The origins of psychology

• Wilhelm Wundt:

  • Wundt established experimental psychology as a science
  • His approach was structuralism & the technique he used was introspection
  • Structuralism - study the structure of the human mind by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements
  • Introspection - participants were asked to reflect on their own cognitive processes & describe them
  • Used to establish general theories about mental processes
• The emergence of psychology as a science:

  • Empiricism - knowledge comes from observation & experience
  • The scientific method - the use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic & replicable
  • Based on that:
  • All behaviour is caused (determinism)
  • It's possible to predict behaviour
  • The scientific cycle: development of a scientific theory; testing; objective, systematic & replicable observation; building, refining or falsifying
• The origins of psychology AO3:

  • ❌ Unreliable - Wundt's approach relied on non-observable responses & can't comment on unconscious factors
  • ✅ Scientific approach tests assumptions about behaviour - able to establish cause & effect - corrects theories
  • ✅ Introspection is still used today - gains access to cognitive processes ( beeper for happiness to write down thoughts )
  • ❌ Not accurate - we have little knowledge in the causes of, & processes underlying, our behaviour & attitudes
• The origins of psychology AO3:

  • ❌ Unreliable
  • ✅ Scientific Approach tests assumptions about behaviour
  • ✅ Introspection is still used today
  • ❌ Not accurate