origins of psychology Flashcards
when and where did Wundt develop the Institute of Experimental Psychology?
1879 - University of Leipzig
what did Wundt focus on?
aspects of the mind that could be observed/measured in controlled conditions
what is reductionism in simple terms?
cause + effect
what method did Wundt use?
introspection
what is introspection?
investigating internal events by examining conscious thoughts/feelings
name 1 issue with introspection
may not be reliable - we can’t confirm people’s feelings/experiences
what is Rene Descartes’ theory?
Cartesian dualism - mind + body are independent from each other
what is Charles Darwin’s theory?
evolution - human + animal behaviour changes over generations
what is John Locke’s theory?
humans inherit neither knowledge nor instincts + all experience is obtained through the senses (behaviourism?)
what are the 5 features of a science?
objectivity
control
predictability
hypothesis testing
replicability
what is the scientific method?
use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic + replicable
furthermore, formulation of hypotheses based on methods
what is the assumption of determinisim?
all behaviour is seen as being caused
what is the assumption of predictability?
if behaviour is determined, it should be possible to predict how humans would behave in different conditions
state 2 reasons for psychology as a science
psychology has the same aims as science (predict, understand control)
most approaches to psychology all use scientific procedures to investigate (controlled + unbiased)
why can’t findings be reliably generalised?
it’s hard to get a representative sample of the population
why can some approaches be unreliable?
they don’t use objective methods
name 1 other reason against psychology as a science
experiments can be open to extraneous variables, which can be hard to control
