Psychology in the Netherlands is in heavy weather. While financial deficits are already pressing on us, universities in the Randstad and Tilburg have decided to abolish the international bachelor, a measure that does not solve the problems, but rather worsens. It damages the quality of education and breaks down the international connections. And that while we work in a field that is so essential, so versatile and so beautiful. We feel misunderstood. Leiden colleague Judith Schomaker expressed that feeling aptly on LinkedIn. It led to A booklet. Therefore, in my last contribution as a permanent science columnist (I keep writing for NRCbut in other forms), an ode to psychology!
Call the word ‘psychology’ and the classical image appears: a patient on a sofa, talking about his youth with a therapist with goat wool socks. But psychoanalysis has long since made way for other forms of therapy, and psychology is much more than just clinical practice – it is a science. We do great research, not only in people with psychological complaints, but much more in people who function ‘normal’. In fact: psychology is not limited to people. I myself do research into emotions in great apes (including humans). Other colleagues consider the psychology of robots, build behavioral models or are concerned with artificial intelligence. Psychology is everywhere.
Psychology has brought an incredible amount of insight. Take learning and memory. The American psychologist BF Skinner (1904-1990) built on the work of Ivan Pavlov-those of the dogs that started to drool the sound of a bell-and introduced the idea of operant conditioning: a learning process where behavior is strengthened or weakened by its consequences, such as rewards or punishment. But how do we ensure that what we learn lingers – or not? Memory models show how information is stored, processed and retrieved. These insights are not only essential for education and upbringing, but also for the treatment of traumas, memory loss and dementia. The underlying principles also find their way to apps for behavioral change and smart marketing strategies.
Do not act rational
The influential social psychologist Leon Festinger developed the theory of cognitive dissonance in the 1950s: the annoying feeling that arises when behavior and conviction collide with each other. For example: we all know that smoking is bad, and yet we will learn one more. To reduce that dissonance, we are looking for apologies: “My neighbor became 90 and smoked every day.” Psychological research helps us to understand why people do not always act rational. Psychologists have also discovered that people use mental shortcuts in judgments – so -called Heuristics – that can lead to errors, irrationality, self -overestimation or even discrimination.
I have already written frequently on the subject of emotion in this section. I have discussed psychological research that shows how much we are driven by emotions, and be influenced by the emotions of others. Emotions play a role very early in our lives. Developmental psychologists John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth showed the enormous importance of early parent-child relationships for emotional development in the 1950s. Thanks to their work, attachment -oriented interventions are now standard in youth care.
What makes the Psychology field so special is the ability to build bridges. She unites insights from biology, sociology, philosophy, computer science, economy, art and much more. At the same time, she focuses on the most elusive: emotions, thoughts, consciousness. No fixed formulas with one outcome, but complex processes that differ per individual or animal species. Psychology is both fundamental and applicable. Knowledge about the evolutionary roots of our behavior helps explain why behavioral change is often so unruly. Such insights are indispensable for the development of fairer policy, promoting inclusion and design of fair algorithms – and form the basis for a wide range of applications, from therapy to marketing, from educational innovation to artificial intelligence.
Connection with a wide audience
Psychology is not for ‘Gekkies’. How do we change that outdated image? By actively connecting with the general public. For example, I was recently at the book presentation of Eveline Crone – pioneer in the neuropsychological research into adolescents and enthusiastic science communator. I was allowed to read along with her accessible and fun book A day in our brain. Stefan van der Stigchel, another scientific topper, gave a sparkling reading about attention. According to him, some children benefit from skippy balls or chewing gum to concentrate. Whoever reads this column in his chair now understands what he means.
It is precisely from the gap between what psychology is and what many people think that it is, I have set up the ‘Psychologieab on wheels’: an electric van full of measuring instruments with which we take to the streets. From Lowlands to the Leiden market, from schools to company outings – we literally bring science to the people. Because psychology is not from the clinic or university. Psychology belongs to everyone.