Origins Of Psycholgy Flashcards
Wilhelm Wundt established the first
Psychology lab
Where did Wundt open his lab?
Leipzig, Germany
When did Wundt open his lab in Liebzig, Germany?
1879
What was the aim of Wundt’s lab?
To describe the nature of human consciousness in a carefully controlled and scientific environment - a lab
Introspection was the first systematic experimental attempt to
Study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations
Isolating the structure of consciousness in this way is called
Structuralism
The same standardised instructions were given to
All participants
Because everyone got the same standardised instructions, experiments could be
Repeated
Participants were given a ticking metronome so they could
Pace their responses
Participants would report their
Thoughts
Images
Sensations
How could Wundts early attempts to study the mind be described today?
Naïve
Wundts work was significant as
It marked the separation of modern scientific psychology from its broader philosophical roots
John. B. Watson Date
1913
What did John. B. Watson argue?
He argued that Introspection was subjective and it varied from person to person
According to the behaviourist approach
‘Scientific’ Psychology should only study phenomena that can be observed and measured
B. F. Skinner date
1953
B. F. Skinner bought the
Language and rigour of the natural sciences into psychology
The behaviourists focus on learning and the use of carefully controlled lab studies
Would dominate psychology for the next few decades
behaviourist Scientific approach dominated psychology
1930’s
Cognitive approach used scientific procedures to study mental processes
1950s
The biological approach introduced technological advances
1990s
1900s
Early behaviourist rejected Introspection
Following the cognitive revolution in the 1990’s
The study of mental processes were seen to legitimate within psychology
although mental processes remain ‘private’
Cognitive psychologists are able to make inferences about how these work on the basis of tests conducted in a controlled environment
Biological psychologists have taken advantage of recent advances in technology
Including…
Recording brain activity
Using scanning techniques (fMRI & EEG)
Advanced genetic research
Wundts method was highly scientific because
He recorded the introspections within a controlled lab environment
Wundt standardised his procedures so that
All participants received the same information and were tested in the same way
Wundts research can be considered a forerunner to the later
Scientific approach in psychology that were to come
Wundt relied on participants
Self-reporting their ‘private’ mental processes
Self reporting is a problem as it is
Subjective and participants may not have wanted to reveal some of the thoughts they were having
Participants would have also not had exactly the same thoughts every time so establishing general principles would
general principles would not have been possible
General laws are useful to
Predict future behaviour, one of the aims of science
Wundts early efforts to study the mind were
Naïve and would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry
Psychology has the same aims as
The natural sciences - to describe, understand, predict and control our world
The learning approach, cognitive approach and biological approach all rely on the use of
scientific methods
Throughout the 20th century and beyond
Psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline.
The humanistic approach is
Anti-scientific and does not attempt to formulate general laws of behaviour
The humanistic approach is only concerned with
Documenting unique subjective experience
The psychodynamic approach makes use of the
Case study method
The case study method is based on
Interview techniques which are open to bias and no attempt is made to gather a representative sample of the population
Because of the humanistic approach and the psychodynamic approach, this is why many claim that an
Scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience is not possible nor is it desirable as there are important differences between the subject matter of psychology and the natural sciences
