Quantitative psychology

Quantitative psychology is a field of scientific study that focuses on the mathematical modeling, research design and methodology, and statistical analysis of human attributes and psychological processes. Quantitative psychologists research traditional and novel methods of psychometrics, a field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement. At a general level, quantitative psychologists help create methods for all psychologists to test their hypotheses.

Psychological research has a long history of contributing to statistical applications and theory. Today, quantitative psychology is recognized as its own branch of psychology by the American Psychological Association (APA), with doctoral degree programs awarded in this specialization in some universities in Europe and North America. Quantitative psychologists have traditionally been in high demand in industry, government, and academia. Their combined training in both social science and quantitative methodology provides a unique skill set for solving both applied and theoretical problems in a variety of areas.

Quantitative psychology has its roots in early experimental psychology when, in the nineteenth century, the scientific method was first systematically applied to psychological phenomena. Notable contributions included E. H. Weber's studies of tactile sensitivity (1930s), Fechner's development and use of the psychophysical methods (1850-1860), and Helmholtz's research on vision and audition beginning after 1850. Wilhelm Wundt is often called the "founder of experimental psychology", because he called himself a psychologist and opened a psychological laboratory in 1879 where many researchers came to study. The work of these and many others helped put to rest the assertion, by theorists such as Immanuel Kant, that psychology could not become a science because precise experiments on the human mind were impossible.

Intelligence testing has long been an important branch of quantitative psychology. The nineteenth-century English statistician Francis Galton, a pioneer in psychometrics, was the first to create a standardized test of intelligence, and he was among the first to apply statistical methods to the study of human differences and their inheritance. He came to believe that intelligence is largely determined by heredity, and he also hypothesized that other measures such as the speed of reflexes, muscle strength, and head size are correlated with intelligence. He established the world's first mental testing center in 1882 in the following year he published his observations and theories in "Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development".

...
Wikipedia