paper 2 - approaches Flashcards
define introspection
a scientific and systematic method of collecting data by observing the inner mental state to infer general theories about mind processes eg. perception or memory
who was Wilhem Wundt (1832-1920)
- the first person to call himself a experimental psychologist
- believed the human mind could be studied scientifically and with strictly controlled experiments in his lab (Germany)
what did Wundt mean by introspection
He used introspection to study mental processes as memory and used the data to infer about theories
- showed participants a controlled stimulus eg. hard puzzle and recorded data ( body language and participants described inner feelings and thoughts) to infer and gain insight
describe the introspection we carried out in class
showing a student a hard maths equation and recording results to gain insight into mental processes
why did Wundts approach fail
not reliable to reproduce by other scientists
what are the weaknesses of introspection
1) results not reliable to reproduce by other scientists
2) we can not use this method on everyone eg. children, people with learning difficulties
3) ‘certain attitudes exist out of conscious awareness, self reports would not uncover and this challenges the value’ ~ Nisbett and Wilson (1977)
what are the strengths of introspection
can be paired with another approach to give more reliable and accurate result
- used by hunter (2003) to study teenage happiness throughout the day and gave researchers a way of understanding more clearly the momentary conditions that affect happiness
define paradigm
shared set of assumptions and beliefs about how behaviour is being studied and explained
define paradigm shift
change in a paradigm/ thinking
name 5 paradigm shifts within psychology
philosophical approach - Rene Descartes and lock
scientific - Darwin and Wundt
psychoanalysis - freud (1900) ‘talking cure’ not scientific
ideas of self ,philosophical - Rogers
cognitive neuroscience - modern day fMRI
define science
knowledge about the natural world based on facts learnt through experiments and observations (empiricism)
what are the major features of science (ocphre)
objectivity control predictability hypothesis testing replicability empiricism
define objectivity
observations and experiments should be unaffected by bias
- based on external facts
- universal
- absolutism
define control
must be able to control variables
define predictability
can the results of an experiment be used to say what will happen in the future