Mathematics is an important part of science and psychology, as a science, makes use of it to achieve its goals of predicting and controlling human behavior. To this end, the use of probability is important, which allows scientists to have greater certainty in predicting how people will act.

Psychology and statistics

The use of mathematics has been an important part of the sciences since they emerged as such at the beginning of the modern era, to the point where the great influence of numbers on what we now call scientific knowledge is undeniable. Francis Bacon proposed a strong role for mathematics as part of his new method, while Galileo conceived mathematics as the language with which God wrote nature (Friar, 2000).

Thus it becomes totally reasonable that psychology , as the science that it is, uses in one way or another mathematics in its studies, either in an auxiliary way or as part of the hypothetical deductive method . This method has been the object of one of the constant controversies among theorists of psychology (Silva, 2013).

What is the purpose of psychology as a science?

Now, in order to understand the importance of probability in psychological science, it is necessary to understand the purposes of psychology. In this regard, Coon and Mitterer (2010) tell us that psychology pursues four ends , namely the description, understanding, prediction and control of behavior and mental processes .

It is important, however, to understand well what is meant by the concepts prediction and control . prediction refers to the ability to predict behaviour with certainty, while control refers simply to the ability to modify conditions that affect behaviour (Coon and Mitterer, 2010: 15).

When the odds come into play

Having understood the above, it can be said that the probability helps just to achieve the third objective and is, in a way, the foundation of the fourth point. That is to say, for psychology to be able to predict and/or control behaviour at the right time, it must be able to make all the particular data it obtains through research generalizable and from this be able to infer, with a sufficient rate of certainty, a behaviour, action or situation.

Probability and statistics are used, on the one hand, as a way to obtain, interpret and generalize the data , and on the other hand, to be able to predict certain future events from there . This can be clearly seen in the use of the survey , the correlation studies and the case studies as research methods. The survey is used to collect data from a representative sample of a population, while the correlational studies look for the relationship that may exist between two variables, which are not necessarily the cause of each other. Finally, the case study allows a single subject or situation to be studied in a high degree of detail. (Halguin and Krauss, 2008).

Statistics: a key element to be able to infer results

As expected, all these methods (and even the experimental method) require the probability to be able to infer results . But it goes beyond just numbers, it touches on issues that once applied can affect people who are treated, for example, in a psychological office or in the work or school environment, for example.

The issues dealt with in these three areas directly affect people’s lives and therefore it is important to consider on the one hand the probabilities of success in therapy , or in the job interview or at school, so that a more accurate and efficient intervention can be given that can really help people and give them effective tools to achieve their goals in the best possible way.

In the end, what is sought with probability, from a scientific point of view, will be the predictability of an event. But from a personal point of view – and not seldom existential for many people – what is sought is a certainty that gives meaning to the reality we are living.

Bibliographic references:

  • Bologna, E. (2011) Statistics for Psychology and Education. Córdoba: Bruges Publishing House
  • Coon, D. and Mitterer, J. (2010) Introduction to Psychology. Mexico: Cengage Learning
  • Fraile, G. (2000) History of Philosophy III: From Humanism to the Enlightenment. Madrid: BAC.
  • Halguin, R.and Krauss, S. (2008) Psychology of Abnormality. Mexico: Mc Graw Hill
  • Silva, A. (2013) Philosophical foundations of psychology. Mexico: PAX