Origins of psych

• psychology- the scientific study of the brain and behaviour
• systematic- working to a fixed and controlled method, standardised plans
• systematic- helps researchers be confident that they have measured what they intend to measure
• objectivity- lack of bias, not influenced by personal opinions of the researcher
• Wilhelm Wundt- thought by many psychologists to be the 'father of psychology', before Wundt much of what was studied in psychology was said to be for philosophy or medicine
• Wundt wanted to use the controlled empirical scientific research techniques used by the physical sciences to study the mind
• 1870s- Wundt set up the world's first psychological laboratory, the institute of Experimental Psychology, in Leipzig, Germany,
• Wilhelm Wundt was the first person to call himself a psychologist
• Wundts research was called structuralism, an attempt to uncover the hidden structure of the mind by describing it in terms of its simplist definable components, much of his work focused on the structure of sensation and perception, the experimental method he used in his research was a technique called introspection,
• process of introspection- pps are trained to report conscious experiences as objectively as possible, pps would be asked to focus on a sensory object, often a ticking metronome, participants would systematically report their experience of the object by breaking their thoughts into seperate elements, participants would focus inward and report sensations, feelings and images.
• introspection- pps would focus inwards and report sensations feelings and images
• introspection is not direct observation of mental processes, Wundt made inferences, which means making a guess or an assumption on the structure of internal mental processes based on an observed behaviour
• for his time, Wundt's work was scientific, primarily due to controlled experiments, large sample sizes, and transparent methods he used. This systematic approach allowed him to develop general theories of mental processes and enabled other researchers to replicate his findings, his emphasis on scientific methodology was a significant inspiration for subsequent scientific psychologists, including behaviourists
• negatives of Wundt- compared to modern psychological techniques, Wundt's introspective methods are considered subjective and are not classified as truly scientific. Participants cannot be relied on to accurately report their mental states, as self-reports may be biased, mistaken, or influenced by demand characteristics, where they provide results they think the researcher wants, however introspection remains relevant for studying observable mental processes such as emotional states and is also used in various forms of therapy
• Wundt's use of inference to identify internal mental states has been criticised, inferences are assumptions, so they could be mistaken. Behaviourist psychologists rejected the study of internal mental states, seeing the mind as a 'black box'; they only studied fully observable stimulus-response mechanisms because these behaviourist findings were more reliable, and behaviourism is seen as an approach more in line with scientific principles.
• positives of Wundt and introspection- use of inferences has been influential for cognitive psychologists, these researchers ask participants to complete tasks under experimental conditions, and the participant's ability to complete these tasks is used to make inferences about the structure of internal mental processes like memory, attention and perception
• 1890- Freud created psychodynamics, which developed the concepts of- the unconscious mind, the structure of personality: the id, ego and superego, defense mechanisms- denial, repression and displacement, psychosexual stages
• PExamples of behaviourist researchers, Pavlov and Skinner, called the mind a 'black box', could only be measured objectively and scientifically
• Pavlov and Skinner- explained behaviour as a series of stimulus-response mechanisms, rejected introspective methods, developed highly controlled scientific studies
• 1960s- humanists, counters psychoanalysis and behaviourism, eg Maslow and Rogers argued for a less scientific, more holistic view of the individual, free will and self-actualisation
• also 1960s- Bandura, social learning theory, bobo doll experiment, he agreed with the principles of behaviourism but argued there are mediational processes of attention, retention, reproduction and motivation, he said that role models are observed and imitated, reinforcement can be vicarious
• cognitive approach from 1960s to 1980s was inspired by the computer revolution, the computer analogy argues the brain is similar to a CPU.
• last few decades from the 1980s to present day- developed tools such as FMRI scanners that gives psychologists the ability to study the active brain, DNA sequences give psychologists the ability to study the inheritance aspect of behaviour and mental health conditions
• the emergence of psychology as a science- the value of introspection was questioned by behaviourists- 1900s, introspection produced subjective data so its difficult to establish general principles- led to birth of behaviourism, 'scientific investigation should focus on only what can be seen and measured'.
• 1950s- cognitive approach- study of the mind and its internal processes, treated the mind like a computer
• 1980s- biological approach-technical advances such as in brain scanning techniques with EEGs and FMRIs to study live brain activity,