Approaches - Origins of Psychology

Question 1

Describe the work of Wundt

Answer 1

Wundt opened the world’s first experimental laboratory for psychology in 1879.
He was the first to use ‘introspection’ to try to investigate the nature of awareness and consciousness.

Question 2

Describe Watson’s contribution to the emergence of psychology as a science

Answer 2

Early behaviourists such as Watson began to criticise the method of introspection for being subjective, and varying too much from person to person. He suggested that it was impossible to test people’s inward, private thoughts, and that psychology should focus on studying observable behaviour

Question 3

What is psychology?

Answer 3

The scientific study of the mind and its functions.
(What people do and why they do it)

Question 4

Outline the steps for introspection

Answer 4

1. Stimulus exposure - test subject exposed to interesting stimuli
2. Internal examination - examine own thoughts, feelings and sensations and report these back to the experimenter.
3. Analysis - the psychologists analyse various results to think of explanations and hypotheses.

Question 5

Why is introspection limited?

Answer 5

• Very subjective and open to interpretation.

Question 6

Outline features of a science

Answer 6

1) Control - experiments are only influenced by the researcher in the way they intended.
2) Hypothesis testing - theories should be tested to gather support or disproved. Concepts can’t be abstract.
3) Objectivity - When observations are recorded without biases.
4) Predictability - You should be able to use results of a scientific experiment to predict future behaviour.
5) Replicablility - Each experiment should be able to be replicated exactly so that the results can be checked and rechecked.

CHOPR

Question 7

Evaluate psychology as a science - for

Answer 7

Allport argues that psychology was characterised by predictability, hypothesis testing and control, which are all features of a science.

Other psychologists use lots of scientific procedures to test hypothesis and investigate theories in a controlled and unbiased way.

Question 8

Evaluate psychology as a science - against

Answer 8

Some approaches use less scientific methods e.g. interview techniques. that can be biased and interpreted differently.

Some people argue that because of psychology’s philosophical origins, there’s always going to be an element of subjectivity. e.g. subjectivity of Wundt’s introspection method.

Question 9

What did behaviourists believe about the mind?

Answer 9

They believed the mind was a black box - you couldnt see into it - any attempt to look into it were subject to biases.
All we could do was the inputs (stimuli) and resulting behaviour (outputs).

Question 10

Outline key dates in the emergence of psychology as a science

Answer 10

17th-19th centuries: psychology is seen as part of philosophy
1879: Wundt opens the first lab dedicated to psychological enquiry
Early 1900s: Sigmund Freud proposes psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory, emphasising the role of the unconscious mind
Early 1900s: Watson and Skinner establish the behaviourist approach, emphasising the role of learning
1950s: Rogers and Maslow devise the humanistic approach, emphasising the ‘whole person; and their subjective experience, including the role of free will
1960s: the cognitive approach emerges, emphasising the role of thought processes
1960s: Bandura proposes social learning theory, emphasising the role of observation and imitation
1980s: the biological approach becomes popular, emphasising the role of the brain and physical processes
End of the 20th century: cognitive neuroscience emerges, combining elements of the cognitive and biological approaches, emphasising the role of biological structures in determining thought processes