ExpandingKnowledge

@exchemist You're right,Freud's thories didn't have that much scientific evidence, even though he revolutionzed this field. It was my mistake to say that it is always used. But, many other famous experiments used the scientific method, for example, the Little Albert Experiment, by John B. Watson. He tried Pavlov's conditioning on a child and it actually worked, although I wouldn't say that experiment was exactly ethical...now it's proved scientifically that we can condition humans, even ourselves. There is also the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which the participants were assigned the role of a prisoner or a guard to simulate a prison environment. Another well-known experiment that used the scientific method is the Milgram Experiment. This experiment explored obedience to authority figures. It is true that the oldest experiments lacked scientific evidence, but nowadays psychologists want precise answers and they know that the scientific method is the only true way to prove something. Also, I was kind of confused about the place of neuroscience in psychology, you are right, it's not the same thing, although there is a branch of psychology called neuropsychology which is similar. I think that today, it is difficult to discuss if it is a hard or soft science since it is something new. Maybe in a few years, when psychology can provide more information and, hopefully, always use the scientific method, people will be able to argue it. Thank you for your feedback!

Yes, psychology is a science. People might be confused because it is a really young science though, unlike maths or physics which are ancient sciences. We've just started discovering the human mind and it is amazing. It is indeed a science because it always uses the scientific method for experiments. Nobody is going to argue that neuroscience is a science, and that is one of the many fields in psychology. Either way, what people mostly think about when we bring the subject is clinical psychology. Therapy is just the result of all the research that has been done in the subject, and of course, I don't see why it wouldn't be a science.

Lately I have been wondering if body language is something we have no control over whatsoever or if we can manipulate it. Not only in ourselves, but in other people. Can we interfere in something that's done subconsciously? This is an unexplored subject... Exciting, isn't it?body language, for people My hypothesis is that we can. Let's start off by defining body language, for people who are new to it. As a vague definition we could say that it is the sum of the gestures, face expressions, or tone of voice someone uses. Body language is a very interesting topic since we can figure out a lot of stuff just by looking at someone. If you want to know more about it, I'd recommend you "The dictionary of body language" by Joe Navarro. You can buy it using this link: url removed Anyways, returning to my hypothesis, since body language is closely related to emotions, we'll have to find something that is also related to emotions which we can manipulate, for example, biological factors. If you are only here because you like psychology, don't freak out, I'll make it easy. Simple factors like how many hours someone has slept or how long ago they've eaten will influence their mood, influencing, at the same time their body language. This way, if we see someone rubbing their eyes it might mean that they are looking for dopamine, just like moving your eyes laterally can decrease anxiety. This information is useful to apply on oneself or to observe on others. But, can we really influence others' body language? We don't choose their biological or genetic components. Perhaps, we can make someone open their body language by asking well-thought questions, which is obvious, but we can also affect them the other way around. We can force someone into a closed body language by making them nervous or uncomfortable. I see that a lot when students expose a project to the class. But, why is this even important? Well, being aware of how to influence other people's body language might make you aware of your own, which is a really important skill for social interactions, even if it may seem irrelevant. This is why I'm going to run an experiment on some teenagers. I will look for every factor that influences body language, and then I'll try to apply it on myself. Of course, I will share the results in future posts. That's all, I will be planning the project more in detail.