science

Psychology of science

Psychology of science is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Psychology of science rather than just read about it. In short: The psychology of science is a branch of the studies of social science defined most simply as the study of scientific thought or behavior. It is a collection of studies of various topics.

Key takeaways

Psychology of science belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Psychology of science to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Psychology of science from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The psychology of science is a branch of the studies of social science defined most simply as the study of scientific thought or behavior. It is a collection of studies of various topics. The thought of psychology has been around since the late 19th century. Research on the psychology of science began in 1874, the field has seen a substantial expansion of activity in recent years. The specific field of psychology as a science first gained popularity mostly in the 1960s, with Abraham Maslow publishing an influential text on the subject (Maslow, 1966), but this popularity faded, only re-emerging in the 1980s (e.g., Simonton, 1988). Other studies of science include philosophy of science, history of science, and sociology of science or sociology of scientific knowledge. The psychology of science applies methods and theory from psychology to the analysis of scientific thought and behavior, each of which is defined both narrowly and broadly. Narrowly defined, "science" refers to thought and behavior of scientists and technologists. More broadly defined, "science" refers to thought and behavior of anyone (past and present) of any age engaged in problem finding and problem solving, scientific theory construction, learning scientific or mathematical concepts, scientific modelling, testing plausible rival hypotheses, or other scientific reasoning. The methods of psychology that are applied to the study of scientific thought and behavior include: psychohistorical, psychobiographical, observational, descriptive, correlational, and experimental techniques (e.g., Gholson et al., 1989; Giere, 1992; Kowlowski, 1996; Magnani et al., 1999; Carruthers et al., 2002; Feist, 2006; Proctor & Capaldi, 2012; Feist & Gorman, 2013). The psychology of science includes research in many subfields of psychology, such as but not limited to neuroscientific, developmental, educational, cognitive, personality, social, and clinical (Feist, 2011). A recent branch of psychology of science investigates attitudes towards science and science skepticism (e.g. Rutjens, Heine et al., 2018; Rutjens, Sutton et al., 2018). Gregory Feist's 2006 book The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind (Feist, 2006), and the 2013 edited book Handbook of the Psychology of Science (Feist & Gorman, 2013) review and integrate many sub-disciplines of psychology.

See also Gaston Bachelard § Bachelard's psychology of science Psychology of art Science education Outline of psychology Psychology of Science Lab

Bibliography

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Psychology of science

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Psychology of science claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Psychology of science before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Psychology of science ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Psychology of science

In research: Psychology of science appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Psychology of science in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Psychology of science is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Applied psychology, Philosophy of science, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Psychology of science outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Psychology of science” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Psychology of science in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Psychology of science means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Psychology of science out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Psychology of science in simple terms?

The psychology of science is a branch of the studies of social science defined most simply as the study of scientific thought or behavior. It is a collection of studies of various topics.

Why does Psychology of science matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Psychology of science?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Psychology of science.