2] History Flashcards
Who was William Wundt
First psychologist, considering psychology to be the science of immediate experience. Focused on the structure of the mind
What is structuralism
What was Wundt’s 3 aims for structuralism
1] Analyse context of conscious experience
2] Determine how elements are connected
3] Devise a law which explains connection
When did structuralism die out
Early 20th century due to difficulty in collecting raw data
Problems with structuralism
1] Subjective experimental methods
2] Self analysis isn’t valid
3] Cant assess processes/mechanisms of mental environment
4] Internal behaviours cant be measured
What is functionalism
Made as a response to structuralism, it stressed the purpose of natural processes.
The function is to promote survival through adaptive behaviour.
What did William James believe about functionalism
Our kind of instinct made us different to animals, having a greater range and number of them to guide our behaviour
What did John Dewey believe about functionalism
In humans our mind replaced the reflexive behaviour of lower animals
Functionalism: What is an instinct
An innate, typically fixed pattern of behaviour in animals in response to certain stimuli
Problems with functionalism
1] Inconsistent values and beliefs in cultures
2] Widespread and uncritical use of instincts
It died out in early 1900s
Who was Thorndike
(1874-1949)
law of effect
Who is Ivan pavlov
What was the importance of Thorndike and Pavlov’s work
1] Accounted for behaviour without reference to introspection or mental events
2] Used scientific experimental procedures
Who is john B Watson
Found school of behavioural psychology, was highly critical of introspection
What did Watson believe about structuralism
Elements of the consciousness studied were to subjective to be scientifically studied
What did Watson propose about psychology
It was a natural science who’s study should be constricted to observable events- behaviour
What did Watson argued about true knowledge
It can only be obtained by the basis of objective observation
Watsons main goals of behaviourism were
1] Psychology is the science of behaviour
2] Use observational methods
3] Disregard private internal/mental events
4] Control/predict behaviour
Watson: Study of behaviour should consist of
The direct observation of the relationship between environmental stimulus and response
Who was B.F. Skinner
The founder of radical behaviourism, investigating stimulus conditioning, extinction, reinforcement and operant conditioning
What is mentalism
The study of behaviour that assumes mental states exist that differ from a behavioural state
What are private events
Skinners view of thoughts and feelings as behaviour
What are 3 factors of private events
1] Thoughts and feelings are behaviour
2] Internal behaviour differs from public behaviour due to inaccessibility
3] Influenced by the same variables as public B
