origins of psychology 3 - evaluation

Question 1

highly controlled procedure

Answer 1

• Wundt strictly controlled the
  environments where introspection took place
• controlled the stimuli and tasks that participants were asked to think about
• limited the range of responses they might give and trained his participants so that they could give the most detailed observations possible.

Question 2

introspection does not adhere to the scientific method

Answer 2

• easy to argue that Introspection is not a scientific/valid way of measuring behavior
  as it is based on thought and emotion which is potentially outside conscious
  awareness and therefore inaccessible through the methods used
• participant observations were subject to bias = participants revealing their
  own private subjective experience.
• These also could not be replicated and were
  therefore seen as unreliable.

Question 3

introspection has had a useful contribution

Answer 3

• Recent research has used methods of introspection as
  a way of making “happiness” and other emotions a measurable phenomenon. Wundt’s

introduction of the scientific method to Psychology has paved the way for controlled
empirical research used in the Behaviourist and Biological approaches and Wundt’s use of
introspection inspired others to apply it to more complex mental processes, such as learning,
language and emotionthe study of mental processes e.g. by cognitive psychologists.
Therefore the concept still has some useful application to Psychology today.