Colloqium #46

Oct 24, 2026 at 12:00 pm CEST

source: u.hassan [created wtih 'AI'] source: u.hassan [created wtih 'AI']
source: u.hassan [created wtih 'AI']

Description

This presentation examines two interconnected challenges concerning the foundations of psychological science: the replication crisis and the role of metaphysical assumptions in psychological research.

While the replication crisis has exposed methodological problems involving statistical inference, research practices, and the reproducibility of empirical findings, it also raises broader epistemological questions about the relationship between psychological theories, operational definitions, and empirical evidence (Chambers, 2017). Drawing on philosophical critiques of psychology, particularly Slife and Williams (1995), the presentation will explore how assumptions concerning reductionism, determinism, and the ontological status of mental phenomena shape the formulation of research questions, the interpretation of evidence, and the construction of psychological explanations. It will then examine how approaches such as methodological behaviorism, functionalism, and phenomenological psychology have attempted, in different ways, to suspend or circumvent certain metaphysical commitments, while questioning whether genuine metaphysical neutrality is possible (Giorgi, 2009).

Ultimately, the presentation asks whether addressing psychology’s foundational difficulties requires not only greater methodological rigor but also a more explicit critical examination of the philosophical assumptions underlying psychological inquiry.

Speakers

source: u.hassan
source: u.hassan
source: u.hassan
source: u.hassan

Usama Hassan: Usama Hassan is a Master’s student in Cognitive Science at the University of Potsdam. His academic interests lie at the intersection of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and complex systems. He is particularly interested in the philosophical foundations of psychological research, the relationship between subjective experience and scientific explanation, and the ways theoretical assumptions shape our understanding of cognition and behavior.