Origins Of Psychology

Question 1

Who was Wilhelm Wundt?

Answer 1

The Father of Psychology: the first man to be called a psychologist.

Separated psychology from philosophy.

Question 2

When did Wundt open the first psychology lab?

Answer 2

1879.

Question 3

Why did Wundt open a psychology lab?

Answer 3

He wanted to investigate human behaviour scientifically (in lab conditions).

Question 4

An experiment is in lab conditions when it is…

Answer 4

… supervised and in strict, controlled conditions.

Question 5

Where did Wundt open the first psychology lab?

Answer 5

Leipzig, Germany.

Question 6

How did modern psychology arise as a science?

Answer 6

Philosophers, physiologists and physicians applied the scientific method to studying the mind.

Question 7

What is introspection?

Answer 7

One gaining knowledge about their mental state by analysing your own thoughts and feelings internally. The examination of one’s thoughts.

Question 8

What is one advantage and one disadvantage of Wundt’s work?

Answer 8

Advantage: his work paved the way for more appropriate methods (e.g. scanning). Disadvantage: his methods may lead to the people he was experimenting on giving socially desirable responses.

Question 9

What is social desirability?

Answer 9

People trying to show themselves in the best possible light. Being untruthful about their thoughts, giving more socially acceptable answers. It makes results less valid.

Question 10

What is perception?

Answer 10

The process of extracting meaning from our senses (what we see, hear, touch, etc).

Question 11

What are mental processes?

Answer 11

Things people can do/experience with their minds.

Question 12

What is empiricism?

Answer 12

The belief that all knowledge should be gained through sensory experience.

Question 13

What was Wundt’s focus?

Answer 13

He tried to understand psychological processes of perception etc, rather than biological processes. He did this through introspection.

Question 14

What are positives of Introspection?

Answer 14

-Experiments are replicable (when under controlled conditions).
-Provides the only method to access our conscious thoughts and feelings, giving a good foundation for psychology.

Question 15

What are negatives of introspection?

Answer 15

-Results of early experiments are not reliably reproducible.
-There is no way to objectively verify the accuracy of introspection due to socially desirable responses and forgetfulness.

Question 16

How is introspection still used today?

Answer 16

It is used to gain access to cognitive processes.

Question 17

One example of introspection still being used:

Answer 17

In 1994, Griffiths used introspection to study the cognitive processes of fruit machine gamblers.

He asked them to ‘think aloud’ while playing a fruit machine with a microphone attached.

Showed introspection’s validity.

Question 18

Discuss Wundt’s role in the emergence of psychology as a science (4 marks)

Answer 18

•He was the first person to open a psychology lab, designated to the scientific study of psychological enquiry under controlled conditions facilitating accuracy and replication.

-Separated psychology from philosophy; focus was on trying to understand the psychological processes of perception.

-He later recognised that higher mental processes were difficult to study using his procedures, encouraging the introduction of more modern techniques (e.g. scanning).

-Introspection was introduced and is still used today (e.g. therapy OR Griffiths 1994).

Question 19

What are arguments for psychology being a science?

Answer 19

-Allport (1947) said that psychology has the same aims as science- to predict, understand and control.
-Behaviourist, cognitive and biological approaches all use scientific processes to investigate theories. They are usually controlled and unbiased.

Question 20

What are arguments against psychology being a science?

Answer 20

-Other approaches don’t use objective methods to study behaviour; they use unreliable methods (e.g. biased interview techniques).
-Experiments are open to extraneous variables which are hard to control (e.g. demand characteristics).

Question 21

What are demand characteristics?

Answer 21

People trying to interpret the aim of a study and subconsciously alter their behaviour to fit the interpretation.