emergence as a science

• Science

  Building knowledge through systematic and objective (unbiased) measurement. The aim is to discover general laws.
• Why did behaviourists question the value of introspection?

  Because it produced subjective data, making it difficult to establish general laws.
• Which behaviourist most notably criticised introspection?

  John B. Watson.
• What did Watson and Skinner propose psychology should study?

  Only phenomena that can be observed objectively and measured
• What did behaviourists focus on studying?

  Observable behaviours
• 1950s Cognitive approach

  • digital revolution, cognitive psychologists likened the mind to a computer (e.g. the multi-store model)
  • tested their predictions about memory and attention using experiments
  • ensured the study of the mind was a legitimate and highly scientific aspect of the discipline
• 1980s Biological approach

  • taken advantage of advances in technology to investigate physiological processes as they happen
  • e.g. scanning techniques such as fMRI and EEG to study live activity in the brain
  • new methods (e.g. genetic testing) have also allowed us to better understand the relationship between genes and behaviour