3 ms·
You're mixing terms. Nobody is saying psychology doesn't use scientific methods. They are arguing it is not a hard science. The hard science version of psycholo
by jquery 14y ago
You're mixing terms. Nobody is saying psychology doesn't use scientific methods. They are arguing it is not a hard science. The hard science version of psychology is called neuroscience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_and_soft_science http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_and_soft_science
Psychology gave up its efforts to become a hard science when it gave up trying to explain behavior from its roots in the brain, and moved into the realm of observing behavior and reporting correlations.
- emini_guy 14y ago>Psychology gave up its efforts to become a hard science when it gave up trying to explain behavior from its roots in the brain, and moved into the realm of observing behavior and reporting correlations. Well, that's was astronomy was doing all the time before Newton. Does it mean it was not a hard science? Psychology is doing the best it can do. It may simply never be a hard science. It is not now to most people, myself included. I think it is not a hard science because the human nature is too complex to be investigated in a simple manner. Psychologists are aware of it and they refuse to use simplistic models. Neuroscience is much simpler. It studies the brain, not the human personality that can have many layers.
- tedks 14y agoFrom that article: """ Philosophers and sociologists of science attempting to identify measurable correlates of perceived disciplinary 'hardness' have been unable to account for the distinction using these systematic, theoretical characteristics.[10] I """