Who is Wundt ?
The father of psychology who created the first psychology lab in 1879 in Leibniz Germany
How did Wundt establish psychology as a science
By opening the first psychology lab in 1879 and moving psychology away from the realms of philosophy
Supporting research introspection
-Methods of introspection are still used today to gain a valuable insight to cognitive processes
Griffith
When asking gamblers and non gamblers to think out loud whilst playing the fruit machine, the gamblers had more irrational thought process
Methodological issues introspection-subjective
-Approach lays primarily in non-observable responses
-Only report your own consciousness which is subjective and unique to the individual
-Studies can’t be replicated
Methodological issues introspection-self report
-Demand characteristics
-Clients may lie to fit in with the aims of Wundt’s study
1879
Wundt opens the first experimental psychology lab
1900’s
Freud establishes a psychodynamic approach (unconscious mind)
1910’s
-Watson and Skinner
-Behavioral approach
-Operant and Classical conditioning
1950’s
-Maslow
-Humanistic approach
-Free will
1960s
-Introduction of digital computers
-Cognitive approach and mental processes
1960s
-Bandura
-Social learning theory
-Bridges the cognitive+behavioral
1980 +
-Biological approach
-The brain and biological processes
2000-Modern
-Cognitive neuroscience
-Branches cognitive + behavioral approach
-fMRI/PET
Methodological strength psychology as a science
-Modern psychology can claim to be scientific
-Many approaches use controlled variables and lab studies
-Biological and Cognitive neuroscience use objective measurements
What are the 3 main aspects of Wundt’s psychology
Introspection
Standardized procedures
Structuralism
What was the main aim of Wundt’s psychology
To study and analyse human consciousness using a method of introspection
What is introspection
The study of the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations
What methods did Wundt use to make psychology more scientific
Standardized procedures
What is introspection a form of
Structuralism-breaking down the structure of conscious awareness
What were Wundt’s standardized procedures
-Presenting stimuli in the same order
-Giving the same instructions to all the participants
An example of Wundt’s experiment using standardized procedures
-Participant given a ticking metronome
-Participants would then describe their thoughts, images and sensations
No Paradigm psychology as a science
Paradigm = a set of principles, assumptions and methods that all people who work within a subject agree on
Psychology has no Paradigm due to the vast number of disagreements between approaches
