Origins of Psychology Flashcards
introspection
1st systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations
psychology
the scientific study of the mind , behaviour and experience
science
a means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation. The aim is to discover general laws
Wundt’s lab
1879 - Wundt opened the 1st lab dedicated entirely to psychological enquiry in Germany
Wundt’s work marked the beginning of scientific psychology
Wundt’s aim was to try and analyse the nature of human consciousness and so represent the first systematic attempt to study the mind under controlled conditions
his method became known as introspection
standardised preocedures
- one of Wundt’s main objectives was to develop theories about mental processes - language and perception
- him and his co-workers recorded their experiences of various stimuli they were presented with - such as objects and sounds
- they would divide their observations into 3 categories - thoughts, images and sensations
e.g. pp’s may be given a ticking metronome and would report their thoughts, images and sensations
structuralism
isolating the structure of consciousness is called structuralism
- the stimuli Wundt and his co-workers experiences were always presented in the same order and same instructions were used with all pp’s
EVALUATION STRENGTH - scientific
One strength of Wundt’s work is that some of his methods were systematic and well-controlled.
All introspections were recorded in the controlled environment of the lab, this ensured that possible extraneous variables were not a factor. Procedures were standardised so that all pp’s were given the same information and were tested in the same way.
this suggests that Wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology such as the behaviourist approach .
EVALUATION LIMITATION - subjective data
One limitation is that other aspects of Wundt’s research would be considered unscientific today.
Wundt relied on the pp’s self reporting their mental processes. this data is subjective (influenced by perspective). PP’s 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.
1900s behaviourists
beginning of 20th century, the value of introspection was questioned - especially by Watson
- problem was that introspection produced subjective data so it was difficult to establish general laws
-Watson and Skinner proposed that truly scientific psychology should only study phenomena that can be observed objectively and measured
- so behaviourists focused on what they could see and used controlled experiments
1950s Cognitive approach
cognitive psychologist likened the mind to a computer for example the multi store model
the cog approach ensured that the study of the mind was legitimate and highly scientific
1980s Biological approach
researchers take advantage of new technology to investigate physiological processes as they happen
for example fMRI and EEG to study live activity of the brain
and new methods such as genetic testing allow us to better understand relationships between genes and behaviour
EVALUATION MODERN PSYCHOLOGY strength
One strength is that 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.
the learning approaches, cog approach and biological approach all rely on use of scientific methods . e.g. lab studies to investigate theories in a controlled and unbiased way
this suggests that throughout the 20th century and beyond, psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline
SUBJECTIVE DATA - LIMITATION
One limitation with psychology is that not all approaches use objective methods
the humanistic approach rejects the scientific approach, preferring to focus on individual experiences and subjective experiences
the psychodynamic approach makes use of the case study method which does not take a representative sample
finally, humans are active participants in research, responding for example demand characteristics
therefore, a scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience may not always be desirable or possible
Paradigm
philosopher - Kuhn said that any science should have a paradigm:
a set of principles, assumptions / methods which all people working within it agree on
he said that psychology is not a science as there is not a paradigm and more of an internal disagreement
