Origins of psychology

Question 1

Emergence of psychology as a science (Wilhelm Wundt)

Answer 1

-Wundt wanted to use controlled empirical scientific research techniques used by the physical sciences to study the mind
-Wundt set up the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in the 1870s
-He was also the first to call himself a psychologist and produced the first academic journal that published psychological experiments
-Wundt’s use of scientific methods during psychological research, helped to establish psychology as an independent field of research

Question 2

Structuralism

Answer 2

-Wundt’s research was called structuralism, which was an attempt to uncover the hidden structure of the mind by explaining it in terms of its simplest definable components
-Th experimental technique he used in his research was called introspection

Question 3

Process of introspection

Answer 3

1Participants are trained to report their conscious experience as objectively as possible
2Participants are asked to focus on a sensory object, often a ticking metronome
3. Participants then systematically report their experiences of the object by breaking their conscious thoughts into separate elements; they focus inwards, reporting feelings, sensations, and images

Question 4

How Wundt used introspection to develop general theories about internal mental processes

Answer 4

-Wundt carefully controlled the experimental conditions of his experiment and the environment
-Wundt developed general theories about internal mental processes, based off of experimental data collected
-Introspection is not a direct observation of behaviour, researchers have to make inferences; which are assumptions or guesses about the structure of internal mental processes based on observed behaviours, and could be incorrect

Question 5

Positive evaluation of Wilhelm Wundt’s methods (controlled and inspiring for his time)

Answer 5

-For his time, Wundt’s methods used to study internal mental processes were highly scientific, because of the use of controlled experiments and large sample sizes
-This led to him developing general theories of internal mental processes and other researchers replicated his findings
-Wundt’s focus on scientific methodology provided significant inspiration to other psychologists, including behaviourists

Question 6

Negative + positive evaluation of Wundt’s method of introspection (unscientific + self report issues, however is still used)

Answer 6

-Wundt’s method of introspection is considered highly unscientific, as participants cannot be relied on to accurately report mental state; self-reports can suffer from bias, mistakes, and demand characteristics, where the participant may change their response to what they think the researcher wants to hear
-However, Wundt’s method if introspection is still being used to study unobservable mental processes such as emotional states and is still be used for various forms of therapy

Question 7

Negative evaluation for Wundt’s methods (interference+behaviourists reject studying internal mental processes+ more scientific)

Answer 7

-Wundt’s introspective methods have been criticised for their use of inferences to study internal mental processes; inferences are effectively educated guesses based on observed behaviour, and can be incorrect
-Behaviourists rejected studying internal mental processes and focused on studying stimulus-response bonds, viewing the mind as a “black box”
-Behaviourist findings are more reliable and the behaviourist theory is considered more scientific

Question 8

Approaches timeline

Answer 8

-Wundt—psychodynamics—behaviourism—humanism—social learning theory— cognitive approach— biological approach

Question 9

overalllll

Answer 9

-emergence of psych as a science
-Process of introspection
-How he used introspection to develop theories