates reasonable explanations to
unknown things in reality. These explanations rely on evidence that strongly suggest the validity of the
claims that can be disproven yet be retested to arrive at the same conclusions. Professor OBrien raised
the question if psychology falls under this category and if there is anything that makes psychology a
separate science, if one at all.
Professor OBrien first tackled this question by giving us the history of psychology, specifically
the origin of experimental psychology by Wilhelm Wundt who opened the first psychology lab in 1879.
This even is regarded as the hallmark of psychology as a separate science as Wundt applied experimental
methods to study consciousness and mental processes, hoping to provide explanations. Wundt followed
inductive reasoning in which explanations require strong evidence for the validity of the conclusion.
This type of reasoning isnt that scientific for use today as it can be rendered useless by mere observations
(the premise that all swans are white is rendered useless by the existence of one black swan). Today, the
model most commonly used in the scientific method is the hypothetico-deductive model which suggests
that theories about reality create hypotheses which can be proven or falsified by observations/experiment.
When the hypothetico-deductive model is applied to psychology it can be viewed as a science however it

falls under scrutiny due to the fact that we dont know a great deal about the brains mechanistic processes
to provide explanations, there isnt a central theme that unifies research, and psychology addresses issues
that are very impressionable by ones culture, location and experiences (i.e emotions, mental processes,
abnormal behavior etc.).
The professor explained how scientific models first came to be; they were models that provided
answers to questions that were once explained through religion. He explained that one of the earliest ways
to provide explanations came through the origins of Greek Mythology, which is influential to psychology
today (Oedipus complex). This leads to questions of perception such as bottom up (Francis Bacon) vs top
down (Immanuel Kant) where bottom up is data driven where explanations are driven by perceptions of
the senses, whereas top down is schema driven, or driven by past experiences and knowledge. The
professor then introduced a concept called Tabula Rasa which means blank slate in Latin that states that
ones knowledge is built by experiences and perceptions of things around them which is why arguing if
psychology is a science or not is controversial as it addresses issues that arent concrete and universal for
everyone unlike physics and chemistry that prove things that are always constant. This led to metatheories which is a theory that relies on another subjects theory, as much of psychology is dependent on
biology, chemistry and even anthropology when it comes to abnormal psychology.
Based upon the history and evolution of thinking and scientific processes that the professor has
outlined, the question, what does it mean for psychology to be a science? means that psychology
provides reasons for the behavior of humans, processes of the brain, abnormalities etc. through empirical
methods that can be proven or disproven with quantitative evidence. It allows for theories of psychology
to be tested under controlled experimental environments however it can deviate into opinions. This is
supported by a statement by Sigmund Koch in the 1950s where he states. The truth is that psychological
statements which describe human behavior or which report results tested research can be scientific.
However, when there is a move from describing human behavior to explaining it, there is also a move
from science to opinion.. This is what separates psychology from other sciences as its a collection of

descriptions of human behavior but we do not know enough at the moment to provide valid explanations
of these descriptions. One can say that psychology is a budding science that can be a valid science in the
future because as of right now its like having mathematical equations but unable to derive the proofs.
However, what makes psychology a separate science was the contributions of Wilhelm Wundt
who successfully separated psychology from philosophy and further separated it from biology through
narrowing the scope of what he was testing through experimental processes (consciousness, structure of
the mind, reaction times etc.). Its different from other sciences because it has evidence that suggests
correlation to other things but hardly ever has absolute certainty of an explanation. Whereas the laws of
gravity are under no question yet cannot be observed according to Professor OBrien, the same can be
said about claims in psychology which is why they have to be tested in the first place, hence I believe
psychology is a science however a clear set of content needs to be established as the DSM keeps changing
each year and the number of abnormal behaviors is increasing.
Professor OBrien has provided us with a history of how psychology relates to the definitions of
science and how thinking has evolved accordingly thus far. One can conclude that psychology fits this
definition but lacks a few key things to be relatively accepted as a hard science such as raw proven
explanations that backs up the descriptions psychology can produce about the mind and human behavior.
However I believe in order to address these issues fully, Professor OBrien would need to speak upon
what concrete truths of psychology can be whole fully accept as completely valid with absolute certainty,
because if anything of that sort exists within the field of psychology then work based around that can be
accepted as valid science.

Works Cited
Lilienfeld, S., Ammirati, R., & David, M. (2012). Distinguishing science from pseudoscience in school
psychology: Science and scientific thinking as safeguards against human error.Journal of School
Psychology, 7-36.

Lilienfeld, S. (2010). Can Psychology Become A Science? Personality and Individual

Differences, 281-288.

Lutus, P. (2013, May 28). Is Psychology a Science? Retrieved November 5, 2014, from
http://www.arachnoid.com/psychology/

McLeod, S. (2008, January 1). Psychology as a Science | Simply Psychology. Retrieved November
5, 2014, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/science-psychology.html