Psychology as a science

In order to talk about Psychology as a science, it is necessary to go through positivism, since it was through it and its scientific precepts that Psychology can be taken as a science. The French philosopher Auguste Comte founded positivism, scrutinized the idea of ​​science and defined the criteria for knowledge to be taken as scientific, during Modernity.

All knowledge that was supported by human beliefs was the target of Comte’s criticism. Thus, the only type of knowledge taken as true was scientific knowledge – which did not consider true common sense knowledge because it was not classified as scientific. The knowledge produced in the laboratory was considered scientific by this current of thought. Thus, the phenomenon of nature observed by the researcher should be reproduced in the laboratory so that the knowledge constructed about it could be verified and, subsequently, considered true.

Furthermore, psychology sought support in positivist theory to assert its scientific nature. Wundt was the founder of the first Psychology laboratory, in 1879. Due to the foundation of this laboratory, Psychology became a science, as it began to carry out experiments according to Comtian criteria. Wundt’s experiment with the metronome, using analytical introspection as a scientific method, showed the possibility of describing the psychological impressions linked to external stimuli. Thus, it was demonstrated by him that everyday sensations could be recreated in the laboratory following the criteria of positivist science.

After Psychology was accepted as a science, there was a split among its scholars into two groups: the functionalists and the structuralists. Wundt was noted as the founder of the scientific movement called Structuralism. However, it was Titchener, a follower of Wundt, who spread the ideas of Structuralism at Cornell University. According to Structuralism, the objects of study of Psychology should be conscious sensorial processes and also mental processes – considered in their elements – aiming to discover their connections and combinations. They intended to locate the structures corresponding to each mental process in the nervous system, that is, they conceived that for each perception that one has of a certain object, there would be a point in the brain that would correspond to the perceived object.

The theory proposed by the structuralists was not accepted by the group of scientists who adopted the functionalist movement. According to these scholars, the functioning of the mind should be taken as an object of study of Psychology. Functionalists sought knowledge beyond Psychology, such as Biology and Statistics – given that they aimed to measure the functioning of the mind. Darwinian ideas of heredity were well accepted among the scientists in question. Among these, some believed that intelligence was hereditary, and thus tests to measure the Intelligence Quotient were created.

In addition to these two important groups of psychologists mentioned above, there are two theoretical conceptions of great relevance within Psychology: the innatist conception and the environmentalist conception. The problem that both will address is about the ability to learn, that is, is the ability to learn innate or is it acquired in the environment? According to innatism, the subject’s ability to learn is innate. In contrast, the environmentalist conception states that learning is developed in the social environment. Thus, it is necessary to scrutinize both conceptions to highlight their differences and peculiarities.

The innatists pointed out that man is already born with his talents, with his intelligence. Ultimately, this means that man’s ability to learn or not is genetically inherited. This statement leads to the thought that time is needed for growth and evolution of what is already born with man. Innatist ideas were already outlined in Plato when the Greek philosopher states that man is born with some innate ideas and also with the potential for thought. However, Plato also states that some types of knowledge need experience to be formulated.

Another philosopher who maintained that man has innate ideas was the Frenchman René Descartes: innate ideas would be part of human nature, according to the philosopher of Modernity. In addition to innate ideas, the philosopher proposes that there would also be derived ideas – arising from the contact between man and the social environment, environment, and historical moment.

Education and Psychology are related since the latter was taken as a science. The ideas of innatism can be found in Education: as is known, the innatist view of the subject is individualizing and, in the field of Education, this idea helped in understanding the peculiarities of each student. The psychological focus given to the subject’s individuality makes it possible to create criteria that determine the pattern of normality and abnormality during the subject’s evolution process.

Innatist ideas are evident from the second half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century. The dissemination of this conception occurred in a categorical way and, therefore, it was incorporated into the belief system of most people. Its strong influence was also noted in Brazilian educational thinking.

The environmentalist conception refutes the innatist thought regarding the idea of ​​learning, because according to them, man acquires knowledge in the environment and his potential to learn develops in the environment in which he lives. Some philosophers, as well as Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke and Bacon, shared the conception of knowledge as empirical, that is, knowledge is acquired through the experience that the subject has, and also through daily practice.

Locke was a thinker who faced the question of how to know the object. According to English, the human mind is a “blank slate” at birth and it is through sensory experience – which begins in the environment – ​​that the mental activity of knowing begins. Nevertheless, Locke understands experience as a source of knowledge.

The pedagogical process was also influenced by the environmentalist conception. It can be noted that, in schools, some educational attitudes taken by teachers and directors share this conception when they overvalue environmental stimuli. The issue of both student failure and success is thus linked to the absence or presence of external stimuli. Environmentalism has the idea that there are ideal models that have the function of supporting the child in terms of the development of his character and sexuality. Thus, theorists of this view consider that, by controlling some of the child’s stimuli, their best formation will occur and also consider that the environmental stimuli that the child receives are fundamental in a way that determine the formation of their psyche.

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