APPROACHES Flashcards
who is the father of psych
wilhelm wundt
issues with calling psychology a science
based on case studies, is subjective
where was the first psych lab opened
leipzig, germany
what year was the first psych lab open
1879
what was wundt interested in
human consciousness
what is the order of all approaches:
humanistic, biological, cognitive, cognitive neuroscience, wudnt, social learning theory, behaviourism, psychodynamic
wundt, psychodynamic, behaviourism, humanism, cognitive, slt, biological, cognitive neuroscience
what was wundts method
introspection
how did wundt perform introspetion
structuralism
what did wundt ask patients to do
reflect on their own cognitive processes and describe them
what was psychology associated with before it was its own science
philosophy
what two components did he break up the mind into
sensations and perceptions
what kind of environment did wundts introspective sessions take place in
controlled
how was wundt’s method scientific
- all introspections recorded under strictly controlled conditions using same stimulus every time
- same standardised instructions
name two philosophers who helped originate psychological thought
descartes and substance dualism, locke and empiricism
what is a limitation of introspection
it is subjective and varies between person to person
briefly explain the emergence of psychology as a science
watson and skinner brought methods of natural sciences into psychology. the behaviourists focused on the scientific process and used carefully controlled lab studies. many modern psychologists still rely on the experimental method. the cognitive revolution made the study of mental processes legitimate and scientific. recent advances in technology have allowed biological psychologists to monitor live activity in the brain using brain imaging such as fMRI and EEGs.
what order do the approaches come in
psychodynamic -> behaviourism -> humanism -> cognitive -> social learning theory -> biological -> cognitive neuroscience
what is classical conditioning
learning through association
what are the three consequences of behaviour in operant conditioning
positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment
outline and evaluate wundts role in the emergence of psychology as a science (8)
- wilhelm wundt is often regarded as the ‘father of psychology’.
- he was able to distinguish psychology as a separate discipline to philosophy; psychology was previously only known as ‘experimental philosophy’.
- he drew inspiration from key philosophical figures such as descartes who developed descartian dualism and locke who upheld empiricism.
- he opened the first psychology lab in leipzig, germany in the 1970s.
- his method used introspection which involved looking into the mind of his patients. he used a technique called structuralism to analyse thoughts.
- a strength of his work is that it had scientific elements that are still used in modern day psychology. for instance, his method was highly controlled, the instructions he gave to patients were standardised which increases replicability. many followed his practices such as the behaviourists who followed the same scientific approach.
- however, his approach of introspection can be criticised for being idiographic as it focuses on the experience of the individual and so his findings were not generalisable.
describe wundt’s role in the development of psychology
- wundt is regarded as the ‘father of psychology’
- he took inspiration from great philsophers such as descartes and his substance dualism and locke and his empiricism.
- he turned psychology into its own discipline by separating it from ‘experimental philosophy’.
- he set up the first psychology lab in leipzig germany in the 1870s.
- his approach centres on introspection which involves looking into the patients mind.
- in his investigations, patients were to write down their own conscious thought.
- breaking this down was labelled structuralism.
- his method which had elements of scientific research in inspired the growth of psychology. this is seen in the behaviourists who replicated his scientific approach to learn about human behaviour.
strengths of pavlov
- use of scientific method (testable hypothesis, controlled conditions, standardised procedure) so good reliability
- nomothetic
limitations of pavlov
- classical conditioning cannot explain all behaviour like spontaneous acts such as dying your hair blue so limited external validity
- deterministic
- ethical issues with animals
strengths of skinner
- good real world application, explains maintenance of phobias
- scientific (standardised, controlled conditions, good reliability, falsifiable)
