Is psychology a science?

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Nilloc James
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Is psychology a science?

Post #1

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This article came up in another thread

http://www.arachnoid.com/psychology/

Can psychology be called a science?

Can the mind and/or brain be studied scientifically?

Is it even possible to talk about psychology as if it is one field? There are many areas and both a scientific and clinical branch that don't have much in common.

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bluethread
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Post #11

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The problem with looking at Psychology and/or Sociology as sciences is the difficulty in controlling the environment when doing a study. Most studies have to "adjust" the sample and results for various factors. The Heisenberg principle tells us that these adjustments effect the outcome. Therefore, I say they are not sciences.

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Nilloc James
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Post #12

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bluethread wrote: The problem with looking at Psychology and/or Sociology as sciences is the difficulty in controlling the environment when doing a study. Most studies have to "adjust" the sample and results for various factors. The Heisenberg principle tells us that these adjustments effect the outcome. Therefore, I say they are not sciences.
I agree that it is hard to control confounding factors. These factors may impact the study depending on the severity. However to bring up the Heisenberg principle is inane. That principle refers to our certainty of the the velocity(momentum) and location of particles SMAlLER THAN ATOMS. It simply does not apply.

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bluethread
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Post #13

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Nilloc James wrote:
bluethread wrote: The problem with looking at Psychology and/or Sociology as sciences is the difficulty in controlling the environment when doing a study. Most studies have to "adjust" the sample and results for various factors. The Heisenberg principle tells us that these adjustments effect the outcome. Therefore, I say they are not sciences.
I agree that it is hard to control confounding factors. These factors may impact the study depending on the severity. However to bring up the Heisenberg principle is inane. That principle refers to our certainty of the the velocity(momentum) and location of particles SMAlLER THAN ATOMS. It simply does not apply.

Yes, but it can be generalized to all scientific study. When one studies something, the study methods effect the results to a greater or lesser degree.

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Nilloc James
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Post #14

Post by Nilloc James »

bluethread wrote:
Nilloc James wrote:
bluethread wrote: The problem with looking at Psychology and/or Sociology as sciences is the difficulty in controlling the environment when doing a study. Most studies have to "adjust" the sample and results for various factors. The Heisenberg principle tells us that these adjustments effect the outcome. Therefore, I say they are not sciences.
I agree that it is hard to control confounding factors. These factors may impact the study depending on the severity. However to bring up the Heisenberg principle is inane. That principle refers to our certainty of the the velocity(momentum) and location of particles SMAlLER THAN ATOMS. It simply does not apply.

Yes, but it can be generalized to all scientific study. When one studies something, the study methods effect the results to a greater or lesser degree.
It may technically.be true but we can minimize the impact of our observations so they are minimal. However not all observations change the system: for example measuring the height.of a tree doesnt change the tree.

Do not abuse a specific phyaics principlw to argue a general point which isnt true.

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