Origins of psychology

• Introspection: The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations.
• Wundt's Lab

  In 1879, Wundt opened the first lab dedicated to psychology, this marked the beginning of scientific psychology. He used introspection to study the mind.
• Standardised procedures

  One of Wundt's main objectives was to develop theories about mental processes. He and his co workers recorded their experience to different stimuli. They would divide those observations into three catogories: thoughts, images and sensations.
• Structuralism: Isolating the structure of consciousness.
• 1900s behaviorists:

  Introspection was being questioned because it created subjective data rather than objective, so it was difficult to establish laws. Behaviorists focused on observing behavior and using controlled experiments. The behaviorist approach would dominate psychology for the next 50 years.
• 1950s cognitive approach:

  Digital revolution gave psychologists a metaphor for studying the mind, they likened the mind to a computer and tested this using experiments. Ensured the study of the mind was again scientific.
• 1980s biological approach:

  Researchers take advantage of advances in technology to investigate processes, for example using FMRI scans to study brain activity. Also allowed for a better understanding between genes and behavior.
• Wundt evaluation:

  • Strength: Scientific- his methods were systematic and well controlled , procedures were standardised and his research became a forerunner to other approaches
  • Limitation: Subjective data- Other aspects were seen as unscientific as they used self reporting which means they could have hidden their true thoughts. This shows that some methods were flawed.
• Psychology evaluation:

  • Strength: Modern psychology- Research can claim to be scientific as it has the same aims as natural science. They all rely on scientific methods.
  • Limitation: Subjective data- Not all approaches use objective methods, some focus on the individual. Humans can also respond to demand characteristics.