approaches- origins of psychology Flashcards
wilhelm wundt: life
-opened first psychology lab in leipzig Germany in 1879
-aim was to describe the nature of human consciousness in a carefully controlled and scientific environment
wilhelm wundt: controlled procedures
-same standardised instructions were given to all p’s and stimuli (objects or sounds)
-presented in the same order (standardised procedure)
example of standardised procedure wundt
p’s given a ticking metronome and would report their thoughts, images and sensations which were then recorded
wundt on introspection
-pioneered introspection- first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind
-examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes
emergence of psych as a science: 1900s rejected introspection
-watson (1913) argued that introspection was subjective, it is influenced personal perspective
-for behaviourist approach ‘scientific’ psych should only study phenomena that can be observed and measured
emergence of psych as a science: 1930s behaviourist scientific approach dominated psychology
-skinner (1953) brought language and vigorous of natural sciences into psych. behaviourists’ focus on learning, use of carefully controlled lab studies would dominate psych for 50 yrs
emergence of psych as a science: 1950s cognitive approach dominated psych
-following computer revolution of 1950s, study of mental processes seen as legitimate
-cognitive psychs likened mind to a computer and tested their predictions ab member and attention using experiments
emergence of psych as a science: 1980s biological approach introduced technological advances
biological psychs taken adv of recent advances in technology, including recording brain activity , using scanning techniques such as fMRI and EEG, and advanced genetic research
ao3: aspects of Wundts work are scientific
-recorded introspections within a controlled environment
-also standardised procedures so all p’s received same info and tested in same way
-so wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner to the later scientific approaches of psych
ao3: aspects of Wundt’s work are subjective
-relied on p’s self-reporting their ‘private’ mental processes. such data subjective. p’s may also have hidden some thoughts
-difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’, one of the aims of science
-so wundes early efforts to study the mind were naive and wouldn’t meet the criteria of scientific enquiry
ao3: Wundt’s contribution
-produced the first academic journal for psych research and wrote first textbook. often referred to as ‘father’ of modern psych
-pioneering research set foundation of approaches to come, particularly behaviourist approach and cognitive psych
-shows despite flaws he made a significant contribution to psych
ao3: modern psych can claim to be scientific
-psych has same aims as the natural sciences- to describe, understand, predict and control behaviour
-learning, cognitive and biological approaches all use scientific methods e.g lab studies controlled and unbiased
-throughout 20th century and beyond psych had established itself as a scientific discipline
ao3: some approaches use subjective data
-humanistic doesn’t formulate generals laws of behavour. psychodynamic uses case studies with unrepresentative samples.
-psychs study humans who are active p’s and so respond to demand characteristics
-so scientific study of human thought and experience not possible
ao3: paradigm
-kuhn said any science must have a paradigm: a set of principles, assumptions and methods that all people who work with that subject agree on
-psych doesn’t have this. however, most would agree its the study of mind and behaviour
-suggests the question of whether its a science remains unanswered
