Wilheim Wundt

Question 1

Describe how he helped psychology develop

Answer 1

-Wundt founded the Institute of Experimental Psychology in Leipzig, Germany in
1879

-Wundt published one of the first books on psychology, helping to establish the
subject as an independent branch of science

-Wundt documented and described the nature of human consciousness. This pioneering
method came to be known as introspection, and involved Wundt and his co-workers
recording their own conscious thoughts, with the aim of breaking these down into their
constituent parts, scientifically isolating the structure of consciousness in this way is
called structuralism.

Question 2

Describe what introspection is

Answer 2

Focus on being objective.

• Reflection on sensations, feelings and images experienced by the individual.

-Wundt would ask people to focus on an everyday object and look inwards, noticing sensations and feelings and images.

• Breaking thoughts about an object down into separate elements.
• Systematic reporting of an experience of seeing, touching or attending to an
  object.
• Reaction times and sensory processes and attention were studied using
  apparatus

Question 3

A03 - Introspection Validity Questionable

Answer 3

• The validity of introspection is questionable, many aspects of our minds are outside of our conscious awareness, however, the focus on mental processes
  through introspection can be seen as a forerunner of the cognitive approach.

Question 4

A03 - Better Contribution

Answer 4

• Although he pioneered a change from philosophy to psychology being a scientific
  study, there have been greater contributions to the development of psychology by
  early behaviourists, e.g. Pavlov, , as they produced reliable
  findings with explanatory principles that were generalisable − much more in
  keeping with the scientific approach.