The Origins of Psychology

Introspection is a method to analyse your own [blank_start]thoughts[blank_end] and [blank_start]feelings[blank_end] internally. In the [blank_start]1800s[blank_end], there were no [blank_start]brain scans[blank_end] or computers to allow people to explore the inside workings of the brain. As a way of investigating people's [blank_start]consciousness[blank_end], Wundt used introspection to study [blank_start]sensation[blank_end] and [blank_start]perception[blank_end]. Participants were asked to describe their experiences when presented with a set of [blank_start]stimuli[blank_end], and often their reaction times were recorded. WEAKNESSES Doesn't explain how the [blank_start]mind[blank_end] works - relies on people describing their [blank_start]thoughts[blank_end] and [blank_start]feelings[blank_end], usually isn't [blank_start]objective[blank_end]. Doesn't provide data that can be used [blank_start]reliably[blank_end] - as people are reporting on their own experiences, their accounts can't be [blank_start]confirmed[blank_end]. STRENGTHS Did [blank_start]influence[blank_end] other areas of the subject

What did Wundt study using introspection?

Wundt didn't believe in reductionism

ARGUMENT FOR PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE [blank_start]Allport[blank_end] (1947) - said psychology has the [blank_start]same[blank_end] aims as science - to [blank_start]predict[blank_end], [blank_start]understand[blank_end] and [blank_start]control[blank_end]. Behaviourist, cognitive and biological approaches to psychology all use [blank_start]scientific[blank_end] procedures to investigate theories - usually [blank_start]controlled[blank_end] and [blank_start]unbiased[blank_end] ARGUMENTS AGAINST PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE There are other approaches in psychology which don't use objective methods to study behaviour - they use [blank_start]unreliable[blank_end] methods (eg. interview techniques which can be biased and interpreted differently by different researchers). It is very hard to get a [blank_start]representative[blank_end] sample of the population for a study, so findings can't reliably be [blank_start]generalised[blank_end]. Psychological experiments are also open to [blank_start]extraneous[blank_end] variables, such as [blank_start]demand characteristics[blank_end], which can be hard to [blank_start]control[blank_end]

Objectivity - scientific observations should be recorded without [blank_start]bias[blank_end] and not influenced by any other factors, or any other people Control - scientific observations should take place under [blank_start]controlled conditions[blank_end] Predictability - scientists should be able to use the results and knowledge gained from experiments to [blank_start]predict[blank_end] future behaviour Hypothesis Testing - theories generate predictions ([blank_start]hypotheses[blank_end]) which can be tested to either strengthen the support for the theory, or else disprove it Replication - each experiment should be able to be [blank_start]replicated[blank_end] exactly so people can have confidence in the results