Approaches In Psychology - Wundt & The Origins Of Psychology Flashcards
What is science?
Finding out systematically & objectively abut the physical & natural world using observation & experiments
What is psychology?
The scientific study of the mind & behaviour
What does systematic mean?
Working according to a fixed/controlled & standardised plan/system
What is objectivity?
Something not influenced by personal feelings/opinions in considering facts
What is empiricism?
Based on tested experimentation, not theory/logical argument
What is scientific methodology?
Systematic observation, measurement & experiments & the formulation, testing & modification of hypotheses
What does replicable mean?
Finding the same result when the same methodology is repeated
What does predictable mean?
General laws can be made about human behaviour in situations
What is determination
Someone not having a choice of their behaviour, it is set from prior conditioning
What is inference?
Making conclusions about the fundamental nature of the mind on the basis of these observations after observing repeated instances of a behaviour to a stimulus.
Who was Wundt?
He was known as the father of psychology as he moved study of the mind from it’s philosophical roots to controlled empirical scientific research
What did Wundt contribute to psychology?
He set up the first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany
Wrote the 1st textbook of psychology
What did Wundt use to study the mind?
He used introspection (the process of looking inwards) & used a metronome to measure reaction time in participants where he told the participants to write down what they were thinking at regular intervals.
What are some advantages of Wundt?
His work paved the way for later scientifically controlled research into psychology
His study on mental processes later continued by cognitive psychology - built models on memory - used experimentation not introspection
What are some disadvantages of Wundt?
He was later criticised by later behaviourist learning theorists that thought that internal mental processes couldn’t be studied scientifically as the behaviourists focused on primarily the stimulus & behaviour
