Origins of Psychology

Question 1

Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those functions affecting behaviour in a given context

Question 2

Science

Answer 2

A means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation. The aim is to discover general laws

Question 3

Introspection

Answer 3

A systematic method used to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basics structures of thoughts, images and sensations

Question 4

Who created the first ever psychology lab, where and when

Answer 4

Wilhem Wundt created the first ever psychology lab in leipzig, Germany in 1879

Question 5

What was the objective of the psychology lab?

Answer 5

The objective that wudnt set himself was to document and describe the nature of human consciousness and this led to introspection

Question 6

What did introspection lead wudnt to do

Answer 6

Wudnt and his scientists recorded their own conscious thoughts, with the aim of breaking these down into parts

Question 7

What is structuralism

Answer 7

This means to isolate the structure of consciousness and break down conscious thoughts into constituent parts

Question 8

What were some scientific views on wudnts method then and now

Answer 8

Back then, many scientists saw the method as naive but today, some methods used would be seen as scientific today

Question 9

What made wudnts methods scientific

Answer 9

• all introspections were recorded under strictly controlled conditions using the same stimulus every time
• the same standardised instructions were issued to all participants which allowed the procedures to be repeated

Question 10

Who was rene Descartes and what did he suggest

Answer 10

He was a French philosopher who suggested that the mind and body are independent from each other

Question 11

What is Cartesian dualism

Answer 11

A philosophical stance which states that the mind and body are separate from each other

Question 12

Rene Descartes years

Answer 12

1596-1650

Question 13

Years john Locke

Answer 13

1632-1704

Question 14

What did john Locke suggest

Answer 14

Locke proposed empiricism which was the idea that all experiences can be obtained through senses and that human beings inherit neither knowledge nor instincts - later known as the behaviourists approach

Question 15

Psychology in the 17th-19th century

Answer 15

Psychology was a branch of philosophy

Question 16

Psychology in the 1900s

Answer 16

Sigmund freud published the interpretations of dreams and the psychodynamic approach is established

Question 17

What did Freud do for psychology

Answer 17

He emphasises the influence of the unconscious mind on behaviour, alongside development of his person centred therapy; psychosanalysis

Question 18

What did john b Watson do for psychology and in what year

Answer 18

He wrote the ‘psychology as the behaviourist views it’. And later, him and skinner contribute to the establishment of the behaviourist approach

Question 19

Psychology in the 1950s

Answer 19

Carl rogers and Abraham Maslow develop the humanistic approach

Question 20

What was the humanistic approach

Answer 20

An approach which rejected the behaviourist approach and the psychodynamic approach and suggested that human behaviour was not determined by the individual. It emphasises the importance of self determination and freewill

Question 21

What was a big turn in point for psychologists in the 1960s

Answer 21

The development of the digital computer

Question 22

When did the cognitive approach come and what was it

Answer 22

1960s - reintroduces the study of mental study of mental processes to psychology but in a much more scientific way to wudnts approach

Question 23

What other theory came around in the 1960s

Answer 23

Social learning theory

Question 24

When did the biological approach become dominant and why

Answer 24

1980s this is due to advances in technology and understanding of the brain and biological processes

Question 25

What was the difference between the cognitive approaches and the biological / behaviourists approaches

Answer 25

The cognitive approaches focus on mental processes and underlying behaviour rather than the biological / behaviourist appraoches focused on observable behaviour and biological facts

Question 26

What’s happens in the eve of the 21st century to do with psychology

Answer 26

Cognitive neuroscience emerges which brings together cognitive and biological approaches

Question 27

What was J B. Watsons problem with wudnts introspection

Answer 27

It was that it produced data that was subjective meaning that it varied greatly from person to person so it meant that it became very difficult to establish general principles. This led to the behaviourist approach being born

Question 28

What was J B. Watsons problem with wudnts introspection

Answer 28

It was that it produced data that was subjective meaning that it varied greatly from person to person

Question 29

Behaviourist approach

Answer 29

The behaviourist approach created by Watson and skinner focuses on the fact that all behaviours are learned from interaction with the environment. It states that behaviours are learned from the environment and that innate characteristics have very little influence on behaviour

Question 30

Biological approach

Answer 30

Take advantage of today’s technology and investigate physiological processes through techniques like scanning. More of a scientific approach