Foundation of psychologyChapter 10Is psychology a science? The foundation of psychology as an academic discipline was legitimised on two pillars Psychology has a long, respectful past and uses the scientific method Steven WardMakes the case that a new branch of knowledge can establish itself and survive only if it succeeds in convincing the ruling powers of the need for such knowledge as well as reassuring them that it is no threat to their prosperity.The founders of psychology promoted it as a new academic discipline by stressing two messagesPsychology was the continuation of the old and respectful tradition of mental and morel philosophy, going back to AristotleThe new element was the scientific method, so successful in other disciplines, would be applied to the study of the human mindConsequences for the psychology curriculum Because psychology was promoted on the basis of its long past and its sound method, both ‘history of psychology’ and ‘research methods’ were major components of the curriculum.These books on history were self-legitimisation as much as essential stepping stones for a good psychology education.Science is defined by its method rather than by its subject matter Every topic studied within the scientific method is a science To be accepted as a science, psychologists had to make the case that what differentiated sciences from non-sciences was the way in which problems were investigated, and not the type of problems addressed.Although few...