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Wilhem Wundt 1832-1920
First person to call himself a pyschologist- human nature could be studied scientifically- studies strictly controlled in his german lab in Leipzig. Aimed to study the structure of the human mind and best way to do was to break down behaviours like sensation and perception . His approach was refered to as structuralism, the technique he used was called introspection. Wundt realised mental processes like language and and emotion could not be studied in a controlled manner.
Describe introspection
The mental process where a person gains knowledge about their own mental/emotional states as a result of examination/observation of concious thoughts and feelings
Describe the emergence of Pyschology as a science
It mostly uses empiricism - the belief all knowledge is gained through sense experience. It was a new scientific approach. Concerned with assumption , finding the cause then being able to predict.
Empiricism
Evaluation
-The approach relied on 'nononservable' responses so Wundt's approaches seemed unreliable.
- Nisbett and Wilson we have little knowledge of causes + processes, ppts mostly unaware of factors affecting their behaviour
- csikszentmihalyi and Hunter used introspective methods to make happiness measurable (introspection CAN be used) they gave a group of teens beeper that went of randomly surprising them ; had to write thoughts/feelings. It should most were unhappy than happy but when focused on challenging task = more upbeat
Strengths of the Scientific approach in pyschology
-reliance in observable methods, Systematic.
-rely on belief of determinism, we are able to produce results through replicable and empirical methods
-if scientific methods no longer applicable they can be abandoned or fixed.
Limitations in Scientific Approach to pyschology
- controlled environments have low ecological validity.
-a lot of Pyschology is unobservable, little accuracy
-not all pyschologist believe human behaviour can be explored with scientific methods, scientific law probz innapropriate to predict human behaviour
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