ABSTRACT
Academic psychology has a literature of criticism that is diverse and far-reaching. The literature contains criticisms of specific fields, such as developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, social psychology and educational psychology. The literature also contains criticisms of particular approaches to psychological inquiry, including behaviorism, cognitivism and humanistic psychology as well as criticisms of psychology as a whole. Chronological youth excuses psychology's lack of progress only in the eyes of those blind to the progress made in the genuine sciences during their first centuries. A protoscience, though lacking the conceptual unity of genuine science, lays the foundations out of which unity can emerge. The theoretical integration of laws under a theory is an advanced stage of inquiry far beyond the current scope of psychology. Therefore, the issue of whether psychology is a science is important, not only for theoreticians but also for policymakers and practitioners. Moreover, introductory textbooks present psychology as a science making indubitable progress.
