Psychology and Pseudopsychology

Psychology is a science that studies human psychological phenomena, psychological functions and behaviors. It is not only a theoretical discipline, but also an applied discipline. Including basic psychology and applied psychology. Psychologists engage in basic research to describe, explain, predict and influence behavior. Applied psychologists have a fifth purpose? Improve the quality of human life. These goals form the basis of psychology.

There was a joke in Weibo before. Let's see what you can do after graduation. The following picture of a fortune teller in psychology major makes people laugh, but it also shows people's incomprehension of psychology. Psychology has always been a mysterious subject in the eyes of the public, and some things unrelated to psychology, such as metaphysics and divination, are mixed in psychology.

1. What is psychology?

Psychology is a science that studies human psychological phenomena, psychological functions and behaviors. Psychology can describe, explain and control behavior, and effectively predict future behavior.

2. What is pseudopsychology?

Pseudopsychology, however, is a system that looks like psychology, but has no factual basis. Trying to explain human behavior is virtual and violates scientific concepts and methods.

I think the scientific nature of psychology lies in its falsifiability and repeatability.

3. Why is the boundary between psychology and pseudopsychology so blurred?

I believe that all friends who study psychology have this experience: when people ask you about your major and you say it's psychology, they will all make a surprised voice, and they will feel amazing and curious.

Psychology has always been in an awkward position in the scientific field, which is different from traditional scientific disciplines, such as physics and so on.

Traditional scientific disciplines have sufficient theoretical basis, and the research object is actual matter and principle.

The object of psychological research is people's psychological activities and spiritual world, so the public's impression of psychology is mostly mysterious.

In addition, different from the traditional scientific disciplines, there are many branches of psychology, and their theories are not consistent, but in the end, you will find that all theoretical schools are interoperable.

The theory of psychology is different from the traditional science, and it is a question of possibility, without 100% applicability, but pseudo-psychology is often a deterministic theory, and the answer given is yes.

In addition, the public's understanding of psychology is mainly through the media, such as movies, TV plays, books and other indirect ways.

It is true that mass media is a good way of communication, and it can also arouse people's interest and concern in psychology, but perhaps because they don't know enough about psychology or need gimmicks and ratings, these works will give the public a wrong impression.

I remember when I was studying professional courses, our teacher almost said that most of the so-called best-selling psychology books on the market were not real psychology books, but what about these? Pseudopsychology? Books are often more popular than real scientific psychology books.

How to distinguish psychology from pseudopsychology?

First of all, we should understand why we should believe in pseudopsychology.

Pseudopsychology is welcomed by the public because it satisfies some of their desires and has market value.

For example, some people want something to help Ta out of the current predicament or give her spiritual sustenance, and everyone has voyeurism and is eager to spy on other people's privacy, which means that we all want to have the ability to see through others. Feeling can control the environment? This is just a sense of security, and you are likely to blindly believe in all kinds of false psychology in order to gain a sense of security.

Secondly, we should all cultivate our own critical thinking and not blindly trust the so-called authoritative experts.

If you really want to learn and understand psychology, you should have a basic understanding of psychology, such as reading introductory books on psychology, instead of reading pseudo-psychology under the banner of psychology.

Obtain knowledge through formal scientific channels, such as recognized journals or books recommended by peers.

In addition, don't blindly believe in any theories, articles and opinions, and have a critical spirit.

Science is a process of constantly accumulating new information and constantly correcting itself.

Finally, always remember the falsifiability and repeatability of psychology.

Any scientific theory may be wrong. If a theory can't be wrong, then it probably has no scientific value and doesn't belong to science.

Most theories of pseudopsychology can be falsified, and no matter how you question them, they can be proved to be justified.

Repeatability means that these theories have been tested by systematic empirical methods, and the data collected by this method are public, that is, others are allowed to repeat these experiments and criticize them.

The theory of pseudo-psychology cannot be repeated. It only uses Barnum effect (the more vague and general language is used to describe others' situation, the more they can feel that these descriptions are accurate) to convince the public to believe their own views.

In fact, looking at psychology and pseudo-psychology is a matter of attitude towards science. Don't let false psychology affect our judgment in daily life, such as? Don't fall in love with people in XX block? 、? People with type X blood are more sensitive? 、? XX and XX have different personalities? Wait, even have a negative impact on life.

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