JENNIFER AND BETHANY HAVE BOTH RECENTLY DECLARED PSYCHOLOGY AS THEI...

1. Jennifer and Bethany have both recently declared psychology as their majors. One evening as they are looking over their required courses, they start talking. Jennifer: “I don't see why we have to learn statistics and research methods! I am never going to use them anyway. I want to be a counselor and I am just going to deal with each person as an individual. Science treats everyone as if they are interchangeable and totally predictable. In fact, I think people would be better counselors and teachers and social workers if they didn't take research classes at all, because then they would treat everyone as individuals, not clones.” Bethany: “People are a lot more predictable than you think. Psychologists have learned so much about human behavior in the last hundred years or so using the scientific method. I really believe that if you can figure out all of the factors that are affecting someone’s behavior, you can be pretty accurate in figuring out what they are going to do. I've decided that I want to be a researcher because I think I can help more people in the long run than you will as a therapist. As a researcher, I can develop programs that will help a lot of people who suffer from the same problem. A therapist can only help one person at a time, and sometimes it takes years for a person to get better.” Reflection Questions: d. How do Jennifer and Bethany differ in their understanding of what people are like? Who do you agree with more and why? Jennifer does not understand that psychology is a science and requires the application of the scientific method. e. What is ethically troubling about taking Jennifer's position to the extreme? What would happen if therapists received no training in the scientific study of human behavior? By not understanding the research on the treatment methods that are most effective, Jennifer could use the wrong treatments. f. What is ethically troubling about taking Bethany's position to the extreme? What is the problem with assuming that if you can figure out all the variables (genes, environment, etc.) that you can perfectly predict people's behavior? Psychological research must eventually be taken back to the individual to ensure that it makes sense and is feasible. A researcher has control over many variables whereas a counselor does not.