Bob K

Is Psychology a Science?

Rhetorical Question/RQ: What is a science?
Rhetorical Answer/RA: A science is the organized study of the causality of a specified phenomenon or of specified phenomena.

RQ: What is causality?
RA: Operational Definition/OpDef: Causality is the set of events wherein people and/or objects who or which are causes cause or create the effects of (A) changes in the inertial states (being in motion or being at rest) or inertial reference frames (a combination of being at speed and with direction) of pre-existing people or objects or (B) new people or objects or events.

NOTE: Inertial states and inertial reference frames are technical concepts from the science of physics and will not be discussed herein.

RA: OpDef: Causality = Causes causing effects

Bob K

Assertion/Assrtn: A science follows the Code of Science.

RQ: What is the Code of Science?
RA: The Code of Science is as follows:
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I. Science is the organized study of the people/objects/events who/which are the natural phenomena of reality for the purpose of determining the causality among the people/objects/events of reality.

Causality is the cause-and-effect relationships among the people/objects/events. Causality describes which people/objects/events cause other people/objects/events.

Scientific knowledge is the description of the causality between/among the people/objects/events who/which are the natural phenomena of reality.

II. Scientists must create operational definitions of the terms they wish to use so they can communicate effectively with themselves, with other scientists, and with nonscientists.

Operational definitions are definitions which present the observations and/or measurements [descriptions] of the people/objects/events who/which are natural phenomena; operational definitions can be used to define complex and abstract concepts, principles and techniques. [1, 2 & 3]

For example, children often use sentence structures of "_____ [concept/principle being defined] is when _____ [observation/measurement/description of the actions/reactions of people/objects/events being operationally defined]." A child may create an operational definition of love in the following way: "Love is when someone says they like you and they do nice things for you and with you ." The child's observation/measurement/description of the actions/reactions of someone who loves provides an operational definition of the term love .

III. Scientists must follow the scientific method in determining the causality of people/objects/events.

The Scientific Method

1. Specify the unit of study [the people/objects/events to be studied].
2. Observe and/or measure the units of study to gather data.
3. Create a causal hypothesis which describes and predicts the causes of effects among the people/objects/events who/which are the units of study.
4. Observe/measure more people/objects/events who/which are units of study to gather additional data which can be used to confirm [verify] or deny [falsify] the causal hypothesis.
5. Determine if or not the additional data confirm/verify or deny the causal hypothesis.
6. If the data confirm the causal hypothesis, then let other people know of the hypothesis and the scientific method that lead to the creation and confirmation of the hypothesis, and declare the verified/confirmed hypothesis to be a scientific law/law of nature; but if the data do not confirm the causal hypothesis, then either revise the hypothesis to fit the data, or else create a new hypothesis and follow the Scientific Method Steps 4-6.

Thus, the scientific method requires observation of the people/objects/events of reality and does not allow speculation or religious dogma to be passed off as facts/truth.

IV. Scientific Proof:

A. Physical Evidence: People/things/events who/which can be seen/heard/touched/smelled/tasted and thus observed and measured directly or indirectly through the use of machines such as telescopes/microscopes/audio amplifiers/etc., or who/which can be inferred by their observed/measured/verified effects upon natural/physical phenomena (people/objects/events comprised of matter/energy and who/which therefore exist in contrast to being the subject matter/content of ideas/dreams/fantasies/etc.)

B. Eyewitness Reports: Testimonies by credible individuals (individuals not known to lie or deceive, and who have no known reasons/motivation to lie or deceive) corroborated by corroborating reports by credible corroborators.

C. Logical Arguments: Arguments in which premises which are verifiable/falsifiable/verified lead logically to conclusions which are true if the premises are true; wherein the premises must answer the begged question: Is this premise true?; wherein verification of the premises must be based upon physical evidence and/or eyewitness reports.

V. Scientists must list the scientific principles they have determined to be scientific principles/laws of nature, so other people can know what the scientists claim to be knowledge. Moreover, scientists must publish/present the observations and measurements of natural phenomena (units of study) by which they created and by which they confirmed/verified their causal hypotheses in order that other scientists may replicate/duplicate their observations and measurements to confirm/deny their causal hypotheses and claims of scientific principles.

The science of medicine began when Hippocrates, the Greek father of philosophy, observed a man suffering from what we now know as epilepsy and rejected the claims of priests that the cause of the victim's condition was his inability to reject demons and his consequent possession by demons. Hippocrates thought epilepsy was caused by natural causes, not supernatural or mystical causes, and he began to look for those natural causes. He created a school of thought which became known as philosophy, which was the first science from which came medicine and all other sciences. Hippocrates is still remembered for the Hippocratic oath taken by modern doctors.

Key to Hippocrates' thinking was his determination to reject the authority of priests and to observe people/objects/events in the real world to learn the causality of natural phenomena. Key to the Code of Science and the scientific method is reliance upon the observation of and the experimentation with people/objects/events and the rejection of any claims of scientific knowledge not based upon observation or experimentation.

When scientists are required to provide detailed descriptions of their observations and experiments, other scientists can replicate their observations and experiments and thereby confirm their claims of scientific knowledge. By this process of constant checking of claims of knowledge, the Code of Science and the scientific method produce an increasing body of scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge created by scientists who follow the Code of Science and the scientific method may overturn the claims of "experts" or "authorities" including priests. That has happened throughout the centuries. People must have the truth--the fact--for making rational decisions, and the Code of Science including the scientific method offers a way to discover and learn the truth/facts that is more reliable than the claims of those who refuse to observe and experiment with the real world people/objects/events who/which are natural phenomena.
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Bob K

RQ: What is an operational definition?
RA: Operational Definition = OpDef: Operational Definition = A definition of a term or phrase which provides a description of the people/objects/events who/which are relevant to the term/phrase being defined.

RQ: What is an example of an operational definition?
RA: Example: OpDef of Love: Love [term being defined] is when a person says he likes you and does nice things for you and with you [description of the persons/objects/events relevant to the terms being defined].

Bob K

RQ: What is psychology?
RA: OpDef: Psychology is (A) The Science of the Mind; (B) The Science of Behavior.

RQ: What is behavior?
RA: OpDef: Behavior = People/Organisms acting and reacting--moving.

RQ: What is the cause of behavior?
RA: The cause of behavior is the mind.

RQ: What is the mind?
RA: OpDef: Mind = An individual's personal set of desires, fears and priorities that comprise his/her personality and cause his/her behavior.

Bob K

RQ: What is a desire?
RA: OpDef: Desire = Wanting a person, an object, or an event.

RQ: What is the observable data for a desire?
RA: Observable Data inre a Desire: An individual with a desire for a person/object/event generally approaches that person/object or causes or participates in the event.

RQ: What is an example of a desire?
RA: Example: Jane has a desire to get a ball to Dick.

RQ: How do we know that an individual's approach behavior to a person/object/event is a desire, or is caused by a desire?
RA: We can know that an individual's approach behavior to a person/object/event is a desire by asking him generally why he approached that person/object/event or by asking him specifically if or not he approached that person/object/event because he had a desire for that person/object/event, but we can also introspect why we approach persons/objects/events and if we can honestly answer that we do what we do because we have a desire to do so and we thereby approach persons/objects/events because we have desires for those persons/objects/events then we can infer and thereby observe indirectly that other individuals also do what they do because they have a desire to do so and we can thereby infer and observe indirectly that the individual approached the person/object/event because he had a desire for that person/object/event.

Assrtn: Introspection and inference are reasonable indirect observations of the behavior of other people provided that we make a sincere and honest effort to eliminate other possibilies that could confuse us and thereby cause us to make incorrect inferences and indirect observations. For instance, where mind = desires/fears/priorities, an individual may act--and say that he acted--because he experiences a fear rather than a desire or a priority, but where desires and fears are interrelated by being opposites, as explained below, and priorities are forms of desires for the achievement of general or specific desires or the avoidance of general or specific fears, as explained below, then all explanations inre why an individual does what he does can be based upon an assumption that he did what he did, does what he does, and will do what he will do, because he had/has/will have a desire to do so.

Reasoning/Rsnng: Indirect observation is accepted in physics, one science, therefore it can be accepted in psychology, another science. For instance, a black hole is a celestial object whose mass is so dense and its gravitational field is so strong that light generally does not escape its event horizon and therefore a black hole cannot be directly observed, but whereas the strength of a black hole's gravitational field can and does cause the observable effects which are changes in the orbits of other celestial/astronomical objects within a black hole's gravitational field, then a black hole can be indirectly observed. Similarly, in psychology, and in sociology, when we observe a stimulus (S) exciting an organism (O) and causing a response (R) in the S->O->R sequence, if we cannot observe directly the desires/fears/priorities within the O we can infer that there are desires/fears/priorities within the O that cause the R, just as we introspect them in ourselves, and thereby we can indirectly observe the desires/fears/priorities within an O by observing the R and inferring that the cause of the R is the O's desires/fears/priorities inre the S.

Bob K

RQ: What is an object?
RA: OpDef: Object = Group of atoms or molecules which has an identity and a duration longer than a relevant event.
NOTE: Persons/People are technically objects but can be included as general or specific instances of objects.

RQ: What are examples of persons/objects?
RA: Examples: A woman named Jane, an object called a ball, and a man named Dick.

RQ: What is an event?
RA: OpDef: Event = A causal relationship between or among people and/or objects.

RQ: What is a causal relationship?
RA: OpDef: Causal Relationship = People/Objects who/which are causes causing effects which are events which cause (A) changes in other pre-existing people/objects or (B) new people/objects.

RQ: What is causality?
RA: OpDef: Causality = People/Objects/Events who/which as causes cause/create the effects of (A) changes of the inertial states (being at rest or in motion) or inertial reference frames of currently existing people and/or objects or (B) new people and/or objects.

RQ: What is an example of an event?
RA: Example: Jane throws the ball to Dick; Jane is the cause of the ball being aimed and accelerated and thereby traveling through space to Dick.

Bob K

RQ: What is a fear?
RA: OpDef: Fear = Not-wanting a person/object/event.

RQ: What is observable data inre a fear?
RA: Observable Data inre a Fear: A person who does not want a person/object/event generally avoids that person/object/event.

RQ: What is an example of a fear?
RA: Example of a Fear: Jane has a fear of not getting the ball to Dick.

Bob K

Assrtn: Desires and fears are interrelated by being opposites.

RQ: What is an example of the interrelationship of a desire and a fear?
RA: Example: The opposite of the desire to live is the fear of dying; the opposite of the fear of dying is the desire to live.

Bob K

Assrtn: Problem = Learning/Determining/Deciding how to achieve a desire or/and avoid a fear.
Rsnng: As soon as an individual develops a desire or a fear, he has the problem of figuring out and thereby learning how to achieve the desire/avoid the fear.

RQ: What is an example of a problem?
RA: Example: Jane has a problem of achieving a desire to get the ball to Dick.

Bob K

RQ: What is a priority?
RA: OpDef: Priority = The importance of each desire and/or fear compared to all other desires and fears.

RQ: What is the observable data for a priority?
RA: Observable Data inre a Priority: When a person has a choice among solutions to a problem he/she generally chooses the choice which has the priority which for him is the higher or highest.

RQ: What is an example of a priority?
RA: Example of a priority: Jane has three choices for solving the problem of how to spend a Sunday afternoon/achieving a desire to choose how to spend a Sunday afternoon: (1) Play 'catch' with Dick; (2) Play 'fetch' with Spot, her dog; (3) Do her housework; her priorities are 1 is preferred to 2 and 2 is preferred to 3.

Assrtn: A priority is a desire for the achievement of a desire and/or the avoidance of a fear or a fear of a non-avoidance of a fear or the non-achievement of a desire.

Assrtn: The term 'desire' can be used to refer to desires/fears/priorities.
Rsnng: A fear is the interrelated opposite of a desire, a priority is a desire for the achievement of a desire, therefore the term 'desire(s)' is reasonably usable inre desires/fears/priorities.