The Origins Of Psychology

Question 1

Wundt

Answer 1

Aimed to systematically study mental processes
He investigated mental processes using a technique called introspection.
Wundt was aiming to break down our mental processes into their component parts to find out the structure of mental processes (structrialism)
He did this in a very controlled manner. Eg he trained his co workers very carefully

Question 2

Introspection

Answer 2

Involves trying to analyse how the mind works by asking people to think carefully about how they do mental tasks

Question 3

Positives of Wundt’s contribution to psychology

Answer 3

One of the first people to argue that scientific methods could be used to study human thinking

His attempt to study mental processes by gathering and analysing data helped to separate psychology from philosophy

Question 4

Negatives of Wundts contribution to psychology

Answer 4

Wundt found that introspection was unreliable as people’s reports on their experiences were too subjective. Therefore introspection is no longer the main method of gathering info in psychology

Many mental processes occur automatically and we are not aware of exactly how we are recalling information or how we are paying attention

Question 5

Why do theories need to be falsifiable in science?

Answer 5

Because we can’t test everyone then it is always possible that there are exceptions to our they

However, if we do find an exception then this does show that our theory is false and needs modifying

Question 6

Advantages of scientific approach to psychology

Answer 6

Helps us to develop treatments or social policies that are less influenced by biases or opinions

Breaking complex processes down to testable hypotheses enables us to understand human behaviour better

Question 7

Disadvantages of scientific approach to psychology

Answer 7

Studying people in controlled conditions often means that we do not observe their natural behaviour which may limit the validity

Most psychological processes are not directly observable or measure able

Human behaviour may not be predictable in the same way that a chemical reaction is. Therefore, we may never be able to discover psychological laws

Question 8

What are the key features of science?

Answer 8

Control - scientists use controlled conditions

Objective- scientific knowledge and theories should be based on observable information and not on opinion, belief or emotion

Replicable- scientific knowledge should be able to be verified by other people by repeating the procedures

Empiricism- knowledge is gained by developing theories and testing the theories by direct observation and data gathering