4.2.1 Origins of Psychology Flashcards
What are approaches?
Different perspectives in viewing and studying human behaviour
What is consciousness?
Awareness of our existence
What is introspection?
A psychological process that involved ‘looking inward’ at one’s own mind to examine their conscious thoughts and feelings
-it involved self-examination, so participants would report on their present experience
Define a ‘science’
A means of gaining knowledge through systematic and objective investigation, with the aim of discovering general laws.
Give 2 background points about psychology before Wundt
-it first emerged in the 17th and early 19th centuries
-it was previously viewed as a branch of philosophy
Define ‘psychology’
The scientific study of the mind and behaviour
Give 4 points about Wilhelm Wundt and his achievements
-he is known as ‘the father of psychology’, and is credited for moving the discipline from its philosophical roots to controlled research
-he published one of the first books on psychology
-he set up the first psychology laboratory in Germany
-he developed the technique of introspection
Describe how Wundt used a standardised procedure in introspection?
-trained psychology students to make observations that were not biased, and used the results to develop a theory of conscious thought
-participants would be exposed to the same stimulus (eg. A ticking metronome), given the same instructions and examined in the same physical surroundings
-this meant the experiment was controlled which helps to achieve validity.
What was structuralism?
Wundt argued that the structure of consciousness and mental experience could be broken down into compounds, hence his approach was known as ‘structuralism’.
Explain 3 reasons why Wundt was significant
-his use of controlled conditions ensured that extraneous variables did not affect his findings. This meant he was able to establish a scientific approach , which was seen as a forerunner for approaches later
-the method of introspection followed a controlled and standardised procedure, which helped to achieve reliability
-introspection is still used today eg. In therapy and study of emotional states, which demonstrates its value in investigating mental processes.
Explain 3 reasons why Wundt was not significant
-As participants report their own mental processes, the data hegathered was subjective, making it difficult to establish laws of behaviour (the aim of a science).
-Others (Nisbett and Wilson) challenged the reliability of introspection, as it does not give access to mental processes internally
-He left no lasting legacy in terms of theories or discoveries, and his methods were largely abandoned by future psychologists.
Define ‘subjectivity’
The data gathered is influenced by the opinions and personal perspectives of the researchers
Define ‘objectivity’
Data gathered is not affected by opinions or expectations of researchers, and is factually correct.
What does it mean for psychology to be a science?
-refers to the application of scientific methods and procedures in psychology
-evidence is collected in an objective way which other scientists can replicate
-the experiment are important ion testing hypotheses and theories to establish cause and effect
What are 2 reasons why psychology is a science?
-relies on objective and systematic methods of observation
-based on determinism, so enables the development of causal laws (based on empirical and replicable methods)
