Origins of psychology Flashcards
What is psychology defined as?
The scientific study of the mind and behaviour
Why is psychology considered a science?
It uses a structured and scientific approach to test theories about behaviour and mental processes
What are the five features that make something a science?
Objectivity Control Predictability Hypothesis testing Replication
Who is considered the father of experimental psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt
What did Wundt do in 1879?
He opened an Institute for Experimental Psychology in Germany
What approach did Wundt use to study the mind?
A structuralist and reductionist approach
What method did Wundt use to uncover what people were thinking and experiencing?
Introspection
What is introspection?
A psychological method that involves analysing your own thoughts and feelings internally
Why did Wundt use introspection?
To explore the inside workings of the brain by studying and describing reactions to set stimuli
What were participants asked to do during introspection?
Describe their experiences when presented with a set of stimuli and explain their reaction times
What were the two key goals of Wundt’s work?
To analyse the structure of the human mind and measure its parts
What are two problems with introspection?
It does not explain how the mind works and it is not entirely objective
What does reductionism assume?
That things can be reduced to simple cause-and-effect processes
How did Wundt apply reductionism?
By believing that the human mind could be broken down into smaller measurable parts
What are the arguments for psychology as a science?
It uses scientific procedures to investigate theories and has the same aims as science to predict understand and control
What are the arguments against psychology as a science?
Some approaches in psychology don’t use objective methods findings are hard to reliably generalise and experiments are subject to extraneous variablesQuestion
What did Wundt separate psychology from?
Philosophy
What did Wundt focus on in his experiments?
Studying the mind in a much more structured and scientific way
What did Wundt believe about human experiences?
They could be broken down into their basic components
What does structuralism involve?
Breaking down human thoughts and experiences into their basic components
What is the idea of reductionism?
The belief that things can be reduced to simple cause-and-effect processes
What does reductionism help with in psychology?
To measure and study processes scientifically
What are the limitations of introspection?
It does not explain how the mind works and is not entirely objective
Why can introspection findings not be considered reliable?
Because people describe their thoughts and feelings which are unobservable
What were the methods Wundt used classified as?
Experimental psychology
What is the scientific method used for in psychology?
To test theories about behaviour and mental processes
What do controlled conditions ensure in psychology experiments?
That they are unbiased and scientifically tested
Why is it difficult to make psychology a true science?
Because of the use of unreliable methods and extraneous variables
What are extraneous variables in psychology experiments?
Factors such as demand characteristics which can affect results
Why is generalisation hard in psychological studies?
Because it is very hard to get a representative sample of the population
Why do psychologists use scientific procedures?
To ensure their studies are controlled and unbiasedQuestion
What did Wundt aim to do by separating psychology from philosophy?
To study the mind in a more structured and scientific way
What did Wundt’s work influence?
The behavioural cognitive and biological approaches in psychology
What does the structured and scientific approach of psychology help achieve?
To uncover what people were thinking and experiencing
What was Wundt’s method of introspection used to study?
Reactions to a set of stimuli and reaction times
How did Wundt’s work contribute to modern psychology?
It laid the foundation for experimental methods used in psychology
Why can introspection findings vary?
Because people describe their experiences differently
What is one advantage of Wundt’s approach?
It enabled psychology to influence other areas such as behavioural approaches
Why is introspection criticised for being subjective?
Because it relies on personal thoughts and feelings which are unobservable
What does objectivity in science ensure?
Observations are not influenced by other factors or people
Why is control important in scientific observations?
To make sure studies take place under controlled conditions
What does predictability in science refer to?
The ability to predict future behaviour based on scientific results
Why is replication important in science?
To ensure experiments can be repeated to confirm results
What is hypothesis testing in science?
The process of generating predictions and testing them to strengthen or disprove a theory
What did Allport argue about psychology?
That it has the same aims as science to predict understand and control
What is one key argument against psychology as a science?
Many approaches use unreliable methods such as interviews
Why can findings in psychology sometimes lack generalisability?
Because representative samples of the population are hard to achieve
What are demand characteristics in psychology?
Clues participants pick up that may reveal the aim of a study
What issue arises from extraneous variables in psychology experiments?
They can make it hard to control studies effectively
