origins of psychology Flashcards
who was Wundt?
established the 1st psychology lab, opened in Germany 1879, the aim was to describe the nature of human consciousness in a carefully controlled and scientific environment - a lab
what is introspection?
the 1st systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures to thoughts, images and sensations
what is the scientific strength?
-some of his methods were systematic and well -controlled (i.e. scientific),
-all introspections were recorded in the controlled environment of the lab, ensuring that possible extraneous variables were not a factor,
-he also standardised all his procedures so that all participants received the same info & tested in the same way,
-this suggests that Wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology
what is the subjective data limitation?
-other aspects of Wundt’s research would be considered unscientific today,
-Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their mental processes. Such data is subjective, participants may have hidden some of their thoughts,
-it is difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’ from such data. And general laws are useful to predict future behaviour, one of the aims of science,
-this suggests that some of Wundt’s early efforts to study the mind were flawed and would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
what was Wundt’s contribution (eval)?
-Wundt produced the first academic journal for psychological research and wrote the first textbook, He is often referred to as the founder of modern psychology,
-his pioneering research set the foundation for approaches that were to come, particularly the behaviourist approach and cognitive psychology,
-this shows that, despite the flaws in his early experimental research, Wundt made a significant contribution to psychology
what is the modern psychology strength?
-research in modern psychology can claim to be scientific,
-psychology has the same aims as the natural sciences - to describe, understand, predict and control behaviour,
-learning approaches, cognitive and biological approaches all rely on the use of scientific methods, for e.g. lab studies are controlled and unbiased,
-this suggests that throughout the 20th century and beyond, psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline.
what is the subjective data limitation for psychology?
-not all approaches use objective methods,
-humanistic approach does not formulate general laws of behaviour it also rejects the scientific approach, preferring to focus on individual experiences and subjective experience.
-psychodynamic approach uses case study’s which does not use representative samples,
psychologists study humans who are active participants & therefore respond to demand characteristics,
-therefore a scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience may not always be desirable or possible.
