the origins of psychology Flashcards
what does psyche mean?what does logos mean?
mind or soul
study of
what did wundt aim to do?
systematically study mental processes such as attention and perception
what technique did he use and what did it involve?
introspection-trying to analyse how the mind works by asking people to carefully think about how they do mental tasks
example of a recent use of introspection?
mike griffins - gambling
-researchers have started using electronic devices where people rate and introspect their own happiness
what was his contribution? :) :(
:)-first people to argue scientific methods could be used to study human thinking
:(-he found introspection was unreliable as peoples reports were too subjective
what has psychology began to do?what are the two examples?
move towards increasingly scientific methods
- little alberts,observational study
- baddeley,not directly observable to an inference is made
what does control mean?
scientists aim to discover cause + effect so we can predict events,leading to emphasis on the use of experimental methods
what do objective mean?
scientific knowledge should be based on observable info rather than beliefs or opinions
what does empiricism mean?
knowledge is gained by developing theories and testing them by direct observation
why do theories need to be falseifiable
- we can’t test everyone in a theory so its always possible there are exceptions that we haven’t tested,so we can’t prove our theory
- if we do find an exception to out theory then it should be falsifiable
advantages of scientific approach?
- helps us develop treatments that are less influenced by opinions
- breaking down complex processes allows us to understand human behaviour better
- theories are constantly developing
disadvantages of the scientific approach?
- most processes aren’t directly measurable
- human behaviour may not be predictable
- studying people in controlled environments often means we don’t observe them in their natural behaviour
