Origins of psychology Flashcards
Who was the first person to call themselves a psychologist?
Wundt, the father of psychology
Where did Wundt establish the first lab in psychology?
Leipzig, Germany in 1897
Where did Wundt’s ideas stem from?
philosophical roots
What was Wundt’s laboratory designated to?
To aid the scientific study of psychological inquiry using controlled conditions that could facilitate replication of results
What is introspection?
The first systematic and experimental attempt to study the mind/mental processes by breaking down conscious awareness into basic structures of reflections, thoughts, images and sensations.
What did Wundt want to focus on with introspection?
Perception and structuralism
Structuralism
theory that the structure of conscious experience could be understood by analysing the basic elements of thoughts and sensations
How did introspection work?
recorded under strictly controlled conditions in a lab using the same stimuli, same reaction and same instruction given to participants, they had to focus on present experiences
What are the disadvantages of Introspection and psychology as a science?
- Criticised by Watson (1913) as he believed introspection gives subjective data which varies between people, so it’s not objective or very reliable.
- Wilson claims that psychologists have little knowledge about some behaviour and attitudes that exist outside of consciousness and introspection can’t access these
- fails to explain HOW the mind works and the processes of thinking about a particular topic/doing an activity. Psychologists can’t see how thoughts are generated and introspection can’t be properly observed
What are the advantages of introspection?
+ Helped develop behaviourism and cognitive approach
+ Scientific with high level of control of variables
+ Establishes what causes behaviour making it easy to predict
+ Used in therapy in modern society
+ advocates for reductionism and consciousness can be broken down to basic elements
