Wundt and Origins of Psychology

Question 1

Who was Wilhelm Wundt?

Answer 1

He was known as the ‘Father of Psychology,’

Question 2

What did Wilhelm Wundt do?

Answer 2

• He helped move psychology from its philosophical roots to becoming a research-based field
• He opened the first experimental laboratory dedicated to psychology in 1879

Question 3

What was the name of Wundt’s first experimental laboratory?

Answer 3

The Institute for Experimental Psychology at the Uni of Leipzig in Germany

Question 4

What did Wundt believe?

Answer 4

He believed that the mind could be broken down into constitutional elements (reductionism)

Question 5

What was Wundt’s aim?

Answer 5

Wundt’s aim was to scientifically study mental processes through the use of INTROSPECTION

Question 6

What is introspection?

Answer 6

The systematic analysis of our conscious experience of a stimulus.
This experience is analysed in terms of its component parts (e.g sensations, images and emotions)
This could be investigated while the participant focused on an everyday object such as a ticking metronome
- This paved the path for controlled research and more onjective study of mental processes (cognitive psychologists)

Question 7

Define what is meant by the term Psychology:

Answer 7

The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially the functions affecting behaviour.

Question 8

What was Wundt’s contribution to psychology as a science?

Answer 8

• Use of controlled conditions (all the variables kept the same) - e.g temperature, noise
• Standardisation - (standardised procedure) - e,g Wundt kept the same stimulus of a ticking metronome
• Replicability (consistency of our results)

Question 9

What is a standardised procedure?

Answer 9

Each procedure being tested the same way

Question 10

Describe Wundt’s role in the development of psychology: [6 marks]

Answer 10

• Wundt known as the ‘Father of Psychology’
• He set up the first psychological laboratory
• He promoted the use of introspection
• Define introspection
• Mention how he uses a ticking metronome
• Experiences
• Controlled research

Question 11

Introspection is the

Answer 11

Systematic analysis of our conscious experience of a stimulus

Question 12

Experience is analysed in terms of its:

Answer 12

Components:
Sensations, images, emotions

Question 13

Introspection is experimented using

Answer 13

A ticking metronome

Question 14

The process is scientific because

Answer 14

It is controlled and therefore replicable

Question 15

A strength of Wundt’s role in the emergence of psychology as a science is that it paved the way for future research on mental processes.

Answer 15

By focusing on the systematic analysis of conscious experience of a stimulus, Wundt aimed to understand the mental processes involved in behaviour - important foundation for cognitive psychologists who also recognised the importance of mental processes in influencing behaviour and used empirical measures and inference to investigate mental processes in a more objective way.

This shows that Wundt’s research was highly influential in shaping the direction of modern Psychology and played an important role in putting psychology and the study of the mind on the path to becoming a credible scientific discipline.

Question 16

A weakness of Wundt’s role in the emergence of psychology as a science is that it lacks objectivity because he relied on self-report methods.

Answer 16

In his work of introspection, Wundt asked participants to report on their experience of a stimulus. This means that his results are based on subjective experiences and not empirical data such as observations of participant behaviour.

Therefore, his findings lack objectivity and could be open to researcher bias. Also introspection assumes that participants are able to fully explain their conscious experiences, which may not be the case, meaning the results might not be valid. Therefore, Wundt’s research is not regarded as truly scientific and his contribution to psychology as a scientific field is limited.