Early Psychology

• Introspection 


  the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations.
• Wunt 1879 opened the first ever lab dedicated entirely to psychology, in Germany. He aimed to analyse the human consciousness and came up with the method of introspection. He and his co-workers recorded their experiences of various stimuli e.g. objects or sounds. They divided observations into thoughts, images and sensations.
• Strength of Wundt and introspection

  A strength of Wundt's methods are that some were systematic and well-controlled (scientific). All introspections were recorded in a controlled environment minimising extraneous variables. Procedures and instructions were carefully standardised so all participants received the same information and were tested in the same way. This suggests Wundt's research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology, such as the behaviourist approach.
• Limitation of Wundt and introspection

  One limitation of Wundt's research is that it relied on self-report data. Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their mental processes. Such data is subjective. Participants may have hidden some of their thoughts and it's hard to establish meaningful 'laws of behaviour' from such data. This suggests some of Wundt's early efforts to study the mind were flawed and would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
• Strength of modern Psychology

  One strength of modern psychology is it can claim to be scientific. Psychology has the same aims as natural science- to describe, understand, predict and control behaviour. The learning approaches, cognitive approach and biological approach all rely on the use of scientific methods e.g. lab studies for unbiased, controlled experiments. This suggests throughout the 20th century and beyond, psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline.
• Limitation of psychology

  One limitation of psychology is not all approaches use scientific methods. The humanistic approach rejects the scientific approach, preferring to focus on individual experience and subjective experience. The psychodynamic approach makes use of case studies, so doesn't have representative samples. Further humans being active participants may be acting due to demand characteristics. Therefore a scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience may not always be desirable or possible.