Origins of Psychology; Wundt

• Wundt’s laboratory of experimental psychology opened in Leipzig, Germany in 1879
• Why is Wundt’s lab so significant in psychology’s emergence as a science?

  He aimed to study the mind in a systematic + objective way = investigations moved away from philosophy into being only ‘scientific’
• Wundt was concerned that only the aspects of human behaviour that could be studied under controlled experimental conditions were investigated at his laboratory because if aspects that could not be investigated in a controlled environment were studied, the results could be subjective and unfalsifiable
• Wundt wanted to find only objective evidence that could be replicated by others and which would gain Psychological academic standing and respect
• Measures Wundt used to ensure 'controlled experimental conditions'

  1. Thoroughly trained all ppts in the same way in the methods of introspection

  2. All ppts went through the same procedure, in the same order

  3. All ppts within each specific study were exposed to the same stimulus for the same amount of time

  4. All ppts within each specific study received the same standardised instructions, to ensure their experience was not qualitatively different
• Structuralism

  Wundt's approach to investigating the workings of the human mind, attempting to gain an idea of the overall 'structure', that is the 'shape' or 'composition' of the mind
• Introspection


  One of Wundt's key techniques to investigate the internal workings of the human mind
• Wundt came to realise that higher mental processes were not things that could be studied through introspection, as they were too influenced by people's individual experiences/subjective to reliably allow the identification of general trends in the way people thought
• Wundt's methodology

  • Aimed for objectivity through use of the empirical method
  • Tight controls and systematic procedure exhibited high replicability
  • Used results from experiments with introspection to help build the theory/approach of 'Structuralism'
• Wundt's experimental method was built around individuals' reflection on their own conscious experience, so his results came from self-report methods rather than directly observable evidence
• It is possible that people may have misunderstood the training, or been unwilling to report parts of their experiences to Wundt, so the material from which he was drawing his 'general trends' to build his theory was quite subjective
• Wundt's controls

  • All ppts within each specific study were exposed to the same stimulus (e.g. a metronome) for the same amount of time
  • All ppts within each specific study received the same standardised instructions, to ensure their experience was not qualitatively different
• Structuralism


  Wundt's approach to investigating the workings of the human mind, aiming to gain an idea of the overall 'structure', that is the 'shape' or 'composition' of the mind
• Wundt's technique of 'introspection'


  1. Using the reports of his participants' conscious experiences to break down the processes of the mind into their component parts

  2. Seeing the general trends of how and what people's responses to stimuli were, to work out the different sections of the mind and how they fitted together