PSYCHOLOGY DIFFERS FROM COMMON SENSE

The Study of Psychology Differs From Common Sense Explanations of Human Behavior

The Study of Psychology Differs From Common Sense Explanations of Human Behavior

Introduction

In order to survive and interact with the other members of the society, it is crucial for us to understand what the other persons are thinking about and what the inherent factors that assist to their behavior are. In our daily life, persons are continuously understanding and explaining others behavior, sometimes even without aware of it themselves. It is the most basic and simple pattern of information that helps us to survive. For instance, persons understand that it will be injure when a ball is throwing at them and in result, they will run away from it. We use the widespread sense to see the world we are dwelling in. It is unimaginable if a person does not possess any widespread sense at all.(Ardrey, 2008, 12)

 

Key Assumptions Of The Scientific Method

Social Science Theories, like the theories in natural science, are drawn from from scientific methods. They are either induced or deduced from distinct task or experiment. But since the subject matter in social sciences is absolutely distinct from that of natural science, observation, survey and interview which sometimes involves a command assembly, are the methodology used to test the experimental hypotheses, instead of using laboratory experiments.(Frederick, 1999, 32) Hence, social science theories are backed up by empirical studies and data, and thus should be more broadly applicable, target and reliability to explain human behavior.

Unlike social science theories, “common sense” is held by everyone. Therefore, persons can draw on this information immediately when they want to analysis behavior of the others and giving a faster response to the situation. However, the strength of widespread sense is also its greatest weakness. In many cases, widespread sense explanation cannot give us a satisfactory answer because it has oversimplified the circumstance.(Wozniak, 2009, 65) For instance, it is a general conviction that the more brutal movies a progeny watches, the more aggressive he will be. People may neglect other factors, such as family backgrounds, in assisting to childrens aggressive behavior, which had verified to be an equally crucial by many social scientists.(Ardrey, 2008, 12)

In addition, human behaviors are convoluted as well as exclusive to each individual. Different heritage, race, dwelling natural environment and family history will lead to the formation of distinct behaviors. Similarly, widespread sense explanation varies in distinct heritage, society and individual, and thus, actually is not the same to every individual in our society. (Frederick, 1999, 32)How can a foreigner understand all the traditional attitudes and values of a Chinese? Likewise, it is not easy for us to comprehend all the behaviors of the foreigners. As a result, there will be bias if we depend on widespread sense explanation as it is too generalized and oversimplified without really investigating the inherent factors behind the scene.

Evaluate Kuhn's View

In contrast, social sciences theories can supplement the weakness of widespread sense explanation as each idea is ...