Psychology 1- Approaching Psychology: Topic 1 Introduction Flashcards
What are 2 features of Applied Research?
Applied Research
- The starting point
for applied research is usually a practical problem - The aim is
to provide an answer, both by conducting new studies and by
drawing on pre-existing understanding, which relates to the
problem area.
What are 2 features of Fundamental/ Pure Research? Can you explain the difference between Pure and Applied?
Fundamental or pure research
- Is undertaken for its own sake, regardless of whether or not the
knowledge can be applied. - Sometimes this kind
of research can appear rather remote from everyday experience.
3.Pure research, however, always has a problem or interesting
question about human behaviour as its starting point, although
sometimes the question can be difficult to spot.
What are 5 key points of the Process approach?
- It is likely to appear less ‘relevant’.
- Psychologists who take
this approach focus on processes such as memory, reasoning or
learning. - They usually study such processes separately and in the
simplest form to which they can be reduced. Some of the research,
if viewed out of context, can appear distinctly strange. - The idea, however, is that by studying processes
such as memory in isolation and reduced to the performance of
simple tasks, one will gain an understanding that can gradually be
built back up to explain more complex pieces of behaviour. - Although the studies themselves may not seem relevant, the overall
purpose clearly is.
What are 2 points of the Person approach? Can you contrast to Process?
- Focuses on the whole person
- Usually involves studying people performing behaviours that
are recognisably human and ‘relevant’.
When did Psychology emerge, what was established and through which technique?
The emergence of psychology is usually dated from 1879, when
Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental psychology
laboratory in order to investigate the working of the mind through
a technique called introspection – observing and analysing the
elements that make up mental processes.
What is Introspection?
Examination of one’s own thought processes.
What was Wundt’s aim and that of early psychologists?
Wundt deliberately set out to make experimental psychology an
independent discipline and he declared his aim was ‘to mark out a
new domain of science’.
Psychology therefore staked a claim to areas of enquiry that had previously been seen as parts
of either philosophy or biology
What did he research, how, where and in what environment?
Wundt and his associates focused their investigation on conscious mental processes.
This was done in Wundt’s University room in a controlled environment
Researchers would report back to him what they had experienced and their analysis of that experience
What were the disadvantages of Wundt’s research?
Wundt found these reports were not verifiable as the experiences were too subjective, therefore his research was unreliable
How did Philosophy influence Wundt and early psychologists?
1 of the enduring questions of philosophy concerns the relationship between conscious mental experiences and physical events (the mind and the body)
In his time, they believed thtå while mental experiences and physical events occur simultaneously, they do not interact or influence each other
Such a position legitimised the study of mental experiences on their own
What is Empiricism and who was it inherited from?
Empiricism is the notion that people are born with mids like blank sheets of paper; no knowledge is innate. It comes from information acquired through the senses, and reflection on this information
It was inherited from the doctrine of philosophy, this idea was first put forward by the 18th century philosopher Locke
Why did introspection then make sense?
Since new knowledge can only be acquired empirically, therefore, to early psychologists, observations of private mental experiences obtained through introspection, constituted perfectly respectable empirical evidence
What is the disadvantage of empiricism?
Unfortunately, because such observations are subjective,
disagreements between observers cannot be resolved.
What was the legacy of Biological and Physiological origins on early Psychology?
The legacy of the biological and physiological origins means that many Psychologists apply the scientific method to their work and use Empirical methods to test their hypothesis
What did some Psychologist argue about focusing on the scientific aspects of Psychology?
Some are not focused as mcuh on the scientific aspects of their work. They argue that there will always be an element of subjectivity, as witnessed by Wundt
What was the result?
The result of these varying viewpoints on whether psychology can be truly scientific, is the different methodologies used by Psychologists to test behaviour.
These viewpoints are called approaches
What are the 5 different approaches and what do they focus on?
- Biological Approach (influence of physiology on behaviour)
- Cognitive ( influence of thought processes)
- Learning Approach (Impact which those around us have on our behaviour)
- Psychodynamic ( Influence of childhood experiences, they say hat maybe an earlier event has resulted in a defence mechanism later in life- to do with the unconscious mind)
- Humanistic Approach (Influence of the individual, has a respect for individuality and tries not to reduce people’s behaviour down to general laws e.g. the need for fulfillment)
what does Verifiable mean?
Other people
with the expectation of producing the same results can repeat the
studies. If the same results are not obtained, then it should be
possible to uncover the source of the difference.
What conditions are needed for research to be verifiable?
- The study must be carried out and reported with precision. Just
as a chemist in a laboratory would not simply add an
unmeasured dash of dilute hydrochloric acid to a mixture in a
test tube, so a psychologist must be as precise as possible in the
conditions for a given study. - The data must be objective rather than subjective. Objective
measures are not influenced by personal feelings, opinions,
biases or preferences and their accuracy can be examined.
