Origins of psychology Flashcards
Outline
Who is associated with the origins of psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt.
What is Wilhem Wundt credited as?
As being the ‘father of psychology’
Why was Wundt credited as being ‘the father of psychology’?
This was because he conducted a paradigm shift away from the philosophical study of the mind toward empirical and controlled research methods.
How did Wundt conduct a paradigm shift in psychology?
Wundt achieved this by setting up the first psychological laboratory in Liepzig, Germany, in 1879.
What was the focus of Wundts laboratory?
His laboratory focussed on experimental psychology and was designed to study the human mind.
What was the aim of introspection?
Aimed to study the mind, specifically conscious experience.
What is introspection?
Introspection is systematic analysis of ones own conscious experience of a stimulus. (Self observation of your own thoughts)
When was introspection carried out?
Introspection was carried out in the present moment, not a reflection on what had happened in the past.
Outline the process of introspection.
- Participant is presented with a stimulus e.g. a ticking metrenome.
- Participant inspects their own thoughts and reports back their own emotions, thoughts and sensations in response to the stimulus.
- Wundt was able to draw conclusions by comparing responses from the participants. This was enabled by his standardised methodology.
What is structuralism?
Analysing an experience in terms of its component parts e.g. sensations, perception and emotional reaction.
Why is introspection considered to be highly subjective?
Asking participants to self report what is going on in their mind (via self observation) is highly subjective. There is no way to independantly verify the truth behind participant claims.
Why was the work of Wilhelm Wundt beneficial?
His work paved the way for later controlled research and the study of internal mental processes e.g. by cognitive psychologists.
