Approaches In Psychology

Question 1

Who is Wilhelm wundt

Answer 1

The father of psychology

He was the first to dedicate a lab to psychology in Leipzig Germany

Question 2

Introspection

Answer 2

• Introspection is defined as 2“a means of learning about one’s own currently ongoing mental
states or processes. Introspective knowledge is often held to be more immediate or direct than
sensory knowledge”

Question 3

Wundt and introspection

Answer 3

Wundt and Introspection:
• In 1879, Wundt set up his first laboratory where he adopted the use of introspection.
• Introspection is defined as 2“a means of learning about one’s own currently ongoing mental
states or processes. Introspective knowledge is often held to be more immediate or direct than
sensory knowledge”.
• It features 3 conditions: The mentality condition (aims to generate beliefs about mental states
and events), the first-person condition (aims to generate beliefs about the individual’s own mind) and the temporal proximity condition (generates beliefs and describes the individual’s current mental life).
• Wundt isolated conscious thoughts into basic structures of thoughts, processes and images, in a process called structuralism.
• The method of data recording was highly scientific e.g. the same stimulus was used each time, allowing for replication under standardised conditions, hence producing reliable data

Question 4

Skinner, Watson and behaviourism

Answer 4

• Skinner disagreed with the subjective nature of introspection, in which the findings differed greatly from individual to individual, making it difficult to establish general laws and unifying principles of behaviour and cognition. Subjective
• Therefore, in the 1930s, Skinner’s idea of radical behaviourism (that private events could be measured and quantified in the same way as observable behaviour) was tested using the laboratory experiment method of research.
• This allowed for the objective measurement of observable behaviour, providing reliable data through controlling and eliminating the effects of extraneous and confounding variables, by using highly controlled conditions.
• This marked the beginning of Psychology as a scientific discipline!

Question 5

Descartes and dualism

Answer 5

In the 17th century, Descartes suggested that the mind and the body represented a dualism, and that the two interact in different ways to produce different behaviours and thoughts. This was the basis for the nature versus nurture debate.

Question 6

Define psychology

Answer 6

• Psychology = “The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes and how these are affected by internal and external factors”

Question 7

Define and explain science

Answer 7

• Science = 1“The pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world, following a systematic methodology based on evidence”.
• Therefore, the features of science are as follows: A universal paradigm, theory construction, hypothesis testing, deduction, falsification, replicability, objectivity, and the empirical method.