Psychology as a Science

Psychology is often misunderstood as just 'talking about feelings' or 'reading minds.' In reality, it is the scientific study of behavior (actions we can observe) and mental processes (internal experiences like thoughts and emotions). To be a science, psychology follows a strict process of gathering data. Unlike a casual conversation, psychologists use the scientific method to ensure their findings are objective and repeatable. If we cannot measure it or observe it systematically, it does not count as scientific fact. This move from 'guessing' to 'measuring' is what transformed psychology from philosophy into a rigorous science.

Why can't we just rely on our 'gut feelings'? Because humans are prone to biases. Scientists rely on empirical evidence, which is information acquired by observation or experimentation. Think of it as the 'Show Me' rule. If a psychologist claims that listening to music helps you study, they must provide data—perhaps a test score average $S$ where $S_{music} > S_{silence}$. Without data, a claim is just an opinion. This reliance on evidence separates psychology from 'pop psychology' or 'common sense,' which often relies on anecdotes rather than facts.

We often fall victim to hindsight bias, the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (the 'I-knew-it-all-along' phenomenon). For example, if a couple breaks up, people say, 'I knew they weren't right.' If they get married, the same people say, 'I knew they were perfect!' Science protects us from this by using systematic observation. This means having a specific, pre-defined plan for how to look at the world, ensuring we don't just 'see what we want to see' after the fact.