Journal Article Critique of an Empirical Analysis of Trends in Psychology Essay Example for Free

Journal Article criticism of an Empirical Analysis of Trends in Psychology EssayI.Research Question or ProblemThe journal name question is clearly severalised. The question asks whether the behaviourist, the psychoanalytic, the cognitive, or the neuroscientific horizon is most intellectually significant and most outstanding in psychology today (Robins, Goling, Craik, 1999, p. 117).II. IntroductionThe introduction presents differing contentions regarding which school of psychology is most prominent. Five references fork over been cited in the introduction. It is believed by some that the cognitive perspective reigns over psychoanalysis and behaviourism (Baars, 1986 Gardner, 1985 Hunt, 1993 Sperry, 1988, as cited in Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 117). An opposing conviction, however, states that this belief is merely a representation of cognitive psychologists opinion of their own issue kinda than an accurate statement based on facts (Friman, Allen, Kerwin, Larzeler e, 1993, p. 662, as cited in Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 117).Furthermore, it is argued that the belief in a cognitive perspective revolution is simply a method for scientists to justify their practice (Leahey, 1991, p.362, as cited in Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 117). another(prenominal) theories have indicated, without empirical evidence however, that behaviourism continues to flourish despite the loss of mentor B.F Skinner (Salzinger, 1994, p. 816 p. 461, as cited in Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 117). Lastly, it is contented by some that the neuroscientific perspective continues to prosper (Churchland, 1998, as cited in Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 117), and that the entire field of psychology will eventually become a subfield of neuroscience (Bechtel, 1988, as cited in Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 117).III.MethodsThe authors employed three indexes to exculpate their claim the subject-matter index of psychologys Flagship publications, the subject-mat ter index of psychology dissertations and the denotation index of Flagship publications. For the psychologys Flagship publications, authors selected several word stems in a database called psychINFO, including psychoanal, cognit, neurosci, reinforce, and conditioning. At that time, they calculated the percentage of articles published in the Flagship publications between 1950 to 1997 and charted their findings over time (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 118). For the psychology dissertations, authors once again employed psychINFO, this time, to analyze the topics presented in doctoral dissertations between 1967 to 1994. Then, they calculated the percentage of dissertations for each of the four psychological perspectives (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 119). Finally, for the citation index of Flagship publications, authors surveyed trends regarding the publication of citations found concerning each perspective in the Flagship publications. Then, they selected the top four journ als in each perspective use a rating system operated by prominent neuroscientists (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 119). Applying these findings, authors calculated the total number of times per course the flagship publications cited articles published in each sub-disciplinary journal (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p. 119).IV. ResultsThe results undoubtedly provided answers to the question/hypothesis. The findings indicated that articles regarding the cognitive perspective appeared most oftentimes in all three indexes, followed by the behavioural perspective. Articles regarding the psychoanalytic and neuroscientific perspective, however, were essentially non-existent throughout the studied period. Authors provided graphs and tables in order to demonstrate their findings over time for each index (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p.121-126).V.Discussion/ConclusionsDue to their compelling findings, the authors were able to realize several conclusions. Firstly, psychoanalytic journ als, dissertations, and flagship articles have not been in the spotlight of mainstream psychology for the past several decades (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p.123, 124). Secondly, with the focalize currently on cognitive psychology, behavioural psychology has and continues to subside in scientific psychology (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p.124). Moreover, the authors state that one reason cognitive psychology is transcending behavioural psychology is due to the immeasurable role of computers in modern society. For example, thanks to computers, considerable changes have taken place in regards to scientists understanding of memory, information processing, etc (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p.124). Lastly, mainstream psychology does not yet recognize neuropsychology however, there is an obvious increase in popularity that is underway. Authors recommend push research to explore the growing prominence of neuropsychology (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p.125).VI.ReferencesAuthors u sed a clear and consistent citation format, and each of the references was properly cited within the article. The authors used a variety of sources ranging from the 1930s to the year prior to the study. The sometime(a) references were used to demonstrate variations of theories over time.VII.Personal ReactionI consider this article to be rather thought-provoking. From the beginning, I agreed with the theorists who believed that cognitive psychology was the leading school of psychology. Although this article was written fourteen years ago, I believe it continues to be true today. I was not aware of the serious decline of the behavioural perspective however, after reading about the impact computers have had on science and scientists, it became clear (Robins, Gosling, Craik, 1999, p.124). One demarcation line that I feel could have affected the results was the manner in which they selected the top four journals. I revere if the results would have varied had different journals been c hosen. In my opinion, the sample size of four journals seems somewhat confining to the research. blush so, this was a very interesting article. I would be rather intrigued to read a current study of the same topic and see if the results are equivalent.