uld psychology focus on internal mental processes or observable behaviors? by acemyhomework

Psychology as a Science In the recent past, there has emerged a debate about whether psychology is a science, art, or a pseudoscience. Today, psychology is part of daily lives as people are frequently exposed to psychologists' work in their day to day activities. We encounter psychologists work everywhere, including TV shows and crime dramas. In television shows and theatres, psychologists are featured providing advice ranging from personal, family, religion, marriage, and even grief. Also, psychology is a popular topic for students and is taught in most of the courses offered. Thus, people are aware of what psychology entails because of the frequency they encounter the work done by psychologists. Although people know psychology, people need to understand its definition and choice of approach, why study it, whether it is a science or not, and get answers to most of the persistent questions asked in psychology. Psychology applies to every aspect of peoples' lives, and it is possible for it to be classified either as an art, science, or pseudoscience. Science puts more emphasis on empirical research. Empirical research follows scientific principles, requires testing of theories, carries out analysis of data, carries out the formation of a hypothesis, and allows replication for validation of results. Based on such observation, psychology is a science of behavior since it emphasizes empirical observation. Definition and Choice of Approach Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, that is, mental processes and behavior. Psychology is a word made up of two Greek phrases, that is, 'psyche,' which means life, and 'logos,' which means explanation (Lally and Valentine-French, 2018). Thus psychology involves the description of life both physically and naturally through observation and experiment. Thus, there are times when people need to know and understand life in its essence. Psychology is here to explain the meaning, essence, and many aspects of life for people to have knowledge that will

help them live better lives. The people who offer psychology services are called psychologists, and they include family therapists, marriage counselors, school counselors, religious counselors, and bereavement counselors. This group of psychologists provides counseling for people in difficulties (Lally and Valentine-French, 2018). Most of them research their work in laboratories, hospitals, schools, businesses, and in other fields set to study humans' and animals' behavior. Further, psychologists can be classified as cognitive, social, or behavioral scientists. In their research, the psychologists study different areas as they explore how the interaction between psychological factors and biological and sociocultural factors influence the development of an individual (Lumen Learning). These areas include mental well-being, biological foundations, potential dysfunctions, natural change and development over time, and the self and others. Additionally, psychologists work hard to find out reasons why people do or behave the way they do. The topics studied by these psychologists include reasons why people engage in terrorism, how people from different cultures react differently in negotiation, how praying mantises hear, interpretation of dreams, anxiety in children, and the effects of caffeine on thinking, among many others (The Saylor Foundation). Other subjects of interest include love, emotions, what makes people helpful or aggressive, memory, addiction to alcohol and drugs, and the psychologies of prejudice, religion, culture, and politics. Further, the methods they use to get information and understand the behavior of humans and animals in their research include interviews, questionnaires, laboratory studies, and observation (Lally and Valentine-French, 2018). Thus, psychologists work in different places providing counseling and therapy to people in need. In the late 1800s psychology developed as a separate discipline; a science. In the 17th century, Descartes, a renowned French philosopher, introduced the notion of dualism, claiming

that the mind and body were two different entities that form human experience from their interactions (Cherry, 2020). Rene argued that it is the mind that decides, while the body carries out the decision (Mischel). According to Rene, mind gave people the capacities for thought and consciousness. In the 19th century, psychology emerged as a separate discipline and science with the help of two figures, a German psychologist called Wilhelm Wundt and a United States psychologist named William James (Mischel). According to James, psychology was a science of mental life, and for this, he provided insightful discussions and challenges on psychology as a science. Using the scientific research methods to investigate reaction times, Wilhelm was able to outline many significant connections between the science of physiology and human thought and behavior study (Cherry, 2020). While separating psychology as a science, Wilhelm understood that psychology involved the study of human consciousness, where he studied internal mental processes using experimental methods. Thus, Wilhelm's contributions in psychology were of the most significant help in setting the stage for future experimental methods. Lastly, my choice of approach is atheist because I believe that science explains everything based on existing knowledge of human-being. Therefore, it is important that a specific approach is used to scientifically explain theology. In my perception, there exist phenomena that are not justified because there isn't enough knowledge to describe them. For instance, like Zeitgeists, I believe that the acceptance and consideration of any idea will depend on its compatibility with existing ideas (Krause, 2019). That is, ideas are reflections of timeless and unchanging essences that can be studied empirically. Importance of Studying Psychology Numerous reasons justify the study of psychology. Through psychology, our vision of reality grows and broaden, as it goes beyond mere professional development. Although

challenging, psychology is fascinating as it helps us develop considerable interpersonal skills and transferable workplace abilities. Some of the importance of psychology are discussed below. First, psychology helps people to understand themselves better. The study of psychology makes you ask yourself a lot of questions that will make you know your personality and behavior, giving you a unique perspective on the role at a workplace (University of Essex Online, 2017). The many questions that you tend to ask yourself as a result of studying psychology will help you to continually search and discover yourself and others more every day (Exploring Your Mind, 2018). Studying psychology enables you to search and find underlying reasons for your personality and behavior that can help you be more successful in different workplace roles (University of Essex Online, 2017). Thus, through the study of psychology, one will be able to understand oneself better and live a better life. Secondly, studying psychology will help grow your communication skills. You will be able to communicate much better with others (Exploring Your Mind, 2018). Through studying psychology, communication skills is developed and improved, allowing you to communicate with others effectively (University of Essex Online, 2017). Communication skills is a vital skill in almost all workplace. Studying psychology not only helps you improve your ability to speak in public but also communicate effectively with other people (Exploring Your Mind, 2018). You will be able to understand other people's non-verbal communication and their tonal variations and expressions, allowing you to have an effective dialogue with them. Also, you will be able to objectively and discuss a topic, structure an argument, and reference relevant sources (University of Essex Online, 2017). This ability is transferable from the classroom to any workplace role. Hence, studying psychology will help you communicate effectively at the workplace, thereby improving service delivery since you will be able to understand others well.

Thirdly, psychology will help you develop a new perspective on mental illness and treatment options. Many people have problems understanding some mental health issues. Many do not realize they have mental problems, while others cannot recognize a relative, friend, and people close by who are suffering from mental health issues. By Studying psychology, you will be able to understand the difference between disease, disorder, and syndrome (Exploring Your Mind, 2018). Understanding a disorder, a syndrome, and a fully-fledged disease will be helpful for people to know the stages of their psychological problems, which helps them know who to contact in the list of psychologist specialists. Also, a person will be able to discover multiple psychological treatments that have been developed for many mental issues (Philippe, 2020). These cognitive issues include depression and anxiety disorder or schizophrenia (Exploring Your Mind, 2018). Thus, studying psychology will enable you to help others live an everyday life despite mental illness. Fourthly, studying psychology will help you develop critical thinking. Psychology will help you be the right professional who is useful to people while maintaining your integrity and honor (Exploring Your Mind, 2018). You will be able to learn approaches, theories, and areas that will help you differentiate the reality of things. You will be able to evaluate different concepts, set of figures, and proposals that will help you make the best possible decision (University of Essex Online, 2017). Thus, studying psychology will help you develop critical thinking skills that will come in handy in the future, such as avoiding costly mistakes at home as well as in the workplace. Fifthly, studying psychology will help you develop the ability to do research. Studying psychology will help you end up with a more critical attitude, where you will not believe everything that is published or broadcast on TV, radio, news article, or entertainment articles

(Philippe, 2020). As a result, you will end up researching any topic of personal interest in the search for the truth. Through research, you will be able to gain insight into human behavior using scientific methods (Philippe, 2020). You will be able to find sources, evaluate their effectiveness, and accurately present the findings from these sources (University of Essex Online, 2017). Thus, studying psychology will help you develop research skills that will enable you to investigate potential projects and review tenders, among others, in any workplace role. Lastly, studying psychology will help you learn to value scientific methods. Through scientific methods, you will be able to confront many false myths associated with psychology (Exploring Your Mind, 2018). Psychology will help you face these myths using certain conclusions, data, and insights that have been reached upon through laborious, objective, and patient work. The work is achieved through the use of scientific research methods, which makes you be a psychology professional (Exploring Your Mind, 2018). Thus, studying psychology helps you appreciate scientific techniques that enable you to reach certain conclusions, data, and insights that you will use to confront many false myths about psychology. Psychology as Science Before stating whether psychology is a science or not, let us explain what science is. Science is both a body of knowledge and the process of acquiring new knowledge (Understanding Science). It involves the things discovered already and the process of developing things we have not learned yet. It involves collecting facts that are isolated and static in textbooks as well as a discovery process that allows us to link these isolated and static facts into comprehensive and coherent understandings of the natural world (Australian Academy of Science). They are both interdependent because acquisition of knowledge reloes on asked questions and the methods used to give the answers.

Additionally, science can be grouped into empirical, formal, and applied sciences (Australian Academy of Science). Empirical science involves the use of theories that are based on the reproducibility of results, observable phenomena, and peer review (Australian Academy of Science). Empirical science can either be natural science or social science. Natural science involves the study of living organisms and material science. That is, natural science is both biological science and physical science. Social science, on the other hand, involves the study of society and people (Australian Academy of Science). Formal science is the study of logic and mathematics, while applied science involves the disciplines that depend on science and the use of scientific knowledge that already exists to develop new applications. In general, science helps us understand and recognize the world and how it works as well as ourselves and where we fit within the world. Embarking on whether psychology is a science or not, research shows that, indeed, psychology is a very new science (McLeod, 2020). Some reasons justify psychology as being a science. The first reason is that psychology involves scientists seeking to test out theories (Stuart, 2020). While testing their theories, psychology scientists follow the scientific principle. They use the scientific testing principle in their research, after which they analyze the data from the results to decide if their theories are supported by the findings of the study (Stuart, 2020). If the findings of the study support it, they accept the theory and will amend or replace pre-existing theory with a new one if the conclusions of the study do not support it. Secondly, most psychological experiments are replicable. While conducting their research, psychologists ensure that they are highly replicable to allow other researchers to follow the same procedures that enable them to gain similar results (Stuart, 2020). Replicable research allows researchers to compare similar studies to see the validity and truth of results and how they

conform to life. The results will be high in the scientific validity of the results from identical experiments are reasonably similar (Stuart, 2020). However, the results will be low in the scientific validity of the results from identical experiments differ. Lastly, psychology scientists test the hypothesis. Basing on their theory, the psychologists will formulate the hypothesis that they intend to test in their research (Stuart, 2020). These psychologists keep an open mind during their study because they know that there is a possibility that their hypothesis might be incorrect. In any psychological research, the hypothesis is either alternative or null (Stuart, 2020). The alternative hypothesis predicts that the theory will be confirmed by the research outcome, while the null hypothesis predicts that the theory will be contradicted by the research outcome and that if it confirms the theory, then it is by chance or random error. Persistent Questions in Psychology Throughout history, psychology has been facing several questions. Some of these questions helped in the separation of psychology as a separate discipline and science from physiology and philosophy (Cherry, 2020). These questions include:  How can psychology be defined?  Is psychology a science?  Should psychologists influence aspects of human behavior such as public policy and education using the research?  What are the methods of research that psychology studies should use?  What are the issues and topics that psychology should be concerned with?  Should psychology focus on internal mental processes or observable behaviors?

Conclusion Psychology is a behavioral science because it applies to every aspect of life and seeks to find out answers in everyday life through empirical observations. The discussion above brings a better understanding of what psychology is all about. Through its definition, we get to understand that psychology involves the explanation of life both physically and naturally through observation and experiment. We also get to understand the importance of studying psychology. The importance includes helping you to understand yourself better, grow your communication skills, develop a new perspective on mental illness and treatment options, develop critical thinking, develop the ability to do research, and to learn to value scientific methods. Moreover, we get to know that psychology is a science because it involves scientists seeking to test out theories, psychological experiments are replicable, and psychology scientists test the hypothesis. Lastly, we get to understand some of the questions that have been persistent in psychology since its beginnings. Therefore, according to the research presented, psychology is not an art or a pseudoscience but a complete science. It is evident that psychology is a new science because it involves the practice of empirical science, which requires testing out some important theories to find answers. While testing out these theories, the psychologists follow scientific principles for testing. What follows is that Data analysis is conducted to determine whether results support the theories formulated. Further, the psychologists ensure that while undertaking their research, they give room for replication. This move allows then to later follow the same procedure to create other results for comparison of validity. Finally, the psychologists, based on their theories, form hypotheses for their studies. These hypotheses ensure that they remain open to either a failure or a loss in their research. A positive hypothesis means that they are able to understand the behavior

and problems of their patients, and losing means the behaviors and problems of their patients are complicated and needs further analysis.

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