origins

• Wundt was the first person to call himself a psychologist, believing all aspects of nature can be studied scientifically, (like the mind). In his lab in Germany, he studied aspects of behaviour that could be controlled under experimental conditions. For example, the study of reaction time and various aspects of sensation and perception. Wundt’s aim was to study the structure of the mind, by breaking behaviours down into their basic elements. The technique he used was called introspection. He realised that complex behaviours such as emotions couldn't be studied in a strict controlled manner.
• Introspection is Latin meaning ‘looking into’. A process where a person gains knowledge about their mental and emotional states. We are able to observe/perceive outside world, we can then do this with the inner world. Observers may be shown an object and asked to reflect upon how they perceive it. This information can then be used to gain insight on the nature of mental processes involved in perception, reaction time etc. Wundt’s study on perception; give participants controlled stimuli (images) and gave a description of inner processes. These reports can be compared, relationships found.
• The emergency of psychology is also important. Psychology has a reliance on empiricism. Empiricists believe that knowledge comes from observations & experience. The scientific approach was based on 2 assumptions, behaviour is caused and should be possible to predict how humans will behave in varying conditions. The scientific method refers to the use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic and replicable. Measurement and recording of empirical data are carried out accurately with consideration of influences of other factors. If results are not replicable, they aren’t reliable.
• Because of its reliance on objective and systematic methods of observation, knowledge acquired using the scientific method is more than just the passive acceptance of theories about behaviour.

  This means that scientific methods are able to establish the causes of behaviour through the use of methods that are both empirical and replicable.

  A consequence of this is that if scientific theories no longer fit the facts, they can be refined or abandoned, meaning that scientific knowledge is self-corrective.
• Researchers claim that we have very little knowledge of causes and processes for our behaviour and attitudes.

  This problem was particularly acute in the study of implicit attitudes, i.e. stereotypes that are unknown to us. For example, a person may be implicitly racist, which influences the way they react to members of a different ethnic group. Because such attitudes exist outside of conscious awareness, self-reports through introspection would not uncover them. This challenges the value of introspective reports in exploring the roots of our behaviour.
• A criticism of Wundt's approach, mainly from behaviourists, was that this approach relied primarily on 'non-observable' responses.

  Although participants could report on their conscious experiences, the processes themselves (e.g. memory) were considered to be unobservable. Wundt's approach ultimately failed because of the lack of reliability of his methods.

  In contrast, the early behaviourists such as Pavlov were already achieving reliably reproducible results and discovering explanatory principles that could be easily generalised to all human beings.
• introspection has not been entirely abandoned, and in recent years has still been used. Researchers used introspective methods as a way of making 'happiness' measurable. Group of teenagers given beepers that went off during random times, requiring them to write down thoughts & feelings from just before the beep. Most reports indicated that the teens were unhappy, but when energies were focused on a challenging task, they were more upbeat. Therefore it offers researchers a way of understanding the momentary conditions that affect happiness, and could help improve the quality of our lives.