origins of psych

• william wundt believed all aspects of nature could be studied scientifically
• wundt aimed to understand structure of human mind by breaking behaviour down into its basic components
• introspection - process of gaining knowledge on own‘s mental health
• various visual and auditory stimuli presented to participants and were asked to reflect on their thoughts and feelings
• inner workings examined through this process so theories could be developed
• X scientific merit is questionable

  • introspection is subjective - based on inferences
• X unobservable and unmeasurable concepts
• X ethnocentric and culturally bound
• X androcentric
• X lab based study - demand characteristic, lacks mundane realism