This past week, I gave my students a handout that stated the following:
"In answering the following question, I would like you to state what YOU
believe the answer to be, not what you think I want to hear. Some people
(even psychologists) answer with a 'no', others answer with a 'yes'. Is
I had another thought about this issue. Perhaps a reason why many
students are skeptical of psychology's scientific status is that, as
scientists, we don't try directly to answer the fundamental question
most humans are interested in. This question can be put in several ways,
but it typically has
Earlier today, I wrote about reasons my students gave for saying that
psychology is not a science.
This past week, I gave my students a handout that stated the following:
"In answering the following question, I would like you to state what YOU
believe the answer to be, not what you think I
Jeff Ricker wrote:
Annette Taylor posted a wonderful update describing how she
attempted to explain the scientific aspects of psychology to
the chemistry instructor who saw psychology as being unscientific.
Nevertheless, in a second post, she seemed to take it all back
by stating the
the world at large?
Feeling discouraged...
Kris Lewis
Saint Michael's College
Colchester VT
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED][SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, April 26, 1999 10:14 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: IS psycho
TIPSters,
I take great pleasure in reporting that Annette Taylor has not "gone post-
modern" on us! I am sorry, but I read the addresses incorrectly on my mail.
My comments were meant for William McCown (I hope I remembered his name
correctly), not Annette.
Please forgive me Annette.
Meekly,
At 9:52 AM -0400 4/27/99, Dr. Kristina Lewis wrote:Well, guess what?
Yesterday, last class, I brought up the question again.
Most of the students believe that psychology isn't "really a science"
because "humans are too variable and you can't ever really understand what
causes behavior" and
ny
hope of convincing the world at large?
Feeling discouraged...
Kris Lewis
Saint Michael's College
Colchester VT
--
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED][SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, April 26, 1999 10:14 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: IS psychology a s
Hi
On Tue, 27 Apr 1999, Dr. Kristina Lewis wrote:
I teach History of Psychology to our senior psychology majors--it is
required as a "capstone" class. At the beginning of the semester we talk
about what it means to say that psychology is a science, and we talk about
their conceptions of
I begin nearly every course be asking, "What is psychology." Until students
have had me for at least two courses, they skip over any mention of science. I
also put it repeatedly on exams. Some students never get it. (This is even
true for graduate students.)
When I was interviewing for jobs,
maybe!
Michael Sylvester
Tipsters:
There is something going on with the history and systems class that it
takes a long time to see (sometimes even to those who teach it!). To put it
in a slightly different context, think of the course as being a problem the
students are trying to solve. One of the things we teach in a
With full respect to the legitimate point Annette is making, my pet peeve
forces me to point out that one characteristic of science is clear
communication and careful use of language.
On Sat, 24 Apr 1999, Annette
Taylor wrote:
Needless to say, and here I sit embarassed and upset, I went
Your experience would be pitifully funny if it weren't increasingly
common.
Science used to be defined in Popperian terms, as an enterprise with
its goal as prediction and control. Chaos theory thoroughly destroyed
that notion. Complex systems are unpredictable.
Unfortunately, what the
Tom Allaway:
With full respect to the legitimate point Annette is making, my pet
peeve
forces me to point out that one characteristic of science is clear
communication and careful use of language.
I would like to add that some branches of psych are more scientific
than others, in their
Annette Taylor posted a wonderful update describing how she attempted to
explain the scientific aspects of psychology to the chemistry instructor who
saw psychology as being unscientific. Nevertheless, in a second post, she
seemed to take it all back by stating the following:
Science used to be
Annette Taylor wrote:
Apparently not according to the "science" people at our university,
particularly the chemistry dept.
Our annual students research fair is today, and I have a group of
students presenting a poster on research they did in a lab class
with me.
Imagine my
I hope you asked her what it is that defines a science. Depending on her
answer, she may be right or wrong. I would argue that mainstream
psychology is not entirely scientific. Of course, we do
emphasize the use of the scientific method in most (but not all) of
psychology.
Having said the
At 1:13 PM -0400 4/24/99, Charles M. Huffman wrote:
In the past 3 years, I have taken 3 students before the committee. On each
occassion, the Chemistry prof. basically attacked the scientific rigor of
the psych experiment in question. Without actually making a statement as
such, the implication
On 24 Apr 99, at 8:59, Annette Taylor wrote:
What would or what do the rest of you do when this comes up--and
please don't tell me you go off like a roman candle because I don't
feel like that was very effective--I think I just made an enemy instead
of a convert. Dang my fiery nature.
Dave Johnson wrote:
I ask
them if the National Academy of Science represents "science." I also
ask them if the journal *SCIENCE* publishes scientific papers.
Or, if the know anything about that journal's beginnings!
**
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