the origins of psychology Flashcards
What 7 dates did Wilhelm Wundt’s timeline of the origins of psychology include?
1879, 1900, 1913, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 2000.
What happened in 1879?
Wundt opened the first experimental psychology laboratory in Germany. Psychology began to emerge as it’s own discipline (before this psychology was only regarded as an experimental branch within philosophy).
What happened in 1900?
Freud established the psychodynamic approach. He highlighted the importance of the unconscious mind on behavior and developed his own therapy - psychoanalysis.
What happened in 1913?
Pavlov and Skinner established the behaviorist approach. They criticized Freud and Wundt. They believed all behavior’s is learnt and that psychologists should only be interested in observable behavior’s.
What happened in the 1950s?
Rogers and Maslow developed the humanistic approach, rejecting views put forward by both the behaviorists and psychodynamic approaches, emphasizing the importance of free will by attempting to understand the whole person.
What happened in the 1960s?
Cognitive approach emerged with the introduction of the computer. This approach was interested in studying mental process. Cognitive psychologists believe that we can make inferences about how the mind works , based on results from laboratory experiments.
What happened in the 1980s?
The biological approach began to surface as the dominant approach, because of advances in tech e.g. brain scans that allow psychologists to have an increased understanding of the human brain.
What happened in 2000?
Cognitive neuroscience emerged, bringing together the biological and cognitive approaches. This approach investigates how biological structures influence mental states.
Who was considered the father of experimental psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920).
What did Wundt’s approach become known as? Why?
Structuralism - he used scientific methods to study human consciousness by breaking its structure down into smaller components e.g. sensations and perceptions.
What technique did Wundt develop? What is this?
Introspection - “looking into” - a systematic analysis of ones conscious experience.
Experiences are analysed in terms of their component parts.
These parts are like sensation, emotional reactions and feelings.
How would Wundt train his ppts so that they could give detailed observations from their introspection?
He strictly controlled the environment, where introspection took place, including: stimuli (images or sounds) and tasks (description of their perception or emotions).
What was the information obtained from Wundt’s ppts used for?
To shed light on the processes involved in human consciousness.
What are empirical methods? What did Wundt show about this method?
Using observable evidence to draw conclusions and propose theories. He showed that it could be applied to mental processes.
How is the cycle of the scientific investigation perpetuated (carried out)?
By psychologists testing their concepts, making objective observations which can be replicated and then refining their theories according to the findings, before testing again.
