Origins Of Psychology Flashcards
Wundt’s research
First psychology lab in Leipzig. Introduced introspection to study the human mind systematically (scientific)
Introspection
The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by braking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations
Structuralism
Consciousness divided into three categories divided into three categories: thoughts, images and sensations
Evaluation of Wundt’s introspection- Scientific
STRENGTH
Controlled environment
Carefully standardised
Evaluation of Wundt’s introspection- Subjective data
LIMITATION
General laws aren’t possible as all introspections are different
The emergence of psychology as a science
Behaviourists, cognitive and biological approach help contribute to making/classifying psychology as a science
1900s Behaviourists
The value of introspection was questioned by Watson as it produces subjective data so it was very difficult to establish general laws
Behaviourists focused on behaviours that they can see, and used carefully controlled experiments
Dominant for the next 50 years
1950s cognitive approach
Cognitive psychologists likened the mind to a computer and tested their predictions about memory and attention using experiments
Ensured that the study of the mind was once again a legitimate and highly scientific aspect of the discipline
1980s Biological approach
Biological researchers have taken advantage of the new technology to investigate physiological processes as they happen
Using scanning techniques such as fMRI and EEG
The emergence of psychology as a science evaluation points- Modern psychology
STRENGTH
Learning, cognitive and biological approaches all use of scientific methods (lab)
The emergence of psychology as a science evaluation points- Subjective data
LIMITATION
Humanistic and psychodynamic approaches rely on unscientific case studies. Research hampered by demand characteristics
