Discussing the Four Goals of Psychology

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1. How do you think the 4 goals of psychology can help or hurt humanity? Give specific examples and be sure to support your position.

Your tentative argument might look like something to the effect:

I. Introduction (about ¼- ½ page, introduce topic, include thesis or purpose statement)
II. Arguments
III. Conclusion (restate thesis in different wording; sum up main arguments)

Now, let's look at some information from various sources to help fill in the above outline. You could argue that psychology has the potential to do both help and hurt humanity, due to the complexity of the human existence.

Psychology has four main goals.
1. Description: Gather information and find facts.
2. Explanation: Create hypotheses, research and test the hypotheses, and construct theories.
3. Predictions: What will an organism do? What will it think or feel?
4. Control: Seek to influence or control behavior in helpful ways. (http://www.hempfieldarea.k12.pa.us/webdir/Bertani/Ch.1.htm)

Thesis: Although psychology does help humanity in some areas, it can also hurt humanity.

Arguments: The goals define and aid the understanding of human behavior that lend itself to cause and effect; so when the scientific method is applied accurately, it can lead to information that increases knowledge and an understanding of important human phenomenon e.g., diseases, est.

However, clinical practice not based on science can also be dangerous. In other words, theories come out of goals of psychology, which are scientifically validated. These help humanity. For example, there is also concern from researchers about a perceived scientific gap between empirically based practices. Exponents of evidence-based approaches to psychological practice say that "over the past several decades, the fields of clinical psychology, psychiatry, and social work have ...