Who is William Wundt
In 1879 he opened the first psychological lab in Germany
He is known as the father of psychology as he moved the subject away from it’s philosophical roots to controlled scientific study
What was Wundts aim to study and what did he develop to study his aim
Aim was to study the nature of human consciousness
He developed introspection to do this
What is introspection
The systematic analysis of your conscious experience of a stimulus
Process of introspection
Wundt trained psychology students to make observations about their experience when exposed to a certain stimuli
He would divide their observations into 3 categories: thoughts, images and sensations Wundt believed human consciousness could be reduced into these basic elements
He gave students the same instructions so they all experienced the same stimuli in the same way
Strength of Wundts contribution to psychology
Paved the way for modern psychology
As he was the first attempt to use controlled research
He did this by giving participants same standardised instructions to minimise extraneous variables
This is a strength as it gave other psychologists a scientific way to study the mind
Limitation of Wundt
Can be seen as unscientific
Because Wundt relied on participants reporting their own mental processes, this is considered as subjective
Introspection is reliant on effort of the participant, if a person is not bothered with the study they may report inaccurately
This is a limitation because it questions the scientific nature of his work
What is a science
Develops knowledge and understanding through systematic and objective study to develop laws
What approaches have contributed to psychology being considered a science
Behaviourist
Cognitive
Biological
What is the behaviourist approach
Watson questioned introspection by emphasising its subjectivity
Behaviourists believe that only behaviour that is directly observable should be measured to develop laws
They use controlled lab studies
This approach positively contributed to psychology gaining its scientific status
What is the biological approach
Allows researchers to take a more in depth look at the mind by using scanning techniques such as fMRI
Also genetic testing has allowed us to understand how genes contribute to behaviour
Strength of the emergence of psychology as a science
Uses more scientific methods
All approaches (behaviourist, cognitive and biological) have utilised methods that allows them to investigate theories in a controlled and objective way
This makes it easier to explain behaviour and develop laws
This is a strength because these approaches helped psychology become its own scientific discipline
Limitation of the emergence of psychology as a science
Not all approaches use objective methods
The humanistic approach rejects the scientific approach as it prefers to focus on subjective experience
The psychodynamic approach makes use of a case study which does not use representative samples
The subjects of the study- human beings respond to demand characteristics
This is a limitation as a scientific approach to study human thought may not always be possible
Who put forward the behaviourist approach
Watson
What do behaviourists believe
That only directly observable behaviour should be studied through controlled and objective methods
What is classical conditioning and who was this put forward by
Learning through association but forward by Pavlov
What was Pavlov’s research
Used dogs
He noticed dogs salivated before being presented with food. Pavlov realised dogs were salivating in response to things they associated with food. Pavlov then rang a bell before feeding the dogs. Eventually the dogs associated a bell ringing with food and started to salivate whenever they heard the bell
What is operant conditioning and who was this put forward by
Learning through consequence put forward by Skinner
What is positive reinforcement
The addition of something positive following a behaviour will encourage that behaviour to continue
What is negative reinforcement
The removal of something negative following a behaviour will encourage that behaviour to continue
What is a punishment
The addition of something negative following a behaviour will discourage later displays of that behaviour
What was Skinner’s research
Studied the effects on reinforcement on rats
In one study rats were given electric shocks and had to press a lever to stop these shocks. They soon learnt to go straight to the lever to stop the electric shocks. This is negative reinforcement
He also taught them to press the lever through positive reinforcement. Every time the rats knocked the lever over a food pellet dropped into the cage. They continued to press the lever in hoped that more food would be released. This shows rewarding certain behaviours can encourage them to continue
Strengths of the behaviourist approach
Well controlled research
Studies use labs meaning they are highly controlled
No extraneous variables and cause and effect relationship can be established
This is a strength because the behaviourist approach have scientific credibility
Wide range of application it has given to society
For example operant conditioning has been successfully used in prisons and psychiatric wards
Classical conditioning has given us systematic desensitisation and flooding to treat phobias
This is a strength because without the behaviourist approach these developments wouldn’t have occurred
Limitations of the behaviourist approach
Oversimplified the learning process
Reducing behaviour to simple components
Others approaches e.g the social learning theory draws attention to mental processes
Learning is more complex than observable behaviour, private mental processes are essential
Research is carried out on animals
Skinner used rats and Pavlov used dogs in their experiments
Humans may not share enough similarities with these animals for us to apply them to human behaviour
Results may not be generalisable
What is social learning theory
Agrees with behaviourism but believes we learn just as much from observing our role models
