psychology a science?

[bananaboat]

at my school, university of toronto, i take a bunch of psychology courses which are considered science courses at my university.

these courses include things like biological psychology, cognitive neuroscience. they are heavily based in neuroscience and brain physiology/anatomy. they aren't the typical things that come to mind when the lay person thinks of psychology (social psych).

my quesiton is, can i use one of the professors for these courses as my science reference? at my school, they would be considered a science professor. or do i instead have to use them as a non-science reference.

i specifically did research in cognitive neuroscience. this involved working with MRI to design specific cognitive tasks and see the activated brain regions. i dont' see why this would be considered a non-science reference.

basically, is science/non-science determined by the school you attend, or the school you are applying to.

thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[thinknofu3]

That's a tough question. Sometimes, some professors are listed as faculty in more than one department; for example, you might have a professor of neuroscience that's a member of both the psychology and neurobiology (or biology) departments. If they have a listing in a strictly "science" department, I'd say they're safe as far as a science recommendation. Also, keep in mind that when adcoms are looking for science letters, they're thinking along the lines of a science prof that's had you for one or more of your pre-med prerequisites. This is not to say that a science letter *has* to be from one of them, but those are always a safe bet to be counted as "science" letters, if you feel you can get a good one. Hope that helps!

 

[bananaboat]

bump

 

[MaryWrathers]

At my school, Psych is a dept. in the College of Sciences.

 

[Natatiap]

Psychology is my major Yes it is a science but when they ask for letters from a science professor I believe they are asking about one of the pre-med pre-req course science classes. That would be something you would need to ask you pre-med advisor or the schools you intend to apply to to make sure you get the correct letters you need. Good luck!!

 

[riceman04]

at my school it is considered a social science...but I see what you are saying

 

[vincikai]

no no and no

 

[Compass]

Social Science. We debated this. True science must be capable of being disproven. You can't disprove a lot of theories, so it is not truly a science.

 

[Quix]

at my school, university of toronto, i take a bunch of psychology courses which are considered science courses at my university.

these courses include things like biological psychology, cognitive neuroscience. they are heavily based in neuroscience and brain physiology/anatomy. they aren't the typical things that come to mind when the lay person thinks of psychology (social psych).

my quesiton is, can i use one of the professors for these courses as my science reference? at my school, they would be considered a science professor. or do i instead have to use them as a non-science reference.

i specifically did research in cognitive neuroscience. this involved working with MRI to design specific cognitive tasks and see the activated brain regions. i dont' see why this would be considered a non-science reference.

basically, is science/non-science determined by the school you attend, or the school you are applying to.

thanks.

I would say yes, psychology is a science in general, but I think it would really be a question of which class the professor taught. I asked my biopsychology professor to write a letter of rec, principally because it was generally about the behavioral correlates of neuroanatomy, psychoneuroimmunology, the HPA/HPG axis, etc., etc. Social/intro to psych would be inappropriate, cognitive psych is iffy, depending upon what topics you covered (e.g., cognitive heuristics and neural networking would be appropriately scientific).

 

[bananaboat]

I would say yes, psychology is a science in general, but I think it would really be a question of which class the professor taught. I asked my biopsychology professor to write a letter of rec, principally because it was generally about the behavioral correlates of neuroanatomy, psychoneuroimmunology, the HPA/HPG axis, etc., etc. Social/intro to psych would be inappropriate, cognitive psych is iffy, depending upon what topics you covered (e.g., cognitive heuristics and neural networking would be appropriately scientific).

its basically neuropsychology i do ...certain brain lessions, and the effects ...eg. stroke to ventromedial PFC... blah blah effects.

 

[Quix]

its basically neuropsychology i do ...certain brain lessions, and the effects ...eg. stroke to ventromedial PFC... blah blah effects.

That should qualify as a science rec; but I'd double check with your pre-health advisor (if you have one).

 

[tulane06]

A lot of psychology (social psych, etc) should be considered "soft" science. However, I have taken biopsych classes that were by all means "hard" science.