Origins of psychology(Wundt)

• Rene Descartes 1599-1659 a French philosopher that suggested that the mind and body are independent form each other.
• John Locke 1634-1702 proposed empiricism the idea that all human experiences can be learned through senses human inherit either knowledge nor instincts, blank slate.
• Charles Darwin 1809-1882, proposed theory of evolution.
• Empirical evidence-refers to data being collected through direct observation or experiment. Findings can be used to accept or reject a hypothesis.
• Objectivity-researchers should remain totally value free when studying. Pursuit of science implies the facts will speak for themselves even if they tur out to be different from what the investigator had hoped.
• Wilhem Wundt" father of psychology". Separated psychology from philosophy. Analysed the workings of the mind in a more structured way. Emphasising objective measurement and control. Creator of the first lab in Germany.
• Introspection-(seen today as unreliable and unscientific), systematic experiment, structuralism, training people to analyse the context of their own thoughts. lab experiments strictly controlled methods, some stimulus, standardised instructions, procedure was replicated. Beginning of a scientific approach.
• Wundt influentially- 17000 attended his lectures, hundreds more pursued a degree and studied in his lab.
• Watson early 20th century, questioned the scientific status of introspection. The data produced was too subjective (varied from person to person), could not create general principles from research, he didn't want to just study internal mental processes, observable behaviour instead.
• Skinner 1953. A fellow behaviourist who used controlled lab experiments and dominated thinking for the next 50 years.
• Psychologists 4 main goals. Description, tell us `what` occured. Explanation, tell us `why` a behaviour or mental process occured. Prediction, identifies conditions in which a mental process or future behaviour is likely to occur. Change applies psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behaviour and to bring about desire to change.