American undergraduate psychology students' (N = 438) beliefs about the scientific nature of the discipline were assessed as a function of their year in college (first to fourth year) and academic status in psychology (a comprehensive, limited, or minimal program of study in psychology). Students completed the Psychology as a Science (PAS) questionnaire, in which they evaluated 15 Likert-type statements about scientific psychology. There was a main effect of year in college and academic status, suggesting that those who are academically advanced and committed to a comprehensive study of psychology had a stronger belief that psychology is a science. The results are discussed in terms of the process of conceptual change by which students overcome their misconceptions about psychology as a science.

Two studies explored conceptual change in undergraduate psychology students' acceptance of the scientific foundations of the discipline. In Study 1, Introductory Psychology students completed the Psychology as Science questionnaire (PAS) at the beginning and end of the semester and did so from their own (Self Condition) and their instructors' (Professor Condition) perspectives. Study 2 replicated Study 1 with advanced students enrolled in research-oriented courses. In both studies, students had higher PAS scores in the Professor than the Self Condition and there was a modest change from the beginning to the end of the semester in Self PAS scores. The change in Self PAS scores was positively related to higher Professor PAS scores at the end of the semester, when controlling for initial Professor PAS scores and other variables. The discussion highlights pedagogical practices that promote students' representation of their professors' thinking about the discipline as distinct from and an alternative to their own misconceptions.There is wide consensus that instruction in psychology should go beyond students acquiring knowledge of the discipline to educate them in the values and beliefs of the scientific approach to study mind and behavior (APA, 2013). As Charles Brewer and his colleagues noted, 'The fundamental goal of education in psychology, which all others follow, is to teach students to think as scientists about behavior ' (Brewer et al., 1993, p. 163). At the very least, scientific psychology would require affirming the value of well-controlled research results and accepting their conclusions, despite such results not squaring with one's own experiences of the causes of the behavior.