Assess the extent to which psychology could be considered a
science (20)
One argument for the subject matter of psychology being scientific is the use
of laboratory experiments in the cognitive approach. These enable a greater control
over extraneous and confounding variables, allowing the researcher to establish a
cause and effect conclusion. For example, Baddeley (1966b) added an interference
task before each trial of recalling the word sequence so as to block the STM and
make sure only LTM was used. This enabled Baddeley to conclude from his findings
that LTM indeed used semantic encoding without the interference of STM. This
means that his findings can be regarded as credible due to the controls employed
and measurements of the effect of the independent variable (semantic or acoustic
word similarity) on the dependent variable (recall of word sequences). This indicates
that cognitive psychology takes a scientific approach in understanding memory and
its components. However, research into reconstructive memory may not be as
scientific as that into the multi-store model and working memory model. This is
because this theory is more vague about how memory is reconstructed, where
schemas are located in the brain and how they work. This means that using
objective measures of brain activity like brain scans in research into reconstructive
memory may not be practical as the processes of modifying memory through
schemas are not described in terms of brain activity. This suggests that
reconstructive memory may be a more subjective and unscientific concept as there
is no objective evidence of schemas from brain scans.
One argument against psychology being a science is the use of
questionnaires to collect qualitative data in the social approach. A scientific
approach involves collecting quantitative data that is objective and unbiased, so that
reliability can be tested. Social psychology however studies prejudice and obedience
which are difficult to empirically test as they are internal mental processes and are
different for each individual. For this reason, questionnaires with open-ended
questions and interviews are used to collect data rich in detail which tell about the
reasons for the attitudes of that individual, instead of quantitative data which lacks
meaning. For example, Katz and Braly (1933) used questionnaires to investigate
national stereotypes of Americans for certain racial groups. Here, qualitative data
was important since numerical data would not include the reasons for certain
stereotypes. This introduces the potential for subjectivity in the interpretation of the
results, meaning that it may be harder to check for consistency in and hence to
replicate. Therefore, psychological research into attitudes and beliefs may not be
science (20)
One argument for the subject matter of psychology being scientific is the use
of laboratory experiments in the cognitive approach. These enable a greater control
over extraneous and confounding variables, allowing the researcher to establish a
cause and effect conclusion. For example, Baddeley (1966b) added an interference
task before each trial of recalling the word sequence so as to block the STM and
make sure only LTM was used. This enabled Baddeley to conclude from his findings
that LTM indeed used semantic encoding without the interference of STM. This
means that his findings can be regarded as credible due to the controls employed
and measurements of the effect of the independent variable (semantic or acoustic
word similarity) on the dependent variable (recall of word sequences). This indicates
that cognitive psychology takes a scientific approach in understanding memory and
its components. However, research into reconstructive memory may not be as
scientific as that into the multi-store model and working memory model. This is
because this theory is more vague about how memory is reconstructed, where
schemas are located in the brain and how they work. This means that using
objective measures of brain activity like brain scans in research into reconstructive
memory may not be practical as the processes of modifying memory through
schemas are not described in terms of brain activity. This suggests that
reconstructive memory may be a more subjective and unscientific concept as there
is no objective evidence of schemas from brain scans.
One argument against psychology being a science is the use of
questionnaires to collect qualitative data in the social approach. A scientific
approach involves collecting quantitative data that is objective and unbiased, so that
reliability can be tested. Social psychology however studies prejudice and obedience
which are difficult to empirically test as they are internal mental processes and are
different for each individual. For this reason, questionnaires with open-ended
questions and interviews are used to collect data rich in detail which tell about the
reasons for the attitudes of that individual, instead of quantitative data which lacks
meaning. For example, Katz and Braly (1933) used questionnaires to investigate
national stereotypes of Americans for certain racial groups. Here, qualitative data
was important since numerical data would not include the reasons for certain
stereotypes. This introduces the potential for subjectivity in the interpretation of the
results, meaning that it may be harder to check for consistency in and hence to
replicate. Therefore, psychological research into attitudes and beliefs may not be
