Origins of psychology

Question 1

What is psychology defined as?

Answer 1

The scientific study of the mind and behaviour

Question 2

Why is psychology considered a science?

Answer 2

It uses a structured and scientific approach to test theories about behaviour and mental processes

Question 3

What are the five features that make something a science?

Answer 3

Objectivity Control Predictability Hypothesis testing Replication

Question 4

Who is considered the father of experimental psychology?

Answer 4

Wilhelm Wundt

Question 5

What did Wundt do in 1879?

Answer 5

He opened an Institute for Experimental Psychology in Germany

Question 6

What approach did Wundt use to study the mind?

Answer 6

A structuralist and reductionist approach

Question 7

What method did Wundt use to uncover what people were thinking and experiencing?

Answer 7

Introspection

Question 8

What is introspection?

Answer 8

A psychological method that involves analysing your own thoughts and feelings internally

Question 9

Why did Wundt use introspection?

Answer 9

To explore the inside workings of the brain by studying and describing reactions to set stimuli

Question 10

What were participants asked to do during introspection?

Answer 10

Describe their experiences when presented with a set of stimuli and explain their reaction times

Question 11

What were the two key goals of Wundt’s work?

Answer 11

To analyse the structure of the human mind and measure its parts

Question 12

What are two problems with introspection?

Answer 12

It does not explain how the mind works and it is not entirely objective

Question 13

What does reductionism assume?

Answer 13

That things can be reduced to simple cause-and-effect processes

Question 14

How did Wundt apply reductionism?

Answer 14

By believing that the human mind could be broken down into smaller measurable parts

Question 15

What are the arguments for psychology as a science?

Answer 15

It uses scientific procedures to investigate theories and has the same aims as science to predict understand and control

Question 16

What are the arguments against psychology as a science?

Answer 16

Some approaches in psychology don’t use objective methods findings are hard to reliably generalise and experiments are subject to extraneous variablesQuestion

Question 17

What did Wundt separate psychology from?

Answer 17

Philosophy

Question 18

What did Wundt focus on in his experiments?

Answer 18

Studying the mind in a much more structured and scientific way

Question 19

What did Wundt believe about human experiences?

Answer 19

They could be broken down into their basic components

Question 20

What does structuralism involve?

Answer 20

Breaking down human thoughts and experiences into their basic components

Question 21

What is the idea of reductionism?

Answer 21

The belief that things can be reduced to simple cause-and-effect processes

Question 22

What does reductionism help with in psychology?

Answer 22

To measure and study processes scientifically

Question 23

What are the limitations of introspection?

Answer 23

It does not explain how the mind works and is not entirely objective

Question 24

Why can introspection findings not be considered reliable?

Answer 24

Because people describe their thoughts and feelings which are unobservable

Question 25

What were the methods Wundt used classified as?

Answer 25

Experimental psychology

Question 26

What is the scientific method used for in psychology?

Answer 26

To test theories about behaviour and mental processes

Question 27

What do controlled conditions ensure in psychology experiments?

Answer 27

That they are unbiased and scientifically tested

Question 28

Why is it difficult to make psychology a true science?

Answer 28

Because of the use of unreliable methods and extraneous variables

Question 29

What are extraneous variables in psychology experiments?

Answer 29

Factors such as demand characteristics which can affect results

Question 30

Why is generalisation hard in psychological studies?

Answer 30

Because it is very hard to get a representative sample of the population

Question 31

Why do psychologists use scientific procedures?

Answer 31

To ensure their studies are controlled and unbiasedQuestion

Question 32

What did Wundt aim to do by separating psychology from philosophy?

Answer 32

To study the mind in a more structured and scientific way

Question 33

What did Wundt's work influence?

Answer 33

The behavioural cognitive and biological approaches in psychology

Question 34

What does the structured and scientific approach of psychology help achieve?

Answer 34

To uncover what people were thinking and experiencing

Question 35

What was Wundt's method of introspection used to study?

Answer 35

Reactions to a set of stimuli and reaction times

Question 36

How did Wundt's work contribute to modern psychology?

Answer 36

It laid the foundation for experimental methods used in psychology

Question 37

Why can introspection findings vary?

Answer 37

Because people describe their experiences differently

Question 38

What is one advantage of Wundt's approach?

Answer 38

It enabled psychology to influence other areas such as behavioural approaches

Question 39

Why is introspection criticised for being subjective?

Answer 39

Because it relies on personal thoughts and feelings which are unobservable

Question 40

What does objectivity in science ensure?

Answer 40

Observations are not influenced by other factors or people

Question 41

Why is control important in scientific observations?

Answer 41

To make sure studies take place under controlled conditions

Question 42

What does predictability in science refer to?

Answer 42

The ability to predict future behaviour based on scientific results

Question 43

Why is replication important in science?

Answer 43

To ensure experiments can be repeated to confirm results

Question 44

What is hypothesis testing in science?

Answer 44

The process of generating predictions and testing them to strengthen or disprove a theory

Question 45

What did Allport argue about psychology?

Answer 45

That it has the same aims as science to predict understand and control

Question 46

What is one key argument against psychology as a science?

Answer 46

Many approaches use unreliable methods such as interviews

Question 47

Why can findings in psychology sometimes lack generalisability?

Answer 47

Because representative samples of the population are hard to achieve

Question 48

What are demand characteristics in psychology?

Answer 48

Clues participants pick up that may reveal the aim of a study

Question 49

What issue arises from extraneous variables in psychology experiments?

Answer 49

They can make it hard to control studies effectively