Origins Of Psychology Flashcards
Wundt
Founder (father) of psychology, set up first psych lab in 1875.
Structure of consciousness
Thoughts, images, sensations
What is introspection
the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes
Wundt’s scientific approach
Behaviour is determined (caused by something) and predictable
Rejection of introspection
- too subjective
- can’t be replicated
Subjective
based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions
Systematic
methodical, planned and replicable
Falsifiable
able to be disproven by experimental results, able to be repeated
Empiricism
the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation
Positive scientific aspects of Wundt’s research (ao3)
- introspection was conducted in a controlled lab setting
- the procedure was standardised (all participants received the same information and were tested in the same way)
Negative subjective aspects of Wundt’s research (ao3)
- introspection has potential for investigator bias as Wundt trained his participants so it could be argued that they all have similar interests in mind for the progression of the research.
- Wundt focuses a lot on mental processes that can’t be observed or replicated.
Positive Modern psychology can claim to be scientific (ao3)
- controlled lab studies are conducted to prove and test theories
- psychology has the same aims as natural sciences which is to describe, understand, predict, and control behaviour.
Negative Argument that psychology shouldn’t be scientific (ao3)
- humanism and psychodynamic approaches believe that instead of controlled research and generating general principles, we should focus on individuals and us non-scientific methods such as case studies for research.
