The Origins of Psychology Flashcards
What is psychology?
The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context.
What is introspection?
The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations.
Who opened the first lab dedicated to psychology?
Wundt
Where was the first lab of psychology opened?
Leipzig, Germany
When was the first lab dedicated to psychology opened?
1879
What was Wundt’s aim?
Document and describe the nature of human consciousness.
What was Wundt’s pioneering method called?
Introspection
What is the way Wundt isolated the structure of consciousness also known as?
Structuralism
Would Wundt’s methods and techniques be regarded as scientific today? Why?
Yes, all introspections were recorded under controlled conditions with the same stimulus every time. There were also standardised instructions.
What was the stimulus in Wundt’s introspection?
A ticking metronome.
Standardised instructions were issued, what does this mean?
The procedure could be easily replicated every single time.
Why was Wundt’s work significant?
Marked the separation of modern scientific psychology from its broader philosophical roots.
What is science?
A means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation. The aim is to discover general laws.
Strength of Wundt’s methods?
Would be classed as scientific today due to controlled lab environment and standardised procedure. Could be considered as a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology that were still to come.
Weakness of Wundt’s methods?
Some aspects are not considered scientific today. He relied on self-report data about ‘private’ mental processes - subjective and may have not told the truth. Thoughts would not have been same every time- hard to establish a general law. Early studies were naive and did not meet scientific enquiry.
Who rejected introspection and why?
John B. Watson- he argued it was subjective and varied from person to person.
According to behaviourists, what should psychology study?
Phenomena that can be observed and measured.
What did B.F. Skinner bring into psychology?
Language and rigour of the natural sciences.
What do behaviorists focus on?
Learning and closely controlled lab studies - these will dominate psychology for the next few decades.
What happened in the 1960s following the cognitive revolution?
The study of mental processes was seen as legitimate in psychology.
What are the problems with mental processes and how do psychologists get around this?
Mental processes are private however cognitive psychologists are able to make inferences about how these work on the basis of tests conducted in controlled environments.
What did the biological approach introduce to psychology in the 1990s? Such as?
Technological advances- recording brain activity, using scanning techniques such as the fMRI and EEG, and advanced genetic research.
A strength of modern psychology?
It can claim to be scientific. It has the same aims as the natural sciences. Many approaches rely on scientific methods e.g., lab studies. Psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline.
One problem with modern psychology?
Not all approaches use scientific methods. The humanistic approach is anti- scientific and is only concerned with subjective experience. The psychodynamic approach uses cases studies- there are problems with these. Is a scientific approach able to study human experience?
