origins of psychology Flashcards
what did Wilhelm Wundt (1870) suggest about human behaviour?
he suggested that all aspects of human behaviour could be studied scientifically
what is introspection?
the examination of ones thoughts
why did Wundt open a psych lab?
he wanted to analyse human consciousness and thoughts in a standardised objective and scientific manner
what was Wundts procedure for research into human thoughts and feelings?
- Wundt gave his assistants various stimuli (e.g. a ticking metronome)
- they reported what the stimuli made them think and feel (to discover how their mind works)
- they were asked to reflect on sensations, feelings and images
- Wundt would ask people to focus on an everyday object and look inwards, noticing sensations, feelings and images
- the same stimulus, physical surroundings and instructions were given to each person
AO3: how is ‘standardised and controlled procedures’ a strength into Wundts research on human consciousness and thoughts?
as Wundt uses a lab experiment, all his procedures are standardised and controlled to ensure everyone is treated the same and given the same experience. this is a strength as it has high internal validity and can be easily replicated. however, as it is in a lab experiment it has low ecological validity and generalisability as lab experiments are highly controlled and do not take into account every day activities.
AO3: how is ‘some thoughts are hidden’ a limitation into Wundts research on human consciousness and thoughts?
this is because some people may not want to share their thoughts as they may believe its not what the investigators want to hear, these are demand characteristics. therefore this is a limitation as it is difficult to establish laws of behaviour from such experiments as we cant be sure everyone is telling the truth about the thoughts they had.
who questioned the scientific status of Wilhelm Wundts introspection?
John Watson
what did John Watson suggest was wrong with introspection?
he said that it produced subjective data, its hard to establish general principles
scientific psychology should only be observable and measurable behaviour
this led to the behaviourist approach being created and the emergence of psychology as a science
what did Watson and skinner bring to psychology?
language
rigour
methods of science
what did the behaviourists focus on?
they focused on scientific processes and carefully controlled lab experiments which dominated psych for the next 50 years
how did the cognitive approach come about?
after the 1960s cognitive revolution, the study of mental processes is now seen as a legitimate and highly scientific area within psychology
how do cognitive psychologists look into mental processes?
as mental processes are ‘private’, the congnitive psychologists are able to make interpretations about how these work on the basis of lab tests
how did the biological approach come about?
the biological approach makes use of experimental data
researchers within this area has taken advantage of recent advances in technology to investigate physiological processes as they happen, including live activity in the brain
what scanning techniques are used in the biological approach?
EEG, MRI, CT, PET scans
what is cognitive neuroscience?
it is the study of how the brain enables the mind. the scientific study of the ways in which cognitive processes and the biological structure of the brain and nervous system work together.
