ABSTRACT
The efforts of students of human behavior to emulate the better established disciplines have had both desirable and misleading results. Some students of human behavior proclaim loudly that they are “scientists” and insist upon being accorded the privileges and respect commensurate with such a designation. By virtue of the fact that social scientists are specialists who focus their attention upon observing and reflecting upon human behavior, many of their judgments may prove more useful than those of laymen. Since curiosity about human behavior is apparently as old as mankind itself, the question arises as to whether there is anything distinctive about social psychology. The growth of scientific knowledge has been a cumulative movement, starting with common sense and becoming more reliable with the progressive elimination of errors. The primary concern of psychiatrists has been the treatment of people who are adjudged mentally ill, but effective therapeutic measures must be based upon reliable knowledge.
