Origins of Psychology Flashcards
Who was the geezer cited as the first founder of psychology?
What did he believe about psychology?
- Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
- Behaviour & human mind could be studied scientifically
Where & when did he create the first experimental psychology lab?
What was it called?
- Liepzig, Germany (1879)
- The institute of Experimental psychology
What was Wundt’s approach influenced by?
What was the aim of this?
What was this approach called?
- Biologists
- Philosophers
- Medical experts
- Aiming to study structure of the human mind, thoughts & sensations & break them down into basic elements
- Structuralism
What was the key technique Wundt used in the structuralism approach?
What does this technique involve?
- Introspection
- Observing & describing inner mental & emotional states as a method of data collection
- Introspection allows us to observe & report on inner world of thoughts & feelings
- Can be measured by intensity, duration & quality
What did Wundt’s approach to studying mental & emotional processes rely upon?
What does this mean?
What was this process shown through?
- Empiricism
- Knowledge & abilities come from observation & experience alone vs innate (born with)
- Empiricist approach argues behaviour is determined & predicted
- Scientific process
What is the scientific process & what’s the model’s name?
(4 parts to model)
- Hypothetico-Deductive model
- Observation is made
- Theory & hypothesis is developed
- Hypothesis is tested using empiricism (can be refined/modified)
- Results analysed to evaluate whether hypothesis is valid or not
What could Wundt’s work also be characterised by?
- Features of science (FROGS)
- Falsifiable
- Replicable
- Objective
- General laws
- Systematic (evidence/recordings are carried out orderly using direct observations/measurements)
AO3 Origins
Useful general laws?
(Hunter 2003)
P - Wundt & introspection led to useful general laws
E - Although Wundt struggled to create universal general laws, modern researchers use introspection more successfully
E - Hunter (2003) used introspection in teenagers to identify what makes them happy/unhappy during the day
- Through teenagers questioning their thoughts they were able to identify when energies were focused on challenging tasks, they were more upbeat
L - Means Wundt’s work made psychology become recognised as scientific subject
AO3 Origins
Highly subjective?
P - Introspection can be highly subjective
E - By its nature, introspection introduces personal opinion & belief (subjective)
- Trying to make general laws about causes of behaviour is limited
E - Lack of numerical data limits the statistical analysis that could take place if measures like FMRI scans were used observe changes in the brain
L - So introspection lacks scientific rigour & is not fully open to observation
AO3 Origins
Limitations of Wundt’s scientific approach?
P - There are limitations of Wundt’s scientific approach
E - Introspection activities take place in artificial environments & so lack ecological validity
E - This is similarly issue with other methods measuring thoughts, intentions & behaviours in a scientific
- There needs to be an element of control to make it scientific, taking away from the realism of the task
L - Implies by using scientific approach we cannot fully study all human experience & behaviour
AO3 Origins
Influential in psychology?
P - Wundt’s research has been influential in psychology
E - Wundt’s use of introspection & Wundt’s use of inner mental processes can be seen to have influenced the cognitive approach to psychology
E - For example by examining behavioural processes in more detail rather than focusing on philosophy he pulled psychology onto more scientific ground
L - Therefore Wundt established features of science used in his institute, now used today in cognitive psychological research
