Evaluation

• Scientific


  One strength of Wundt's work is that some of his methods were systematic and well-controlled:

  • All introspections were recorded in controlled environments
  • Procedures were standardised
  • This suggests that Wundt's research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology, such as the behaviourist approach
• Subjective data


  One limitation is that other aspects of Wundt's research would be considered unscientific today:

  • Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their mental processes, which is subjective
  • Participants may have hidden some of their thoughts
  • Hard to generalise
  • This suggests that some of Wundt's early efforts to study the mind were flawed and would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry today