evaluation

• Wundt - strength


  it marked the beginning of the scientific study of humans

  he recorded introspections in a controlled lab environment

  he used standardised procedures and instructions - all participants received the same information in the same way

  this suggests Wundt has made a valid contribution to psychology
• Wundt - weakness


  his methods lack scientific rigour (by todays standards)

  Wundt relied on subjective reasons about participants imps ( internal mental processes) participants even lie/ hid their thoughts and feelings

  therefore it is difficult to establish laws if human behaviour

  this suggests Wundts approach lacks validity
• scientific strength

  one strength of Wundts work is that some of his methods were systematic and well-controlled.

  all introspections were recorded in the controlled environment of the lab, ensuring that possible extraneous variables were not a factor. procedures and instructions were standardised so all pps received the same info and were tested in the same way.

  this suggests that Wundts research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology such as the behaviourist approach.
• subjective data limitation

  one limitation is that other aspects of Wundts research would be considered unscientific today.

  Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their mental processes. such data is subjective . also participants may have hidden some of their thoughts. it is difficult to establish meaningful 'laws of behaviour' from such data. and general laws are useful to predict future behaviour, one of the aims of science.

  this suggests that some of Wundts early efforts to study the mind were flawed and would not meet the criteria of scientific equity.
• modern psychology strength

  one strength is that research in modern psychology can claim to be scientific.

  psychology has the same aims as the natural sciences the describe, understand, predict and control behaviour. the learning approaches, cognitive, biological approach all rely on the use of scientific methods, for example, lab studies to investigate theories in a controlled and unbiased way. this suggests that throughout the 20th century and beyond, psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline.
• subjective data limitation 2

  one limitation with psychology is that not all approaches use objective methods.

  the humanistic approach rejects the scientific approach, preferring to focus on individual experiences and subjective experience. the psychodynamic approach makes use of the case study method which does not use representative samples. finally, the subject of the study -humans- are active participants in research, responding for example to demand characteristics.

  therefore a scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience may no always be desirable or possible.