origins of psychology

• who is Wilhem Wundt

  • the first person to be called a psychologist
  • he opened the first psychology laboratory in Germany in 1879
  • he wanted to explore the human 'mind'
  • Wundt wanted to describe the nature of human consciousness, this method came to be known as introspection
• what was Wundt's approach to psychology

  • to study the structure of the human mind, by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements, hence his approach became known as structuralism (how do people think and feel)
  • psychology exists today because of Wundt
• what was Wundt's method of studying the mind

  introspection
• introspection

  • the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes
  • the first experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations
• examples of introspection

  participants given a stimulus such as a ticking metronome and would reflect on the experience, they would report what the stimulus made them think and feel, with a systematic analysis of one's own conscious experiences
• evaluating introspection

  • subject reports from introspection are subjective and could not be replicated, so not reliable
  • findings are non-observational
• reports are subjective (PEE)

  • behaviourist psychologists questioned the scientific status of introspection as it produced subjective data
  • the participants were recalling their own conscious thoughts meaning the results vary from participant to participant
  • this means the data collected is not reliable and may be the result of demand characteristics
• reports are subjective (CLB)

  • however, Wundt insisted that participant recall should be obtained during task performance rather than after to avoid memory problems
  • nevertheless, this matters because conclusions drawn from this data cannot be generalised
• findings are non-observational (PEE)

  • conscious thoughts are mental processes that cannot be observed and measured
  • a truly scientific psychology experiment should be focusing on phenomenon that can be observed and measured
  • this is known as an empirical method
• findings are non-observational (CLB)

  • however, his work paved the way for later controlled research and the study of mental processes e.g. by cognitive psychologists
  • this matters because it reduces the scientific credibility of the research, suggesting the data collected using this method is less reliable
• watson (1913)

  was highly critical of introspection as a concept. he believed scientific psychology should restrict itself only to studying phenomena that could be observed and measured. which lead to the behaviourist approach and the emergence of psychology as a science
• what did Watson (1913) and Skinner (1953) bring into psychology

  • the language, rigour and methods of the natural sciences into psychology. the behaviourist focus on the scientific processes including the involvement of lab experiments
• development of cognitive approach

  • occurred in the 1960s
  • the study of mental processes is now seen as highly scientific area within psychology
• development of biological approach

  • has taken advantage of recent advances in technology (brain scanning techniques e.g. fMRI and EEG)
• evaluating psychology as a science & the scientific method

  • lab based
  • real life application
• lab based (PE)

  • the scientific method focuses on being objective and conducting research in strictly controlled environments
  • due to these laboratory conditions, knowledge acquired is accurate and produces facts due to the use of objective and controlled studies
• lab based (ECLB)

  • as the research is conducted in a lab setting, we can ensure a stricter degree of control over variables. This means that studies are replicable and have a higher internal validity
  • However, this tells us little about how people will behave in their natural environments
  • this matters because the data collected may have low ecological validity and should therefore not be generalised to the wider population
• real life application (PEE)

  • the scientific method allows the causes of behaviour to be identified. theories developed, tested and modified based upon this
  • once the cause is established treatments can be developed
  • for example, the development of psychological therapies for depression
• real life application (CLB)

  • however, there are certain areas of human behaviour and the mind that cannot be observed, therefore cannot be measured using the scientific method. For example, in decision making, another person is unable to observe this process or be in control of it in any way
  • nevertheless, the scientific method has real life application, highlighting its relevance and importance in society