The Orignins of Psychology Flashcards
What is Empiricism ?
Belief that knowledge is not innate but is derived from sensory experience ( characterised by the use of scientific methodology in psychology)
What is Introspection ?
Process by which a person gains knowledge of self, through self examination of emotions.
What is scientific method?
Objective, systematic and replicable investiagtive methods and testing and modifying hypotheses based on these methods
What is structuralism ?
Studying the structure of the mind by breaking down behaviour into basic elements.
Belief that it is possible to study the structure by breaking down behaviour
What was Wundt’s belief about the study of the human mind?
It could be studied scientifically
It was studied in the same way nature was studied
This was the start of psychology being accepted as a science
Why was his approach referred to as structuralism?
His aim was to study the structure of the human mind and believed the best way to do so was to break down behaviours such as perception and sensation into their basic elements.
He only studied behaviour that could be controlled in experimental conditions
Why did Wundt’s belief about experimental study change?
Eventually came to the realisation that higher mental processes such as learning, language and emotions could not be studied in a strict, controlled manner.
How did Wundt formulate general theories of human perception?
He claimed that with training mental processes such as memory and perception could be observed systematically as they occurred using introspection.
He studied perception in a study where participants were presented with controlled stimuli (visual images and auditory tones). They were asked to describe the inner processes they were experiencing when observing the stimuli.
He looked for general trends in the participants descriptions of their inner processes and the study was systematic.
It was possible to compare different participants reports in response to some stimuli in order to establish general theories of human perception
What are the 2 assumptions that scientific approach is based on ?
Assumption of determinism
Assumption of predictability
Explain the assumption of determanism
All behaviour is seen as being caused by external factors
Explain the assumption of predictability
If behaviour is determined then it should be possible to presict how humans would behave in different situations
What is meant by the criticism that Wundt’s results were not reliably reproduced by other researchers?
Introspective results were not reliably reproducible by other researchers
Relied primarily on non observable responses
Proceses such as memory and perception are unobservable
This is a critism of structuralist approaches from behaviourists
How does Nisbett and Wilson’s (1977) findings challenge introspective reports?
Most psychologists tend to accept their claim that we have very little knowledge of the causes of our behaviours and attitudes and underlying processes which challenges the value of introspective reports.
A person may be implicitly racist which influences the way they react to members of different ethnic groups.
Because such attitudes exist outside of conscious awareness introspective reports would not uncover them.
Explain 2 strengths of a scientific approach to psychology.
Scientific methods rely on a belief in determinism, they are able to establish the causes of behaviour through the use of methods that are both empirical and rrplicable (active processes).
Knowledge aquired using the SM is more than just the passive acceptance of facts due to its reliance on objective and systematic observation.
Explain 2 limitations of a scientific approach to psychology
Much of psych is unobservable therefore cant be measured with any degree of accuracy.
Not all psychologists share the view that human behaviour can be explored using SM. Predictions become impossible.
