Germany and the Birth of a New Science Flashcards
what was Wundt trained in
medicine and philosophy
who did Wundt work with
Müller & Helmholtz –> spiked his interest in psychological topics, and whether psychology could be a science (based on Mill’s belief that it could be)
who influenced Wundt
Fechner’s book that suggested the possibility of psychology as an experimental science
describe the initiation of Wundt’s laboratory
the lab was established to study experimental research in psychology –> assembled apparatus and designed new equipment, welcomed students from around the world, and wrote a textbook and founded a journal to publish his findings in
why did Americans come to work in Wundt’s lab
- European study offered a cultural richness, went for exposure to art, music architecture and history
- Prestigious universities (e.g. Leipzig)
- Philosophy of wissenschaft followed by German universities
- Lack of laboratories in America
describe the philosophy of Wissenschaft
curriculum promoted active epistemology (especially with regard to science), freedom of teaching and inquiry –> instituted at prestigious German universities (e.g. Leipzig, University of Berlin) –> encouraged students to conduct research and teach advanced students methods of original inquiry, students were given freedom in selecting courses
What were some of the books that Wundt published
- muscular movements & sensations (after working with Helmholtz)
- contributions to the theory of sensory perception
what course did Wundt teach
“physiological psychology” –> eventually published a book based on these lectures called “principles of physiological psychology” –> drew from anatomy, physiology, neurology & psychophysics
what is the birth year of the science of psychology and why
1879 –> this marks the publication of the first research from Wundt’s lab
what prizes was Wundt nominated for
three time nominee for the nobel prize in medicine and physiology –> never actually received it
what were Wundt’s two psychologies
- voluntarism –> experimental psychology that guided his work in the lab
- Völkerpsychologie –> non-experimental, cultural psychology
what did Wundt state were the goals of his lab
to discover the facets of consciousness, its combinations and relations, so that it may ultimately discover the laws which govern these relations and combinations –> consciousness = sum of facts of which we are conscious
what did Wundt state were the two factors of conscious experience
- content of the experience (objects/events that are present for the observer)
- what the observer makes of that content (“apprehension”) –> how the individual interprets the context, processes (this was his primary focus)
how did Wundt describe the differences in the research approaches of the natural sciences and the research approach of psychology
- natural sciences concern themselves with objects of experience (independent of the subject) –> “mediate experience”
- psychology investigates the whole content of experience in relation to the subject and in regard to the attributes which this content derives –> “immediate experience”
what were the two experiences Wundt described
- mediate experience –> natural sciences
- immediate experience –> psychology
e.g. scale would say lead and feathers weigh the same, but the scales of psychologists would suggest feathers are lighter
why are the natural sciences described by Wundt to be “mediate experience”
the experience assessed by the physicist is mediated by the measuring device and is a product of that devise
why is psychology described by Wundt to be “immediate experience”
experience as felt by the individual and not mediated through some other entity
describe what psychology tries to do, as argued by Wundt
- psychologists are studying the experience of an experiencing person
- real meaning of the studies comes from an understanding of how objects in the external world are part of the individual’s experience
- conscious experience exists in the experiencing person
–> e.g. if tree falls in the woods does it make a sound –> it does make sound waves (physically) but does not make a sound psychologically
what three things did Wundt believe make up experience
sensations, associations and feelings
what was one of Wundt’s primary reserach goals
- analyze experience in terms of its component elements and compounds
- basic elements in conscious experience and how those elements were organized into psychical compounds/aggregates
define “psychical components” according to Wundt
the absolutely simple and irreducible components of psychical phenomena –> products of analysis and abstraction
what was the mind to Wundt
- an active entity that organized, analyzed and altered the psychical elements and compounds of consciousness
- creating experiences, feelings and ideas that are not evident in the study of pure components
how did Wundt primarily study conscious experience
studies on vision
what did Wundt call his psychological system and what was the key component of this
- he called it “voluntarism” –> indicated the voluntary, active and willful nature of the mind
- key concept was apperception
what is apperception
- an active intentional process involving will –> parts of consciousness would have a greater focus/clarity
- important for bringing some part of conscious experience to maximal clarity
- principal process by which psychical elements and compounds were synthesized into new conscious experiences –> “creative synthesis”
how did Wundt’s experiments show evidence of apperception
- observers were expecting some stimulus occurrence (listening or looking for it)
- when stimulus occurred, they would focus attention on it and largely ignore the rest of the stimulus array
