Explaining What?

Abstract

The discipline of psychology is obviously divided into different areas of study. There are three different ways or criteria which are used to separate these different areas, on the basis: (a) the kind of explanation provided; (b) the characteristics of the behaviour which is to be explained; and (c) the characteristics of the situation in which the behaviour to be explained occurs. The first criterion, the kind of explanation provided, is one which has been of concern in previous chapters. It has been shown that processes can incorporate either physiological, mentalistic or mechanistic hypothetical constructs. The use of any of these three kinds of hypothetical construct divides psychology into different areas which can be called kinds of psychology. Physiological psychology and psychophysiology are associated with the use of physiological hypothetical constructs; phenomenological, or existential and humanistic psychology are associated with the use of mentalistic hypothetical constructs; cognitive psychology is associated with the use of mechanistic (or sometimes mentalistic) hypothetical constructs. One argument pursued in this book is that the different kinds of explanations in psychology need not be completely separated, and that explanations drawing on different kinds of psychology are possible.