origins of psychology Flashcards
what makes something a science?
-controlled experimental conditions that can show cause and effect and can test hypotheses
-high standardised experiments(reliable)
-use of ivs and dvs
- objective, systematic, replicable observation.
-building, refining and falsifying, development of a scientific theory, constant testing/ refining and back to the theory.
arguments for psychology being a science?
-reliant on objective and systematic methods
- use of methods that are empirical and replicable
- works always being replicated so poor theories are refined or abandoned quickly.
arguments against psychology being a science?
- concentrates on objectivity and control tells little about how people act in natural environments
- unobservable cant be measured with any degree of accuracy
- ## not all psychologists share the view that human behaviour can be explored using scientific methods
what did allport (1947) combine in his eclectic apporach to the study of psychology?
the scientific methods of behaviourism and freudian concepts of unconscious motivation
who was the first person to be referred to as a psychologist and what did he study?
wilhelm wundt- study of view of psychology as a conscious experience using introspection
Wilhelm Wundt: alive years, nationality, name of book, publishing year?
- (1832-1920)
-german - principles of physiological psychology
-published 1873
what was Wundts view of psychology?
- scientific study of conscious experience
- he believed in two goals of psychology; identify components of consciousness; identify how those components combined to make our conscious experience
what is introspection?
-wundts referred to it as “internal perception”
-process in which someone examines their own conscious experience as objectively as possible.
- makes the human mind like any other aspect of nature scientists observe
what is wundts version of introspection?
-used very specific experimental conditions
- external stimulus designed to produce scientifically observable experience (one thats repeatable) of the mind.
whats the first requirement of wundts introspection?
use of “trained” or practiced observers.
The observers could immediately observe and report a reaction
whats the second requirement of wundts introspection?
use of repeatable stimuli that always produced the same experience in the subject.
This allowed the subject to expect the inner reaction and be fully attentive to it.
what was the need for requirements in Wundts introspection?
he wanted to eliminate interpretation of internal experiments
it also countered the argument of there’s no way to know that an individual is observing their mind or consciousness accurately, since it can’t be seen by anyone else.
what is structuralism and what did wundt do to investigate it?
-the attempt to understand the structure and characteristics of the mind, what Wundt did is known as structuralism lost popularity in early 1900s
- wundt established his psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879.
whats an example of an experiment wundt conducted in his lab
- reaction time, A student would receive a stimulus such as a light, image or sound.
The subject would be told to push a button in response to the stimulus, and their reaction time would be measured to one-thousandth of a second.
when and why did structuralism decline?
despite Wundt’s efforts to train individuals in the process of introspection there was very little agreement on it. structuralism effectively died when Wundt’s student, Edward Titchener, died in 1927.
