Neuroscience
By Jeremy Dean, of PsyBlog.
Henriques (2004) argues that psychology's epistemological fissures can be healed by accepting that psychology has two main subject matters: psychological formalism and human psychology. Psychological formalism is the science of mind and includes the cognitive, behavioural and neuro- sciences. Henriques thinks 'mind' can be conceptualized as the set of 'mental behaviours' in a manner that unites and bridges the schisms between the behavioural and cognitive sciences.
Human psychology is a sub-discipline of psychological formalism essentially dealing with how humans differ from other animals. To explain the separation, Henriques puts forward the 'Justification Hypothesis', which holds that humans are marked out from other animals by a capacity to justify their own behaviour.
The 'Justification Hypothesis' also forms an important part of Henriques' attempt to place psychology in the broader context of scientific knowledge. The 'Tree of Knowledge System', developed earlier (Henriques, 2003), posits four fundamental dimensions of complexity: matter, life, mind and culture. These directly relate to four fundamental domains of science: physical, biological, psychological and social. The 'Justification Hypothesis', therefore, links mind 'upwards' to culture and the science of psychology to the social sciences. In the opposite direction, 'Behavioural Investment Theory', links mind 'downwards' to life and theoretically unifies the psychological and biological sciences.
What, then, is achieved by the Tree of Knowledge System and creating two broad, logically consistent fields of psychology? Henriques (2004) argues that ideas will no longer be defined against each other, as has become common practice in psychology. Moreover, unifying structures do not just provide aesthetic pleasure or relief from theoretical uncertainty, but a motor for the generation of effective practice in both lab and clinic.
These ideas inspired two special issues of the Journal of Clinical Psychology (1 & 2). Some of the articles replying and responding are reviewed and discussed on my blog in a series of posts starting here.
__________________________________
Henriques, G. R. (2003). The tree of knowledge system and the theoretical unification of psychology. Review of General Psychology, 7, 150-182.
Henriques, G. R. (2004) Psychology Defined. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60(12), 1207-1221.
Jeremy Dean is currently studying for an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at University College London.
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Neuroscience
Psychology defined and unified
By Jeremy Dean, of PsyBlog."Is psychology a coherent scientific discipline and can its existence be effectively defined?" Henriques (2004:1218).Neither defining terms, nor unity of knowledge have ever been strong points of psychological science. Many psychologists, faced with bringing order to psychology's diversity, or even offering a definition of psychology, have excused themselves and gone for a lie down. So, my choice for the most inspirational study in the last three years is Gregg Henriques' (2004) 'Psychology Defined', which spearheads a bold move to both unify and define the discipline.
Henriques (2004) argues that psychology's epistemological fissures can be healed by accepting that psychology has two main subject matters: psychological formalism and human psychology. Psychological formalism is the science of mind and includes the cognitive, behavioural and neuro- sciences. Henriques thinks 'mind' can be conceptualized as the set of 'mental behaviours' in a manner that unites and bridges the schisms between the behavioural and cognitive sciences.
Human psychology is a sub-discipline of psychological formalism essentially dealing with how humans differ from other animals. To explain the separation, Henriques puts forward the 'Justification Hypothesis', which holds that humans are marked out from other animals by a capacity to justify their own behaviour.
The 'Justification Hypothesis' also forms an important part of Henriques' attempt to place psychology in the broader context of scientific knowledge. The 'Tree of Knowledge System', developed earlier (Henriques, 2003), posits four fundamental dimensions of complexity: matter, life, mind and culture. These directly relate to four fundamental domains of science: physical, biological, psychological and social. The 'Justification Hypothesis', therefore, links mind 'upwards' to culture and the science of psychology to the social sciences. In the opposite direction, 'Behavioural Investment Theory', links mind 'downwards' to life and theoretically unifies the psychological and biological sciences.
What, then, is achieved by the Tree of Knowledge System and creating two broad, logically consistent fields of psychology? Henriques (2004) argues that ideas will no longer be defined against each other, as has become common practice in psychology. Moreover, unifying structures do not just provide aesthetic pleasure or relief from theoretical uncertainty, but a motor for the generation of effective practice in both lab and clinic.
These ideas inspired two special issues of the Journal of Clinical Psychology (1 & 2). Some of the articles replying and responding are reviewed and discussed on my blog in a series of posts starting here.
__________________________________
Henriques, G. R. (2003). The tree of knowledge system and the theoretical unification of psychology. Review of General Psychology, 7, 150-182.
Henriques, G. R. (2004) Psychology Defined. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60(12), 1207-1221.
Jeremy Dean is currently studying for an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at University College London.
- Students Assume Psychology Is Less Scientific/important Than The Natural Sciences, Says Study With Scientific Limitations
Students see test tubes as more scientific than questionnairesDespite over 130 years passing since the opening of its first laboratory, psychology still struggles to be taken seriously as a science. A new paper by psychologists in the USA suggests this...
- How Can We Improve The Science And Practice Of Psychological Science?
The journal Perspectives on Psychological Science has published an unmissable open-access issue all about how we can improve psychological research. There are 26 articles in all, focusing on how psychological research is conducted, reviewed and published,...
- The Special Issue Spotter
Childhood development disorders. (Nature Neuroscience). Judgment and decision-making in sport and exercise. (Psychology of Sport and Exercise). Race, ethnicity and culture in child development. (Child Development). Integration of cognitive assessment...
- The Special Issue Spotter
Science magazine looks at 'life': some of the insights that social scientists are making as they study humans at different stages of the life cycle. (Science). Four papers that showcase the power and promise of cognitive neuropsychology approaches...
- Winter 2013 Courses Open
The Department of Psychology is pleased to offer an exciting range of courses this winter. If you are planning to take a winter course you'll want to register as soon as possible to ensure that the course will take place and that you have a...