orgins of psychology

• what is science 


  Discovering the physical and natural world systematically and objectively using empirical methods such as observation and experimentation
• What is systematic

  using a fixed or controlled method. In scientific research, scientists follow a standardised plan to their investigations
• How is using systematic approach beneficial

  • using a systematic approach gives researchers confidence that they have measured what they had planned to measure; their measurements are not just the result of an error in conducting the study
  • other scientists can attempt to replicate the findings using the same method to check that the initial results are not due to chance
• What is objectivity?

  Objectivity is about a lack of bias so the research design results in conclusions and is not influenced by the personal opinions of the researcher, it’s where researcher attempts to support their pre- existing beliefs
• what do research findings been influenced by researchers personal opinions result in?

  Confirmation bias
• limitations of objectivity

  • As psychologist are studying human behaviour, which is subjective and can be interpreted in various ways.
  • researchers may hold strong opinions about topics e.g. relationships, aggression and gender which can influence their interpretations of data
• What is empiricism?

  When scientists test their ideas and basic conclusions on data collective from the world, not just accept theory or logical arguments
• What is empiricism a fundamental aspect of?

  Scientific methodology
• What is scientific methodology?

  • Scientific methodology comes from formulating, testing and modifying hypothesis.
  • A Hypothesis can only be accepted after systematic observation and taking careful measurements in well-designed experiments.
• Who is Vundt?

  “ the father of experimental psychology”
• What was psychology like before vundt?

  The study of the mind and behaviour was limited to philosophy and medicine
• What were wundts aims?

  He wanted to use the controlled empirical scientific research techniques used by the physical sciences to study the mind
• Where was and who set up the worlds first Psychological Laboratory

  Set up by Wundt in Leipzig, Germany in the 1870s
• what was the Institute of Experimental Psychology?

  A laboratory focused on experimental research methods, part of the University of Leipzig
• who was the first to call themselves a psychologist?

  Wundt, marking the beginning of psychology as a field
• who produced one of the world's first books on psychology?

  Written by Wundt to establish the field of psychology
• who produced the first academic journal for psychological experiments?

  Founded by Wundt to publish psychological research
• how was wundts use of scientific methods beneficial?

  • It helped establish psychology as an independent field of research
  • It also led to him to training many students who would go on to be psychology professors in top unis around the continents, spreading his scientific methods
• In his own research what was wundt interested in?

  structure of sensation and perception
• What was wundts approach in researching those processes?

  structuralism
• What is structuralism

  Describing the mind In terms of its simplest definable components
• what did wundt do after he identified those separate components?


  He tried to identify how those components would fit together which was an attempt to discover the hidden structure of the mind
• What was the method Wundt used in his research

  Introspection
• What was the first stage in the process of introspection?Participants are trained to report conscience experiences as objectively as possible
• what was the second stage in the process of introspection?


  participants would be asked to focus on a sensory object, often a tickling metronome
• What was the third stage in the process of introspection?

  Participants would systematically report their experience of the objects by breaking their thoughts into separate elements; participants would focus inward and reports sensations, feelings and images
• What did Wundt control In his introspection experiment?

  controlled the experimental conditions and the environment.
• What did wundt develop in his experiment

  Develop general theories of mental processes based on experimental data collected
• what is introspection not?


  It’s not a direct observation of mental processes
• what did wundt make during his experiment?

  Inferences
• What is an inference?


  Making a guess or assumption on the structure of internal mental processes based on observed behaviour
• What do you research to do with enough observations of people?

  With enough observations of people all behaving the same way in an experiment researchers make inferences about the processes that may be driving their behaviour
• What are limitations of making inferences?


  As they are effectively educated guesses, researchers assumptions may be incorrect