Origins of psychology Flashcards
What is included in the origins of psychology?
Wundt, introspection and the emergence of psychology as a science.
Who was Wilhelm Wundt?
Cited as one of the founders of psychology and believed the human mind could be studied scientifically
He founded the institute of experimental psychology in 1879 in Germany. He was credited with making psychology more scientific.
He aimed to study the structure of the human mind and break them down into basic elements - structuralism.
He used a key technique called introspection.
What is introspection?
Investigating events by examining thoughts and feelings as a form of data collection. Systematic analysis of our own conscious experience of a stimulus. Allows us to report our own inner thoughts and feelings in terms of intensity, duration and quality.
What did Wundt believe?
All human behaviours and mental processes can be studied this way in the controlled setting of his laboratory. He did claim some complex mental processes may not be suited to such controlled environments. His study of mental and emotional processes relied on a concept known as empiricism.
What is empiricism?
Means that knowledge and abilities come from observation and experience alone, rather than innate. Believes that all behaviour has causes, and therefore behaviour can be predicted. To explore such assumptions, the scientific method was used.
What is the scientific method?
It is the hypothetico-Deductive model
It is the hypothetico-Deductive model?
An observation is made of a phenomena in the world.
A theory is developed to explain the observation and a hypothesis is developed.
A hypothesis is tested using empirical methods.
Results are analysed to evaluate whether the hypothesis is supported or not.
This is used to refine or modify the theory.
What features of science could Wundt’s work be characterised by?
FROGS
Falsifiable
Replicable
Objective
General laws
Systematic
What does falsifiable mean?
All theories and research must be capable of being tested and potentially disproved, which is more scientific.
What does replicable mean?
Research procedures should be capable of being repeated to check the consistency of the findings - standardised.
What does objective mean?
Should be observable and measurable on an agreed scale so it is not open to interpretation.
What are general laws?
Basic generalisable principles about human or animal behaviour
What does systematic mean?
Recordings are carried out in a controlled and orderly manner using direct observations
Are the origins of psychology scientific?
It has led to useful general laws. Hunter in 2003 used introspection with teenagers to identify what makes them happy or unhappy. By questioning their own thoughts, they were able to identify that when energies were focussed on challenging tasks, they were far more upbeat.
Led to psychology getting more attention as a discipline.
Are the origins of psychology subjective?
Introspection introduces personal opinions and beliefs. Limited when trying to create general laws about the causes of behaviour in this manner.
Lack of numerical data limits the statistical analysis. FMRI scans could be used more objectively to detect changes in the brain.
Shows introspection lacks scientific rigour.
