Origins of psychology

• Who opened the first psychology lab, when and where?


  Wundt in 1979 in Leipzig, Germany
• Wundt was the first person to call himself a psychologist and believed the human mind could be studied scientifically.
• What was Wundts aim?


  Describing nature of human consciousness
• What technique did Wundt use?


  Introspection
• What did introspection consist of?


  Asked participants to reflect on own cognitive processes and describe them.
• Wundts methodology:


  Controlled procedures and standardised instructions
• Wundts approach became known as:


  Structuralism
• What is structuralism?


  Structure of consciousness including; thoughts, images and sensations
• Wundts methods are subjective:

  • introspection is non-observable
  • Participants can only report conscious experiences
  • Introspection = subjective data
  • Subjective = varies from person to person
  • This doesnt meet criteria of scientific enquiry