Origins of psychology Flashcards
Who was Wundht?
First psychologist
He wanted to study the structure of the human mind and believed the best way to do this was to break down behaviours such as perception and sensation into their basic elements. To do this he used introspection
What did Wundht conclude?
that higher mental processes such as learning, language and emotion could not be studied in this strict controlled manner
what is introspection?
The process of ‘looking into’ and the gaining of knowledge about his or her emotional state as a result of the examination or observation of their conscious thoughts/feelings
what is empiricism?
the belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience it is generally characterised by the use of the scientific method
what is the scientific method?
refers to the use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic, replicable and the formulation, testing and modification of hypotheses based on these results
Name a study in relation to introspection
Nisbett and Wilson in 1977 claimed that we have little knowledge of the causes of and the underlying processes of our behaviour and attitudes
They found that this problem was particularly critical in the study of implicit attitudes (attitudes or stereotypes that are known to us ) for example a person might be implicitly racist which influences the way they react to different members of a different ethnic group
name a study in relation to introspection
Introspection is still useful in psychology
Csikszentmihalyi and Hunter in 2003 used introspective methods as a way of making happiness measurable
They gave a group of teenagers beepers that went off during random times throughout the day requiring them to write down their thoughts and feelings in the moment before the beep
Most entries found that teenagers were unhappy but when their energy was focused on a challenging task they were more upbeat
introspection offers researchers a way of understanding momentary conditions that affect happiness that can be used to improve the quality of life
Name an evaluation point for Wundht
his methods were unreliable and relied primarily on observations
his findings were not replicable in other studies
Name final evaluation point for Wundht
a scientific approach is not always useful
scientific approaches are not always reliable much of the matter of introspection is unobservable and cannot be measured with any degree of accuracy
