Origins of psychology

• Why is Wundt significant?

  1. He was the first person to separate psychology from philosophy (view known as empiricism).
  2. Opened the first Psychology lab in Leipzig, 1879.
• What did Wundt want to do?


  He wanted to understand the human consciousness and to prove that the mind controls behaviour
• How did Wundt try to prove mind controls behaviour?


  Via introspection
• What is conscious awareness?


  The consciousness is broken down into 3 sections:

  1. Thoughts
  2. Images
  3. Sensations
• What is empiricism?


  The belief that knowledge is derived from life experiences, esp. sensory experiences.
• What the assumptions of empiricism

  1. All behaviour has a cause (determinism)
  2. Behaviour can be predicted
  3. Behaviour can be tested under different conditions
• What did the Introspection experiment consist of?

  • Used a metronome and had some graduate students stare at it
  • They then had to record their inner feelings after staring at the ticking metronome
• What did the participants feel and what was this called?

  Affective state (how they felt)

  • Excitation and no reaction
  • Pleasure and pain
  • Strain and relaxation
• What were the strengths of Wundt's Metronome Experiment


  • Scientific - it was controlled, used systemic methods (standardised), and it can be replicated
  • Useful - it is still used today
  • It stimulated research into cognitive psychology
• What are the weaknesses to Wundt's Introspection?


  • Subjective - relied on self-report where participants could have lied or hidden thoughts
  • cannot be scientific
  • Too vague