Origins of psychology

Question 1

Origins of psychology

Answer 1

Wilhelm Wundt is known as the ‘Father of psychology as he moved psychology away from its philosophical roots to controlled research. He set up the first laboratory in Liepzig, Germany in the 1870s. He created the Institute of experimental psychology and published one of the first books, establishing psychology as an independent branch of science.

Question 2

Wundt and Introspection

Answer 2

Wundt created a scientific method to study mental processes known as Introspection, which is a systematic analysis of one’s own conscious experience of a stimuli (sensations, emotional reaction)
Introspection was used in highly controlled studies which allowed Wundt to develop general theories about mental processes. His work paved the way for later controlled research and the study of mental processes e.g. cognitive psychologists. However, Wundt later identified that high mental process (e.g. language) could not be studied in a strictly controlled manner.

Question 3

Positives of origins of psychology

Answer 3

+) Wundt was the first to open a laboratory designated to scientific study of psychological enquiry under controlled conditions facilitating accurate measures and replication
+) Wundt was the first psychologist to focus on understanding the psychological processes of perception, rather that philosophical or biological processes
+) Wundt later realised that higher mental processes were difficult to study which encouraged others to look for more appropriate ways, paving the way that led to approaches such as brain scanning techniques

Question 4

negatives of origins of psychology

Answer 4

-) Argued that behaviourists (e.g. Pavlov) had a greater contribution to the development of psychology as a science more than Wundt as they created reliable findings, with explanations which were much more generalisable than Wundt

Question 5

What is introspection and how can it be used

Answer 5

Introspection: A systematic analysis of one’s own conscious experience with a stimuli (emotional reaction, sensations)
Wundt claimed that with sufficient training, an individual could objectively report one’s own conscious mental processes such as perception, where individuals were encouraged to reflect on the sensation, feelings and images which came to mind

Question 6

introspection positive eval

Answer 6

+) Focus on mental processes such as introspection can be seen as the forerunner of the cognitive approach
+) Still used in some modern-day research in areas such as therapy and studying emotional states, demonstrating its value as one-way mental processes can be investigated

Question 7

introspection negative eval

Answer 7

-) studies used introspection may not be valid as several psychologists claim some parts of the mind are outside conscious awareness and cannot be reported by an individual