The Science of Psychology

After reading the article you should tell me if you agree, or disagree with the author and why?

Little did Wilhelm Wundt realize his monumental contribution to science when he opened the first psychological laboratory to examine consciousness in 1879 in Germany. Today Wundt would barely recognize the science of psychology as he knew it.
Contemporary psychology is defined as the science or study of individual mental activity and behavior. This definition reflects the two parent disciplines from which psychology emerged: philosophy and biology.
Compared to its parents, psychology is very much a new discipline. Some aspects of modern psychology are particularly biological, such as neuroscience, sensation and perception, and behavioral genetics. Other aspects are more philosophical, such as the study of personality.
Today's psychologists work in a variety of settings. Many psychologists are academics, teaching and researching psychology on university campuses. Others work in applied settings such as hospitals, mental health clinics, industry, and schools. Most psychologists also specialize in psychology after some graduate training. Industrial psychologists specialize in human performance in organizational settings, while clinical psychologists are concerned about the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals with a variety of mental disorders.
Psychology is one of the most popular academic majors on today's college campuses. The first article explores psychology as a major. In "Psychology: The Core Discipline," Raymond Fowler, a former president of the American Psychological Association, reviews the history of psychology and ponders the ever-widening gap between researchers and practitioners in psychology. Fowler also discusses why psychology is one of the most popular majors in this country.
In the next article, Mark Rosenzweig takes a worldwide view of the discipline of psychology. In the article, "Psychological Science Around the World," Rosenzweig
shares the results of his worldwide survey of psychologists. Not surprisingly, the results of his study confirm what we might expect. In industrialized societies, psychologists emphasize university-based research, while developing countries emphasize applications of research.
In the final article of this unit, "Battle Cry for a Unified Discipline," a keynote address by distinguished psychologist Eleanor Gibson is featured. While psychology seems to be flourishing both here and abroad, Gibson views psychology as battling with itself. She suggests that psychologists should abandon some of the field's old themes, such as nature vs. nurture, and venture into some more meaningful contemporary issues, such as self-control.
Looking Ahead: Challenge Questions
Do you think that the emergence of applied areas in psychology (such as clinical psychology) has hurt or advanced scientific psychology?
Which area of psychology do you think is the most valuable and why? About which area of psychology is the public most aware? About which other areas of psychology do you think the public ought to be informed?
What trends shaped psychology as we know it today? How is psychology related to other disciplines on campus? What concepts do you think are core to psychology; that is, what should all psychology majors know? Should there be a common core of knowledge within a discipline such as psychology?
How does psychology in the United States compare to psychology around the world? Why do these differences exist? Do you think the differences are healthy for the discipline?
What are the traditional or older themes within psychology? What are the emerging ones? Do you feel that Eleanor Gibson is correct in that psychology is not a unified discipline? Should it be?