Origins of Psychology Flashcards
1
Q
what is a science
A
- discovering the physical and natural world systematically and objectively using empirical methods
- like observation and experiments
1
Q
what is psychology?
A
- scientific study on the brain and behaviour
- started 150 years ago
2
Q
who is wudnt?
A
- ‘the father of experimental psychology’
3
Q
what did wundt want to change?
A
- to use empirical scientific research techniques used by physical sciences to study the mind
3
Q
what was before wundt?
A
- study of the mind limited to medicine and philosophy
4
Q
what did wundt do in 1870?
A
- set up the first scientific psychological lab
- institute of experimental psychology
- first guy to call himself a psychologist
- first psychology book
- first academic journal on psychological research
5
Q
what was wundts research called?
A
- structuralism
- attempt to uncover hidden structure of the mind
- describing it in terms of its simplest definable components
- focussed on structure of sensation and perception
6
Q
which scientific method did wundt use?
A
- technique called introspection
6
Q
what is the process of introspection?
A
- report conscious experiences as objectively as possible
- focus on a sensory object e.g. ticking metronome
- systematically report their experiences of the object by breaking down their thoughts into elements
- they would focus inward reporting images sensations and feelings
7
Q
is introspection a direct observation of mental processes?
A
- introspection isnt a direct observation of mental processes
- made inferences= assumptions
- about structure of internal mental processes based off observed behaviour
8
Q
Evaluating wundt: strength, highly scientific
A
- highly scientific bc of controlled experiments
- systematic approach= general theories on mental processes
- researchers can replicate findings
- scientific methodology= inspiration for scientific psychologists like behaviourists
8
Q
Evaluating wundt: strength/ limitation, subjective method but still used to study unobservable behaviour
A
- introspection= subjective and not truly scientific
- pp cant be relied on to report their mental states because of:
- biased, mistaken, demand characteristics
- BUT introspection remains relevant for studying unobservable mental processes
9
Q
Evaluating wundt: limitation, inferences can be mistaken
A
- inferences made on mental states can be mistaken
- behaviourists= rejected the study of internal mental processes
- only study fully observable S-R mechanisms= more reliable results
- behaviourism has more scientific principles
9
Q
Evaluation: strength, inferences influenced cognitive psychologists
A
- researchers ask pp to complete tasks in experimental conditions
- their ability to do the task is used to make inferences on their internal mental processes
10
Q
Evaluating wudnt: strength, first to suggest behaviour is determined
A
- found behaviour was determined so have a cause that can be studied objectively
- historically mental disorders had a religious or spiritual explanation
- researchers now used scientifically deterministic arguments= biological treatments
