The scientific emphasis on causal explanations
Science tries to find causes — it asks what makes behaviour happen, not just what behaviour looks like. Psychology adopts this goal by searching for variables that directly produce changes in thought, feeling, or action.
Real World
Pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoSmithKline develop antidepressants such as SSRIs because research identified low serotonin as a cause of depression — without causal explanations, effective drug treatments could never be developed.
Exam Focus
Link causation to the experimental method; explain why correlational studies cannot establish cause and effect.
Evaluation Scaffold
A four-step framework for high-quality evaluation. Use this for 'assess', 'evaluate', and 'to what extent' questions.
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