Approaches - History of Psychology

Question 1

Psychology has four goals:

Answer 1

1. Description - tells us “what” occurred
2. Explanation - tells us “why” a behaviour or a mental process occurred
3. Prediction - identifies conditions under which a future behaviour or mental process is likely to occur
4. Change - applies psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behaviour and to bring about desired change.

Question 2

Is psychology a science:

Answer 2

Objectivity: scientific observations should be recorded without bias and not influenced by other factors or other people
Control: should take place under controlled conditions
Predictability: results should be able to predict future behaviours
Hypothesis testing: theories should be tested to support or disprove a theory
Replication: if something is replicated and they find the same results(confidence in the study).

Question 3

Early Psychology influences

Answer 3

Rene Descartes(1596-1650) and his concept of Cartesian dualism - the mind and body are separate entities(clear starting point for psychology)

Question 4

John Locke and concept of empiricism-

Answer 4

1632-1704:The belief all knowledge is derived from sensory experience and can be studied using the scientific method also had an influence on the emergence of psychology as a science.

Question 5

Evolutionary theories by Charles Darwin

Answer 5

1809-82: Set the stage for the emergence of psychology as we know it together(biologixal approach)

Question 6

Who published the first book on psychology?

Answer 6

Wilhelm Wundt in 1873- to establish the subject as an independent branch of science

Question 7

When was the first psychology laboratory opened?

Answer 7

In 1879, by Wilhelm Wundt. The lab was designated to the scientidic study of psychological enquiry under controlled conditions

Question 8

Wilhelm Wundt - focus

Answer 8

On trying to understand psychological processes of perception and sensations, rather than biological processes

Question 9

Structuralism(still Wundt’s theory)

Answer 9

A theory of consciousness that seeks to analyse the elements of mental experiences, such as sensations, mental images and feelings, and how these elements combine to form more complex experiences.
Using controlled methods, like introspection, to break down consciousness to its basic elements without sacrificing any of the properties of the whole.

Question 10

Introspection continued..

Answer 10

Wundt later recognised higher mental processes were difficult to study using introspection, and encouraged others to look for more appropriate methods, paving the way for other approaches such as scanning.
Led to the development of the field of cultural psychology, based on general trends in behaviour of groups of people.

Question 11

Negative evaluation: introspection(difficult to study unobservable matter)

Answer 11

Introspection relies primarily on non-observable responses and although participants can report conscious experiences, they are unable to comment on unconscious factors relating to their behaviour.
Introspection produced data that was subjective(varied greatly from person to person), so it became very difficult to establish general principles. This means introspective experimental results are not reliably reproduced by other researchers.