Psychology as Science
01 Jan 1974-pp 3-40
TL;DR: For example, the authors was one of the early psychologists to bring a background in the philosophy of science to bear on the analysis of methodological and theoretical problems (e.g., Koch, 1941a, 1941b), and during the initial ten years of his career was a dauntless and virile rat-runner, concentrating on the differential testing of rival theories of learning and on the empirical determination of learning-motivation relationships.
Abstract: I was one of the early psychologists to bring a background in the philosophy of science to bear on the analysis of methodological and theoretical problems (e.g., Koch, 1941a, 1941b). For good measure, during the initial ten years of my career I was a dauntless and virile rat-runner, concentrating on the differential testing of rival theories of learning and on the empirical determination of learning-motivation relationships. After that I directed, under the sponsorship of the American Psychological Association, a massive assessment of fundamental psychology at mid-century — a study (cf. Psychology: A Study of a Science, 1959–1963) which brought me into contact with most of the influential psychological theorists of our times.
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TL;DR: In this article, Weinz et al. argue that the psychological study of human development is at its best in a state of creative tension between the pursuit of answers to contemporary social questions and the quest for firm scientific principles.
Abstract: WEISZ, JOHN R. Transcontextual Validity in Developmental Research. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 1-12. Recent critiques of the generalizability of developmental principles raise an important question: Can we expect the psychological study of human development to yield durable principles, valid across changes in time, culture, and cohort? While the answer is probably yes, this answer must be qualified by an analysis of the form which enduring principles are likely to take, the limitations and strengths they are likely to display, and the process by which they are likely to be discovered. In unearthing and validating durable developmental principles, the complementarity of diverse methodologies (including "lab" and "ecological" approaches and designs of varying complexity) is a major asset. In addition, social relevance and scientific advance are potentially complementary objectives. Our discipline, it is argued, is at its best in a state of creative tension-between the pursuit of answers to contemporary social questions and the quest for firm scientific principles.
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Cites background from "Psychology as Science"
...reactions to the novelty of the experimental setting, the task, or the experimenter (see also Argyris 1968; Koch 1974)....
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...something of a misnomer (see Gergen 1973; Koch 1974; Schlenker 1974)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that the crisis in psychology is a real problem facing the discipline, and that it is not a theoretical problem, but a practical one. But, despite the contrary semantic and substantive criticisms that have been put forward, the crisis is real.
Abstract: In this article it is argued that—in spite of contrary semantic and substantive criticisms that have been put forward—the crisis in psychology is a real problem facing the discipline. The crisis is...
57 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the current status of empirically-analytical methodology and its "positivist" (traditional and post positivist) ideologies in environmental education research through the critical analysis of three criticisms outlined in Robottom & Hart (1995).
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to methodological discourse about research approaches to environmental education. More specifically, the paper explores the current status of the ‘empirical–analytical methodology’ and its ‘positivist’ (traditional‐ and post‐positivist) ideologies, in environmental education research through the critical analysis of three criticisms outlined in Robottom & Hart (1995). Their negative discussion of this methodology relates to its ideology and assumptions it makes about the purpose and role of the environmental education curriculum and goals, teachers, students, learning, teaching content and environmental action(s). It is suggested that their critiques misrepresent empirical–analytical methodology in their dismissal of it as behaviourist and/or traditional positivist in nature and, consequent undesirability in research in environmental education. Such discussions of the perversity of ‘positivist’ empirical–analytical methodology are not constructive. This paper see...
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TL;DR: One of the most striking things about the present state of the theory of learning and of psychological theory in general is the wide disagreement among individual psychologists as mentioned in this paper, and the most impressive single manifestation of the extent of this disagreement is contained in 'Psychologies of 1925' [2] and 'Psychology of 1930' [3].
Abstract: One of the most striking things about the present state of the theory of learning and of psychological theory in general is the wide disagreement among individual psychologists. Perhaps the most impressive single manifestation of the extent of this disagreement is contained in 'Psychologies of 1925' [2] and 'Psychologies of 1930' [3]. In these works we find earnestly defending themselves against a world of enemies, a hormic psychology, an act psychology, a functional psychology, a structural psychology, a Gestalt psychology, a reflexology psychology, a behavioristic psychology, a response psychology, a dynamic psychology, a factor psychology, a psychoanalytical psychology, and a psychology of dialectical materialism -at least a dozen.
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