1. What is Science?

2. What are the key features of SCIENCE?
There must be a definable subject matter or PARADIGM.
There must be a theory constructed from which hypotheses are derived and tested
Concepts must be falsifiable
There must be a use of empirical methods of investigation which can be replicated
There must be general laws that govern human behaviour (generalisation - nomothetic)

3. The Psychology and Science Debate
There are two strands to this debate:
Is psychology a science?
Should psychology be a science?
The first question looks at whether psychology, in its present form meets the criteria of a science subject
The second question examines whether being classed as a science is something that psychology should strive for.
As with any controversy, there are proponents for and against both of these arguments. WITH THIS IN MIND, WE WILL BE PREPARING FOR A WHOLE CLASS DEBATE.
However, before we can assess the status of psychology as a science and prepare for our debate, we must first define what science is.
What is the difference between these two questions?

4. Why is Psychology regarded as a pre-science?
KUHN (1970) – Suggests that there is no one global unifying theory in psychology. Psychology is characterised by many theoretical approaches, some aspects of which are conflicting. Psychology also uses several conflicting methods of enquiry.
Extension
Task: Using the text books complete the features of a science match up activity so that you are clear about what is meant by…..
a theory
a hypothesis
falsifiability
objectivity
empirical methods
Reconcilable 4

5. What do you see? Ladies face or saxophonist?
Two people at a table in an up lit restaurant or a skull?
The Nativity or two dinosaurs fighting over a watermelon?
Question of the lesson: What is the link between these images and the approaches unit in psychology? Why is this relevant to what we have been considering in psychology this week?

6. Thinking back to those approaches…
If you are going to discuss particular methods or approaches and decide if they are scientific or not you need to be sure that your knowledge of the methodology is sound so with that in mind have a go at the questions on twin studies used in the biological approach
Monozygotic twins= identical twins
Dizygotic twins= non identical twins
Would you consider this study as scientific? Refer to the features of a science we discussed last lesson.

7. Why are theories important in science?
A theory is a set of general laws or principles that have the ability to explain a particular event or behaviour.
Theories satisfy key principles in science: ORDER and DIRECTION. Scientists believe that events in our world are not random, they are ordered and can be predicted. Theories organise facts, find regularities and patterns and condense these into general principles.
Theories also provide the BASIS for research. Theory construction occurs through gathering empirical evidence from direct observations.
From the basis of a theory it is possible to make a hypothesis or prediction that can be scientifically tested.
What do we call this process?

8. Why are hypotheses (or predictions) important in science?
Deriving new hypotheses from an existing theory is called DEDUCTION….
Taking a general idea and making it SPECIFIC.
If hypotheses and predictions are NOT confirmed when tested (using empirical and objective methods) then the theory needs to be reconsidered.
If the predictions ARE confirmed, then the theory is supported.
Deduction – general to specific
Induction – Specific to general 8

9. Consider this question
A teacher was chatting to the children in her Year 10 class. Most of them said that they watched TV and played computer games until the early hours of the morning and only three out of twenty-eight children said they were asleep before 2am. She is concerned that the majority of them come to school without having enough sleep as they were mainly only getting 5 hours a night. In her opinion, children who have at least eight hours sleep are more productive at school and do better in their GCSEs. They are also better behaved. She now wants to write a letter to parents informing them of her opinions. The school is not willing to spend money on sending this letter to all the children’s parents purely on the basis of the teacher’s opinion and insists on having scientific evidence for the claimed benefits of having at least eight hours sleep a night.
Explain why the teacher’s opinion cannot be accepted as scientific evidence. Refer to some of the major features of science in your answer. (6 marks)

10. Psychology as a Science
How do you answer this? Read the Q carefully…..
where do you think students went wrong?
Answer the 2 mark exam questions below. Q1: Explain the role of theory in scientific research. (2 marks) Q2: Explain one role of hypothesis testing in psychology. [2 marks]

11. Answers to this question varied widely and some candidates simply explained what a theory was, rather than its role in scientific research. Good candidates used appropriate terminology such as ‘falsification’ rather than ‘prove’.
Many students were challenged by this question and few gained the marks available. Many answers focussed on what a hypothesis is – a testable statement - but failed to explain the main role of hypothesis testing by linking their explanation to theory.

12. What about falsifiability?
Popper (1959) argues that scientific theories must always be stated in such a way that the predictions derived from them could potentially be shown to be false.
Genuine scientific theories should hold themselves up for hypothesis testing.
It does not matter how many times you repeatedly find consistent results – can the theory be proven WRONG.
To do this, theories must be SPECIFIC and open themselves up to scrutiny….
OR the Little Green Man…

13. What about falsifiability?
Unscientific theories do not open themselves up to jeopardy. They explain EVERYTHING and that is the problem.
For this reason, psychologists are very reluctant to use phrases such as “this proves”…..as it suggests absolute surety. It is also why we also use a null hypothesis!
Can you think of any theories that are falsifiable? Why are they falsifiable?
Can you think of any particular areas of psychology that are unfalsifiable?
What does this suggest about the status of psychology as a science?
EXAMPLE: People with an anal personality will be miserly (stingy). If people are not miserly, this would usually means the theory is refuted, but Freud might argue that non miserly, anal people have used a defence mechanism to turn this trait into something else! 13

14. Have a think……..
People with an anal personality will be miserly (stingy). If people are not miserly, Freud might argue that non miserly, anal people have used a defence mechanism to turn this trait into something else.
Explain why this example is non- falsifiable?

15. Empirical, objective methods and replicability
KEY WORD: EMPIRICISM All knowledge should be derived from sensory experience e.g. observation and experiments.
If a theory has not been tested using empirical methods, it cannot classify itself as being SCIENTIFIC

16. Empiricism and Objectivity
Empirical methods must be OBJECTIVE – we should be able to measure an individual's characteristics in a way that is independent of bias, subjectivity or the examiner's own beliefs.
However, objectivity is harder to achieve than in other sciences. Physics and chemistry deals with inert matter whereas psychology deals with living matter – conscious and reasoning human beings.
Psychology is more likely to be contaminated by BIAS:
It is argued that no-one ever observes without some idea of what they are looking for. This is BIAS.

17. What about Replicability?
DISCUSSION Q: What must a psychologist do in order to make REPLICABILITY possible?
Operationalised variables
Rigorous and SPECIFIC methods
Detailed reports so that others can replicate the work
Replicability is important because…
Confirms the validity AND reliability of the findings.
Can be repeated in different cultures to assess cultural bias
Why might someone say that replication is harder with HUMANS?

18. Generalisation (nomothetic)
Development of general principles and universal laws – usually associated with ‘scientific’ experiments, with large samples to establish how people are similar.
Can a researcher make justified extensions of their conclusions if the sample is small? Why/why not? Can a researcher make justified extensions of their conclusions if the experiment was set in a laboratory? Why/why not? Can a researcher make justified extensions of their conclusions to different cultures? Why/why not?
Write up on board from the book. 18

19. Before you answer – read the examiners report…..
Exam Qs:
Explain why generalisation is an important principle of the scientific approach. (1 mark)
Briefly outline two problems that might arise when making generalisations on the basis of psychological research findings. (4 marks)
AO3 One mark for explaining why generalisation is an important principle in science: for
theories and findings from research to be of value it is important as science seeks to
discover general laws of behaviour.
Accept: as science seeks to discover general laws of behaviour from which
predictions can be made.
[AO3 = 4]
AO3 Up to two marks for outlining each problem. One mark for a brief point, 2nd mark for
elaboration/explanation.
Possible content: problem of small sample not being representative; individual
differences affecting generalisation; problem of sample generalisation including
animals to humans; often difficult to represent the many different factors that
characterise a population in the sample; problem of generalisability of findings from
one culture to another/different cultures; general issue of subject matter being
humans, thus varied and less predictable than subject matter in other sciences;
generalisability across time; generalisability relating to task, context and location;
relating findings from an experiment to life in the real world/beyond the immediate
setting (ecological validity).
Credit use of evidence as elaboration.
Before you answer – read the examiners report….. 19

20. EXAM REPORT FOR Q 1: Students seemed to have a reasonable understanding of generalisation but did not always address the requirements of the question, to explain why it was an important principle of the scientific approach, instead simply stating what it is. It would be useful for students to start such an answer with: ‘Generalisation is an important principle of the scientific approach because …’ which might lead to the appropriate answer: ‘because science seeks to discover general laws of behaviour’ (or similar).
EXAM REPORT FOR Q 2: This question was generally answered well with most students able to demonstrate some understanding of the problems in making generalisations. Many students referred to generalising from small/unrepresentative samples and the problem of the lack of ecological validity when generalising from laboratory experiments. Where students were not awarded full marks it was usually because either answers were not fully developed or only one problem was outlined.

21. The Subject of Psychology
So far, we have looked at the SCIENTIFIC APPROACH – what makes a SCIENCE. We will now look more closely at two ideas which analyse, more specifically, whether psychology IS scientific but on other levels.

22. So…..what about Psychology?
Overt vs. Subjective
If these two concepts were in the ring, what would they be fighting for?
“Behaviour that is EXTERNAL is open to scientific enquiry, whereas experience which is INTERNAL is NOT open to scientific enquiry” TRUE OR FALSE?

23. FALSE: The Scientific Investigation of Internal Processes
Biological approach
Cognitive approach
Memory –internal, personal, conscious
Internal events in the brain
Empirical evidence – observation, recall on words
EEG - an empirical methods

24. Can Psychology be a Science?
There is a strong argument against making Psychology a Science. This is based on a number of objections. TASK: In pairs, read the objections and place them on the scales provided. Be ready to feedback your answers to the class!

25. Problem in principle Trivial problem Serious problem
Problem in practice 25