SNHU Psychology Discussion Paper Responses Assignment Help
Humanities
I’ve already done my initial post. Please just type a one to two paragraph response to the two students posts below stating if you agree or disagree and why. Here is the topic:
Read the materials for this week, including the article on pseudoscience and the overview of Freud’s theories. In your opinion, are Freud’s theories scientific? Why or why not? What makes a psychological theory scientific?
Student One’s Post:
Freud starting a new theory, a new way of thinking. However, there are skeptics who may feel that Freud’s work was merely pseudoscience and lacked the necessary application required to be scientific study. Before diving further into Freud’s work, one must consider the intent behind scientific studies. Luk said that scientific study is a social learning process that advances the creation and revisions that allow distribution of scientific knowledge with the intent of making it more reliable or accurate (2017). The discussion of nature versus nurture is a valid argument that people still feel has influences from both realms. Does this mean that it is not a scientific study to investigate because scientists still have no means to prove which theory is more accurate?
In my opinion, I do feel that Freud’s theories do provide a reliable or accurate picture for us to better understand the human psyche. However, I would not say all his theories are in fact scientific. Mcleod said it best when he mentioned that Freud is good at explaining but not at predicting the outcome of behavior for an individual, which should be the basis for science (2018). Therefore, because we cannot effectively determine the outcome but only explain certain aspects of why someone may behave the way they do, this is not scientific but only a theory and does not further the field of psychology. It only allows others to dispute the claim. Additionally, Mcleod also states that Freud may have used his studies to his benefit by not providing information that would counter his claim (2018).
References
Luk, R. (2017). A Theory of Scientific Study. Foundations of Science, 22(1), 11-38. Doi: 10.1007/s10699-015-9435-x.
Mcleod, S. (2018). What are the most interesting ideas of Sigmund Freud? Retrieved March 10, 2019, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.htm…
Student Two’s Post:
There seems to be a lot of conflicting beliefs in whether or not Freud’s theories should be considered scientific, and in my opinion, most of the information points to them not being scientific. The problem with his theories is that no clear cut hypothesis exists to be tested (Shermer, 2011). Therefore, without something to test, how can we say that the founding father of psychoanalysis used science to validate his findings? It goes without saying that his work has influenced the field of psychology, and will continue to do so. He introduced us to words such as libido, denial, repression, neurotic, along with others that have become a part of our vocabulary (McLeod, 2018). His theories cannot be proven right or wrong, which is why it’s difficult to consider his theories scientific. Not only was his evidence gathered from a small and unrepresentative sample, but he was also biased in his interpretations by ignoring all claims that went against his findings (McLeod, 2018).
In order to follow the premises of science, psychological theories are made to answer questions. To make them scientific, psychologists use the scientific method to test their hypotheses and use empirical reasoning to come to their conclusions (Rosnow & Rosenthal, 2013). They use logic, observation, and measurements to gain validity to their conclusions, but are still open to constructive criticisms. Various forms of research can be conducted to either prove or disprove different psychological theories, which is where the scientific method comes into play that way we remain objective and always continue to ask questions on already answered ones.
References
McLeod, S. A. (2018, April 05). What are the most interesting ideas of Sigmund Freud?. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html
Rosnow, R. L. & Rosenthal, R. (2013). Beginning behavioral research: a conceptual primer. (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Shermer, M. (2011, Sept 1). What is pseudoscience? Distinguishing between science and pseudoscience is problematic. Retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-pseudoscience/#
