Why Psychology Is More Than Common Sense?

601 Words3 Pages
Why psychology is more than common sense? Psychology is more than common sense because there are 7 approaches that represent the intellectual backdrop of psychological science, biological, behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive, evolutionary, and sociocultural that all focus on one specific field. Psychology is just common sense. Or, at least some prominent figures think so. Popular radio talk show host Dennis Prager says, “Use your common sense. Whenever you hear the words ‘studies show’ — outside of the natural sciences — and you find that these studies show the opposite of what common sense suggests, be very skeptical. I do not recall ever coming across a valid study that contravened common sense” (Lilienfeld et al., 2010, p.5). It appears that Prager has not read many scientific studies.For centuries scientists, science writers and philosophers have encouraged us to trust our common sense (Lilienfeld et al., 2010; Furnham, 1996). Common sense is a phrase that generally implies something everyone knows. One of the definitions of common sense given by Wikipedia is, “good sense and sound judgment in practical matters.” Common sense psychology is a myth. What appears to be common sense is often common nonsense. Scott Lilienfeld, co-author of 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology, says we should mistrust common sense when evaluating psychological claims (Lilienfeld et al., 2010). Some examples of common sense psychology include: - Working while in high school will help students build character and value money. - Children who read a lot are not very social or physically fit. - People with low self esteem are more aggressive. - The best way to treat juvenile delinquents is to get tough with them. - Most psychopaths are delusional. - We know what will make us happy. However, not a single one of these is true. Scientific evidence refutes
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