Origins of Psychology

• What is introspection?

  The study of mental processes like language and perception.
• What happened during introspection?

  Experiences of stimuli like sound and objects are recorded and observations are divided into 3 categories; thought, image (in their mind) and sensation. In response to a ticking metronome, stimuli always presented in the same order and all receive the same instructions.
• What is structuralism? Give an example of a study that does this.

  The attempt to isolate the structure of consciousness into the most basic components. A study that uses this is introspection.
• What is one way that Wundt helped to develop psychology?

  He established the first psychology lab and used standardised procedures to study psychology. An example is introducing stimuli in the same order, which is a method still used today.

  He developed introspection, which is a systematic analysis of one's own consciousness. Experiences are analysed in terms of their reference to structuralism, elements including; thought, sensation and emotion.
• Wundt use trained observers to observe participants emotions when introduced to a stimuli
• Problems with Introspection:

  • It doesn't explain how the mind works. It relies on people describing their thoughts and feelings, which usually isn't objective.
  • It doesn't provide data that can be used reliably. This is because people are reporting their experiences, their accounts can't be confirmed.
• Features that make something a science:

  1. Objectivity - (O)
  2. Control - (C)
  3. Predictability - (P)
  4. Hypothesis testing - (Ht)
  5. Replication - (R)
• Why is objectivity important in science?

  Scientific observations should be recorded without bias and not influenced by other factors, or other people.
• Why is control important in science?

  Scientific observations should take place under controlled conditions.
• Why is predictability important in science?

  Scientists should be able to use the results and knowledge gained from experiments to predict future behaviour.
• Why is hypothesis testing important in science?

  Theories generate predictions (hypotheses) which can be tested to either strengthen the support for the theory, or else disprove it.
• Why is replication important in science?

  Each experiment should be able to be replicated exactly so that people can have confidence in the results.