Hypothetico-Deductive Approach In Psychology

898 Words4 Pages
In science, methodologies are the cornerstone. Without a rigorous and well defined experimental methodology, replicating results would be impossible. However, at the root of scientific methodology there exists a logical problem between the inductive method and the hypothetico-deductive approach. This essay will focus on how these two approaches have connected histories to one another, discuss the problems of using inductive inference and how the hypothetico-deductive approach does not solve the problems found in inductive inference, and explain why the hypothetico-deductive approach must be used when appealing to unobservable mediating events using the mechanistic approaches to psychology. The hypothetico-deductive approach to science has…show more content…
In the hypothetico-deductive approach an individual will first observes a phenomenon, puts forth a hypothesis using a theory, then commits to experimentation of the hypothesis. Depending on the results of the experiment; the hypothesis can be either be falsified or said to be failed to be falsified. However, in practice when the hypothetico-deductive approach is used and the experimentation reveals the hypothesis to be falsified or failed to be falsified the theory is adjusted to account for the new phenomenon. In essence, the hypothetico-deductive approach does have a similar problem found in the inductive method in such that the initial assumption of the temporality of the event or events maybe incorrect which cannot be revealed with…show more content…
Thus, it is impossible to use another method such as induction which requires the events to be directly observable. These mechanistic approaches are an appeal to classical mechanics where the chain of causation is considered responsible for the event. For example, if one was to measure a concept such as “craving,” the hypothetico-deductive approach must be used as there is an a priori assumption that the mentalist idea of “craving” exists in any given organism and when this “craving” hits a critical point, it leads to a behavior that is observable in the physical world. In summation, there is a pre-existing belief that A causes B which present as C, where A is “craving,” B is the critical point or threshold, and C is the is observable behavior of the organism attaining what they are “craving”. In conclusion, this essay briefly explored both the inductive method and the hypothetico-deductive approach and explained their respective a priori assumptions. It is important to note that neither method can indicate if the initial assumption is responsible for the experimental results. Both methods have inherent flaws in which one assumes observable events should describe themselves and the other a casual effect between two events. It is because of these
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