Preview

Need for Psychological Science

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2740 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Need for Psychological Science
The Need For Psychological Science: The Limits of Intuition & Common Sense: Some people scorn a scientific approach because of their faith in human intuition. Intuition can lead you astray. We presume that we could have foreseen what we know happened. Finding out something has happened makes it seem inevitable. Psychologists call this 20/20 hindsight vision the hindsight bias (the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it) also know as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon. Our everyday thinking is not limited to out after-the-fact common sense, but also by our human tendency to be overly confident. The Scientific Attitude: Underlying all science is a hard-headed curiosity, a passion to explore and understand without misleading or being mislead. When put to the test, can predictions be confirmed? This approach has a long history. For example: As ancient a figure as Moses used such an approach. How do you evaluate a self-proclaimed prophet? His Answer? Put the prophet to the test. If the predicted event "does not take place or prove true," then so much the worse for the prophet. (Deut. 18:22). Putting a scientific attitude into practice requires not only skepticism but also humility, because we may have to reject our own ideas. In the last analysis, what matters is not my opinion or yours, but the truths nature reveals in response to our questioning. Curiosity, skepticism, & humility helped make modern science possible. Scientists check and recheck one another's findings and conclusions. This scientific attitude prepares us to think smarter. Smart thinking, called critical thinking (thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions). Whether reading a news report or listening to a conversation, critical thinkers always ask questions. Has psychology's critical inquiry been open to surprising findings? The

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Psychology

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The pituitary-adrenal system involves activation of the hypothalamus which then stimulates the pituitary gland resulting in the release of the hormone ACT-H. This stress hormone stimulates the release of corticosteroids from the adrenal cortex. These help to control blood sugar levels and make fats available for energy.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Psychology

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages

    * Examples such as UFO sightings, cow mutilations by aliens, and crop circles demonstrate how ____social comparison_____________ can lead to mass hysteria and collective delusions.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    By using this method, it allows Scientific Psychologist to look at studies so that they can describe, explain, forecast, influence mental process, or even change ones human behaviors. Through the use of science we can eliminate the theories, fables, wives tales, and other non-proven interventions and studies and see what truly lies at the heart of the issues that make a person or people behave and think in the manner they do.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    psychology

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Sensation is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. Perception is the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. My lab/activity is…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Humility along with curiosity and skepticism is required with using scientific attitude practices. An awareness of our own vulnerability to error and an openness to surprises and new perspectives is needed so that the truth is seen in response to our questioning. The fact that we need to lay aside our preconceptions and be open to something else all together, gives us a more realistic result.…

    • 1672 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Is Psychology A Science?

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The question of whether Psychology can be classed as a Science has been a topic of debate for many years, however to truly answer this question it is first important to understand what the term ‘science’ actually means.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Educational Psychology

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Intrinsic motivation can be defined as "motivation associated with activities that are their own reward" (Perry 2003). It is motivation that stems from your inner feelings and views which feed your desires to accomplish and perform. Oppositely, extrinsic motivation is "motivation created by external factors such as rewards and punishments" (Perry 2003). When you are extrinsically motivated, you are only performing the task for what you will gain from completion. On the other hand, when we are intrinsically motivated, there is no requirement for external rewards or punishments because the activity is a reward in itself. It is a benefit for students to be intrinsically motivated in the classroom because they are leaning for knowledge and not just for marks or grades. Most students are naturally extrinsically motivated at school by things such as grades and their future career. In a perfect world we "want students to be motivated also by the love of learning, knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and positive feelings about themselves" (McKinney).…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Many have experienced a moment in which a decision was quickly made, based solely on these four simple words: It just felt right. There were never any supporting facts or even ample time spent to mull over the decision as any decision would normally require. The surprising result? The decision just happened to be spot on. Now, the odds of this occurring may seem quite low, even impossible. Call it a hunch, call it a “gut feeling”, this process of thinking – or lack of – is actually quite common and is known as intuition. It is simply the brain’s “shortcut” to making a hasty decision or opinion in a matter of seconds with the least amount of thinking involved as possible. In addition to the four main Ways of Knowing (WOKs), perception, emotion, reason, and language, intuition has the potential to be considered a separate, fifth WOK as it may lead to certain truths. However, intuition is simply a hybrid of two of the WOKs, perception and emotion; therefore, intuition cannot be considered its own, brand new WOK. The brain processes what the senses take in for a split second – the use of perception as a WOK - and rushes through past memories, past knowledge, picking up whatever it may think is relevant in a short amount of time. This is then transferred into emotions, evoking the wrenching feeling in the stomach, or perhaps even those four words, “It just feels right.” As with all WOKs, however, there are faults. Perception and emotion cannot always be trusted as there could be misinterpretations. With this in mind, is intuition always reliable? And how does one determine whether or not to trust that gut feeling?…

    • 1668 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Educational Psychology

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages

    With the number of educational psychologists rising today, they are finding more and more ways to help out the students in our schools now. Many projects are being done, experiments being made, research being conducted, and tests being run so that educational psychologists can help fix problems that a lot of people are generally tending to have. They deal with many different aspects in their job from cognitive, to social, to behavioral problems or difficulties.…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychology

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages

    When psychology first began to become a science in 1860, it was more of a field of philosophy than an actual medical study. It dealt with a more abstract concept than other medical fields; the human body is something concrete that you can physically look at and study whereas, at the time, you could not physically see the mind.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Science Barry

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Though science is often considered a field for those who want concrete answers and find speculation something beneath them, John M. Barry reveals quite the opposite. Through this passage, Barry shows his reader through numerous rhetorical strategies that scientific research is actually a field for the daring and courageous willing to be left unsure of most answers and rely on faith that someday their work will yield something of importance on the subject.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the article “Why is the Science of Psychology Important for Spas” the author suggests the psychology behind designing a spa consists of the psychological and physical well-being of an individual. Medical treatments have advanced dramatically during the centuries; however, scientists overlooked the power of natural remedies. For example, the physical touch of massages highly impact an individual’s mental and emotional improvement. Individuals tend to excel in their endeavors due of their emotional strength and stability. With that taken into consideration; creating a destination where the implementation of psychological and physical well-being can ease the human mind and improve productivity (Psychology of Spas and Wellbeing).…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Psychology

    • 2330 Words
    • 10 Pages

    * In 21st century, leading causes of death are influenced by psychological and social factors like smoking, diet, stress, cancer…

    • 2330 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psychology

    • 4184 Words
    • 17 Pages

    Effects of Current Nursing Management Styles on the Retention and Recruitment of Nurses: A Review of the Literature…

    • 4184 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why study psychology

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages

    hard to make time for doing thesis research as workload at school already very heavy…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays