In 1879 Wundt set up his first laboratory where he adopted the use of introspection
What is Introspection?
A means of learning about ones own currently ongoingmentalstate or processes
Introspective Knowledge is often held to be more immediate or direct than sensoryknowledge
How did Wundt Carry out Introspection?
By participants focusing inward and reporting sensations , feelings and images
What was the Process of Introspection?
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Participants were trained to report consciousexperiencesobjectively
asked to focus on a sensoryobject often a ticking metronome
Asked to systematically report their experience , breaking their thoughts into separateelements
What were two pro evaluation for wundts idea? (A03)
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For his time , wundts work was highly scientific , primarily because of his controlledexperiments , large samplesizes and transparentmethods . This systematic approach was a significant inspiration for subsequent scientificpyschologists
Wundts use of inferences influenced cognitive pyschologists ; these researchers ask participants to complete the tasks under experimentalconditions and the participants ability to complete these tasks is used to make inferences about the structure of internal mental processes
Why is Introspection not a direct observation of mental process?
As Wundt made inferences , which means making a guess or an assumption on the structure of internal mental processes based on observedbehaviour
What is one issue with inferences?
they are educated guesses so researchers assumptions may be wrong
What is one small drawback of Introspection?
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Compared to Modern pyschologicaltechniques , Wundts introspective methods are considered subjective and are not classified as truly scientific . Participants cannot be relied to accurately report on their states as they may be biased or influenced by demand characteristics
However introspection remains relevant for studying unobservable mental processes e.g emotionalstates and is also used in variousformsoftherapy