Origins Of Psychology And Wundt

Question 1

Early influences in psychology

Answer 1

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650): suggested that the mind and body are independent of each other.
John Locke (1632 - 1704): proposed empirism, the idea that all experience can be obtained through the sense, and that human beings inherit neither knowledge nor instincts.
Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882): human and animal behaviour has changed over successive generations, so that the individuals with stronger, more adaptive genes survive and reproduce, and the individuals with weaker genes do not.

Question 2

Birth of psychology - Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 2

1879 Wundt established the first- ever laboratory entirely dedicated to psychological inquiry in Leipzig, Germany. Widely regarded as the birth of psychology as a distinct scientific discipline. Wundt work was significant as it marked the beginning of scientific psychology so he is widely known as the ‘father of psychology’.

Question 3

Structuralism

Answer 3

Wundt particularly interested in the structure of perception and sensation, so his research was called structuralism - an attempt to uncover tre hidden structures of the mind by describing it in terms of its most simplistic definable components. It’s use of an experimental methods to find the ‘building blocks’ of thoughts.

Question 4

Introspection

Answer 4

Wundt’s primary method of investigation was a technique called introspection Latin for ‘looking into’ basically to examine your own thought processes and describe them. Wundt used the scientific method when carrying out introspection. it was a pioneering technique training individuals to carefully observe conscious thoughts, feelings, and sensations in response to various stimuli. The stimuli are always presented in the same order and the same instructions were issued to all participants to ensure consistency and control.

Question 5

Introspection process

Answer 5

1. Participants are trained to report conscious experiment as objectively as possible
2. Participant are asked to focus on a sensory object ( e.g. A ticking metronome)
3. Participants would systematically report their experience of the object by breaking their thoughts into separate elements; focus inward and report sensations, feelings and images.

Question 6

Emergence of psychology as a science

Answer 6

Established as a science is marked by systematic and objective measurement, aiming to uncover general laws about mental processes and behaviour through unbiased observation and experimentation. Wundt’s rigorous methods, emphasising replicable procedures and controlled conditions, laid the foundation for this scientific approach.

Question 7

Impact of Wundt’s legacy

Answer 7

• Established various psychological schools of thoughts and methodologies
• legitimised psychology as a scientific discipline emphasising controlled experimental conditions and systematic observation influenced modern psychology.
• authored one of first psychology books and first academic journal for psychological experiments
• trained physiologists across Europe spreading scientific methods