Origins Of Psychology

Question 1

Psychology as a science

Answer 1

Psychology has 4 goals:
- Description- tells us what occurred
- Explanation- tells us why a behaviour or a mental process occurs
- Prediction- identifies conditions under which a future behaviour or mental process is likely to occur
- Change- applied psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behaviour and to bring about desired characteristics

Question 2

Wilhelm Wundt (1832- 1920)

Answer 2

• In 1879, he opened an institute for experimental psychology in Germany
• He separated psychology from philosophy and focused on studying the mind in a much more structured and scientific way
• Using a structuralist and reductionist approach, he used methods such as introspection to try to uncover what people were thinking and experiencing

Question 3

What is introspection

Answer 3

• Introspection is a psychological method which involves analysing your own thoughts and feelings internally
• This involved asking participants to describe their experiences when presented with a set of stimuli, and often their reaction times were recorded

Question 4

Problems with introspection

Answer 4

• It does not explain how the mind works
• It relied on people describing their thoughts and feelings, which usually isn’t objective. Furthermore people may give socially desirable responses
• It does not provide data that can be used reliably
• Because people are reporting on their experiences, their accounts can’t be confirmed

Question 5

What factors make something a science

Answer 5

• Objectivity: scientific observations should be recorded without bias and not influenced by any other factors, or any people
• Control: scientific observations should take place under controlled conditions
• Predictability: scientists should be able to use the results and knowledge gained from experiments to predict future behaviour
• Hypothesis testing: theories generate hypothesis which can be tested to either strengthen the support for the theory, or else disprove it
• Replication: each experiment should be able to be replicated exactly so people can have confidence in the results