Section 5 : The Approaches in Psychology - The Origins of Psychology Flashcards
what is psychology
the scientific study of the mind and behaviour
what are the different schools of thought called
the approaches
what are the different approaches
behavioural, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic, humanistic
who is considered the father of experimental psychology
Wilheim Wundt
what did Wilheim Wundt do
opened an institute for experimental psychology, he separated the psychology and philosophy and focused on studying the mind in a much more structured and scientific way
what approach did Wundt use when trying to uncover what people were thinking and experiencing
Structuralist and Reductionist approach
what methods did Wundt use
introspection
what is introspection
a psychological method which involves analysing your own thoughts and feelings internally
what did Wundt use introspection for
to study sensation and percption
What are the problems of introspection
-Doesn’t explain how the mind works - not objective, relies on people describing their thoughts
-Doesn’t provide data that can be used reliably, people accounts can’t be confirmed as they report on their experiences
What is reductionism
The idea that things can be reduced to simple cause and effect processes.
What are the features that make something a science
Objectivity
Control
Predictability
Hypothesis testing
Replication
What does objectivity refer to
Scientific observations should be recorded without bias and not influenced by any other factors, or any other people
What does control refer to
Scientific observations should take place under controlled conditions
What does predictability refer to
Scientist should be able to use the results and knowledge gained from experiments to predict future behaviour
What does hypothesis testing refer to
Theories generate predictions which can be tested to either strengthen or disapprove the support for a theory
What does replication refer to
Each experiment should be able to be replicated exactly so people can have confidence in the results
Is psychology a science
Wundt’s founding of experimental psychology kicked psychology into the scientific world but there is still lots of controversy around the idea that it is a true science
What are the arguments for psychology is a science
-Allport (1974) said psychology has the same aims as science - to predict, understand and control
-Behvaiourist, cognitive and biological approaches to psychology use scientific procedures to investigate theories. Usually controlled and unbiased
What are arguments against psychology is a science
-Other approaches in psychology don’t use objective methods to study behaviour
-They use unreliable methods e.g interviews which are subjective
-hard to get a representative sample of the population for a study so results can’t be generalised reliably
-psychological experiments are open to extraneous variables such as demand characteristics which can be hard to control
What is demand characteristics
When participants try to guess the aim of the study