Origins Of Psychology Flashcards
Define psychology?
The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those functions affecting behaviour in a given context
Define science?
Means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation. The aim is so discover general laws
Define introspection?
The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking out conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations
Who was Rene Descartes and what did he suggest?
He was a french philosopher (1596-1650) and suggested that the mind and body are independent from eachother and this became known as Descartian dualism
What did John Lock propose? (1632-1704
Empiricism, the idea that all experience can be obtained through the senses and that human beings inherit leader knowledge and instincts
What did John Locke’s view later form the basis of?
The behaviourist approach
What did Charles Darwin do?
1809-1882- developed evolutionary theory which is the notion that all human and animal behaviour has changed over successive generations so that the individuals with stronger and more adaptive genes survive and reproduce
What does Darwin’s view relate to and what did it go on to form?
Relates to survival of the fittest and led to the basis of the biological approach in psychology
When, where and why did the first psychology dedicated lab open?
Germany, 1875, try to describe the nature of human consciousness
What is it called when you isolate the structure of consciousness?
Structuralism
What did the objective of describing human consciousness become known as?
introspection - involved Wundt and his co-workers recording their own conscious thoughts
What are some strengths of Wundt’s method?
Still regarded as scientific today
Introspection was recorded in strictly controlled conditions
Same standardised instructions given to all participants (allowing procedures to be replicated)
Led to beginnings of behavioural, cognitive and biological approaches
(EOPAAS)
What was Watson’s(behaviourist) problem with introspection?
The data produced was subjective and therefore varied greatly from person to person so difficult to establish general principles
What was Watson particularly critical of?
Introspection’s focus on internal mental processes because behaviourists supported the emergence of psychology as a science.
Which two people brought the language and methods of the new natural sciences into psychology ?
Watson (1913)
Skinner (1953)
What do behaviourists focus on?
The scientific processes involved in learning as well as the careful use of controlled lab conditions (many modern psychologists still rely on the experimental method)
What happened with the cognitive approach in the 1960’s?
it developed massively and the study of mental processes is now seen as a legitimate area within psychology
How does the biological approach contribute to the emergence of psychology as a science?
Almost entirely scientific in it’s focus
Highly scientific in its methods (lab)
Makes use of experimental data by looking at live activity in the brain using sophisticated scanning techniques
What are the problems with introspection?
It doesn’t explain how the mind works,relies on people describing their thoughts and feelings which isn’t usually objective
Doesn’t provide data that can be used reliably, people are reporting on experiences (can’t be confirmed )
What did Wundt believe in ?
Reductionism - idea that things can be reduced to simple cause and effect processes
What are the arguments for psychology as a science ?
Allport (1947)- psychology has the same aims as science to predict, understand and control
Behaviourist, cognitive and biological approaches, all use scientific procedures to investigate theories - usually controlled and unbiased
What are the arguments against psychology as a science?
Some approaches in psychology don’t use objective methods, they use unreliable methods (biased)
Hard to get a representative sample of the population for a study - findings can’t be generalised
Studies often open to extraneous variables - demand characteristics - hard to control
