introspection Flashcards
what is wundt known as and why?
the father of psychology, he moved from philosophical roots to controlled research
when and where did wundt set up the first psychology laboratory?
liepzig, germany in 1879
what is introspection?
examining (looking into) your own conscious thoughts and emotions
how was an experience analysed with introspection?
in terms of its component parts (structuralism)
process of introspection
-participants are all given the same stimulus to observe
-he would ask people to focus on an everyday object and look inwards noticing sensations and feelings and images
-participants were all given the same set of standardised instructions
-he would ask his participants to record precisely what they were thinking/feeling/sensations/images
-wundt would also measure how long it took them to respond to various stimuli then make inferences (draw conclusions) on participants’ internal mental processes e.g. the longer it took to respond, the more mental processes must be involved
how is introspection scientific?
-used standardised instructions for participants = credible & repeatable
-showed that empirical methods (based on actual experience) could be applied to the study of mental processes
-wundt measured quantitative details (number of thoughts, feelings & reaction times) so that patterns could be recognised and inferences from the results would be credible
-used systematic procedures
criticisms of introspection:
-focus on non observable behaviour
-reliance on subjective data
-not valid, many aspects of our mind are outside of consciousness and we can’t detect them
wundt limitation: non-observable behaviour
-wundt’s approach required participants to report on their own conscious experience (unobservable)
-wundt’s method and approach of introspection lack relatability as his results haven’t been produced by other researchers
-introspection isn’t a scientific way to study behaviour
wundt limitation: reliance on subjective data
-john watson (behaviourist approach) criticised introspection for producing subjective data, which greatly varied from person to person
-this made it difficult to establish general principles
-scientific processes aim to be objective
-introspection isn’t an objective way to study to human mind
wundt limitation: not valid
-participants can lie about or even struggle to understand and report their own feelings, which means that findings are invalid
-many aspects of our mind are outside our conscious awareness
strengths of introspection:
-can be seen as forerunner of cognitive approach
-wundt was the father of psychology and the first to attempt to use scientific methods to study human behaviour
wundt strength: forerunner of cognitive approach
-the focus on mental processes and human conscious thought through introspection makes the approach like a forerunner of the cognitive approach, now one of the most dominant paradigms in psychology
wundt strength: contribution to science
-wundt has contributed well to science
-introspective methods use controlled conditions to eliminate any extraneous variables & have standardised procedures (all ppts look at the same image & record thoughts/feelings every minute)
-increases reliability as the method can be repeated
who is the main man?
wundt
