introspection Flashcards
what did Wilhelm Wundt do?
1879 he opened the first psychological lab in Leipzig to study the mind using introspection
what is introspection?
the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up concious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations
what process did Wundt use to study introspection?
- wundt used a stimuli e.g. ticking of a metronome
- participants would report on their own conscious experience by writing down any thoughts, feelings or sensations as objectively as possible, breaking down thoughts
- wundt would analyse each participants repsonses for consistent themes
how were Wundt’s ideas scientific?
standardized procedures
what are the five features of science?
- paradigms
- theory construction and hypothesis testing
3.objectivity and empirical method - falsifiability
- replicability
what are paradigms?
a shared set of assumptions and methods of studying those assumptions
Wundt attempted a paradigm shift- What is that?
a scientific revolution that occurs when many scientists question the current paradigm
what is a theory?
a set of general laws that can explain behaviours and events
what is theory construction?
gathering evidence via direct observation
what is hypothesis testing?
the scientific testing (systematic and objective) of a precise prediction based on theory
what does it mean for science to be objective?
not affected by the feelings and experiences of the researcher
who argued a key principle of science is opening the theory up to be proven not true?
Karl Popper
how can something be proven not true (falsifiability)?
theory needs to be testable
a theory is only scientific if they can be….
repeated over and over and get the same results even by different researchers
what are strengths of Wundt’s introspection?
- paradigm shift ( start of psychology)
- scientific of the time (e.g. standardized procedures)
-inspspired later psychologists
-attempted to be objective
-lab study (high levels of control)
what are the limitations of Wundt’s introspection?
-falsifiability (the results weren’t testable as different people/ locations doing the experiment would have different results)
-replicability (people have diff thoughts so diff results)
-subjective (conclusions were open to interpretation)
-no physical evidence (don’t know what he was trying to achieve, conclusions limited in usefulness)
- demand characteristics
why did Watson criticise introspection?
he thought Wundt wasn’t wholly scientific
Watson wanted to make a paradigm shift in psychology that was scientific
paved the way for behaviourism
what is structuralism in introspection?
isolating the structure of consciousness by getting people to record their own conscious thoughts, with the aim of breaking these down into their constituent parts.
why was Wundt’s work significant?
it marked the separation of modern scientific psychology from its broader philosophical roots
