Wundt and the Origins Of Psychology Flashcards
When did psychology begin as an experimental science?
Psychology began as an experimental science with the founding of Wilhelm Wundt’s lab in 1879 at the University of Leipzig, in Germany.
What is Wundt often identified as?
He is often identified as “the world’s first true psychologist” and the “founder of Psychology.”
What did Wundt wish to study?
Wundt wished to study the structure of the human mind and believed this could be achieved by breaking down behaviours such as perception and sensation into their basic elements.
What was Wundt one of the founders of?
• Wundt was one of the founders of the theory of structuralism
What is structuralism?
studying the structure of the mind the through introspection or internal reflection
What is introspection?
the act of reflecting on your thoughts and feelings and expressing them to others. This was the primary technique within structuralism
What did he want to learn more about and do?
• He wanted to learn more about our inner human experiences connected to culture, sensations, thoughts and feeling
• He also wanted to organise and categorise the difference structures of the mind
• From structuralism, Wundt developed different theories of psychological topics such as consciousness, perception, mental associations and human will
What is introspection the examination of?
Thoughts and feelings
How would you measure introspection?
• Subjects would be presented with a problem to solve, something to memorise, an image or a piece of music. They would be asked to record and report back on their inner experiences.
• Introspection would be obtained during task performance rather than after to avoid memory problems.
Where did Wundt use introspection?
• Wundt used introspection in carefully controlled conditions, where people would be given the same stimulus whilst they were told to think about that stimulus.
How did Wundt conduct his research?
• Wundt controlled the environment that tasks were carried out in, as well as things like the stimuli used and instructions the PPs were given, and limited the responses they could give (possibly to make results more comparable.)
• PPs were all highly trained and given things like a ticking metronome (similar to the sound of a clock) whilst they were told to think about the metronome. They would then be asked to reflect on their conscious thoughts and overall observations of their thoughts by giving as much detail as possible.
How did Wundt get a general conclusion of the effects if the stimulus on the ppts thought processes?
• The experiments carried out by Wundt were repeated and carefully recorded and compared, to get a general conclusion of the effects of the stimulus on the PP’s thought processes.
Strengths of the scientific research
-experiments were carefully controlled- allowing us to establish a cause and effect relationship as all EVs can be controlled - increasing internal validity
-experiments were replicable (due to a standardised procedure)- allows us to check reliability of results
Are there any limitations of studying people’s thoughts and behaviours scientifically?
- it is not a direct measure of the mind
-Risk of demand characteristics and social desirability bias reduces validity (due to self report aspects)
-Lacks mundane realism- results cannot be generalised to real life situations- lacks ecological validity
