1 - Origins of psychology (Wundt & the emergence of psychology as a science) Variety of q’s
AO1 AO3
The origins of psychology Aspects of Wundt’s work are scientific
Wundt = The father of experimental psychology - He recorded introspections in a controlled lab.
- Wilhelm Wundt established the world’s 1st psych lab - Using standardised procedures (same instructions, stimuli,
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Leipzig, Germany, 1870s etc)
- 1st academic journal publishing psychological experiments - E: Controlled and ensuring all participants were tested the
- Aim: Describe the nature of human consciousness, the same way
“mind” - Large sample sizes and transparent methods
- In a controlled lab environment - L: Wundt’s research can be viewed as fundamental to the later
Introspection scientific approaches in psychology
- 1st SYSTEMATIC experimental attempt / to study the mind - Introduced a baseline level of high scientific rigour.
objectively / using controlled empirical evidence & techniques
Process: Wundt’s contribution to psychology
- CONTROLLED & SYSTEMATIC - Produced the 1st academic journal for psychological research
- Standardised instructions / order / stimuli - Wundt = the father of psychology.
- Ppts presented with standardised sensory events - E: He pioneered the foundations of approaches
- Asked to self-report on their reactions - (behavioural & cognitive psychology), influences on cognitive
- Eg - a ticking metronome psychologists - making inferences about later studied
- Analysing one’s own conscious experience experimental processes like memory and attention.
- Focus on an everyday object / look inwards / notice - L: There are flaws with his early experimental research but he
sensations / feelings & images made a significant contribution to psychology.
- Objective & systematic reporting
- Break down thoughts into separate elements Other aspects of Wundt’s research are subjective
Structuralism - Relied on self-reporting of participants’ private mental
- Introspection = Wundt identified the structure of processes during introspection.
consciousness - Data is subjective & ppts may have hidden thoughts or lied.
- Thoughts / images / sensations - E: Makes it hard to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’
(an aim of science), reduces objectivity - mental states.
Emergence of psychology as a science - Social desirability bias may have been implicated in their
reflections (LOW INTERNAL V)
1900s: Rejection of introspection by Watson (1913), - (Skinner / Watson - criticisms of introspection as unscientific)
- Wundt = controlled conditions, self-report - L: Early efforts to study the mind by Wundt can be deemed as
- Introspection is subjective & influenced by personal ‘naive’, not upholding the strict guidelines of scientific enquiry
perspective. that exist today
- “Scientific” psychology should be measured/observable.
Modern psychology can claim to be ‘scientific’
1930s: Behaviourist scientific approach dominated - Psychology has the same aims as the natural sciences (to
- Watson & behaviourism describe/understand/control and predict behaviour)
- Language/rigour of natural sciences into psych - E: Many approaches use scientific methods (lab studies,
- Focus on learning, carefully controlled lab studies. control - biological, behavioural, etc)
- EG: Genetic scanning & family studies to identify candidate
1950s: Cognitive approach genes
- Studied mental processes scientifically - L: In the 20th century, psychology has established itself to be
- Computer revolution → memory & attention testing, likening a scientific discipline.
the mind to a computer - Growing value & reputation
- Legitimised the study of the mind
Some psychological approaches use subjective data
1980s: Biological approach - Humanistic approach does not formulate laws of behaviour
- Technological advances - Psychodynamic approach uses case studies (unrepresentative
- Brain scans to monitor activity (fMRI & EEG) & genetic samples)
research methods. - E: Psychologists who study humans are active participants ->
- More rigorous (computer modelling, scanning) demand characteristics and investigator bias.
- L: A scientific approach to the study of human thought is NOT
POSSIBLE (no empirical evidence - brain scanning, recent
developments, maybe) POPPER → Not falsifiable
, 2 - Learning approaches: The BEHAVIOURIST approach
AO1 AO3
Behaviourist principles Behaviourism used well-controlled research
Focus on observable behaviour - Focus on the careful measurement of observable behaviour in
- Studying behaviour which can be observed and measured. a controlled lab.
- Introspection was rejected = too vague and difficult to - E: Behaviours are broken down into stimulus- response units
measure concepts by behaviourists. & causal relationships studied
- Mind is a black box - EG: Skinner boxes and Pavlov’s saliva collection experiments.
Controlled lab studies - L: Behaviourism experiments have scientific credibility.
- Maintaining control and objectivity - Empirical and objective nature of behaviourism
- Stimulus - response units, hypothesis & conclusions
Use of animals Behaviourist laws have real-world application
- Processes that govern learning are the same in all species - Application to a broad range of real world problems and
- so animals can replace humans as experimental subjects behaviours in every decade (temporal -> high ext. validity)
- E: ‘Token economy systems’ are behaviour management
Classical conditioning (1920s) systems where appropriate behaviours are exchanged for
PAVLOV’s research privileges
- Learning by association; - (O.C - using secondary reinforcers - neutral tokens to gain
- Pavlov showed how a NS can come to elicit a new learned generalised reinforcers - the primary driver)
response (CR) through association. - Use in prisons & treating SZ
- Using dogs and measuring saliva produced - Systematic desensitisation for phobias
- UCS = Food / UCR = Salivation / NS = Bell - L: Increases the value of the approach due to the widespread
BEFORE CONDITIONING: applicability.
- UCS → UCR / NS -→ No response
DURING CONDITIONING: A form of environmental determinism
- NS + UCS - Behaviours are shaped by internal/external forces and past
- (Bell is paired with the arrival of food) experiences that have been conditioned and free will has no
AFTER CONDITIONING: influence.
- CS → CR (Bell leads to salivation) - “You are a product of your environment”
- LOCKE: We are born “tabula rasa” (like a blank slate and you
Operant conditioning (1950s) are shaped)
SKINNER’s research - E: Skinner suggested free will was an illusion
- Learning as an active process - Past conditioning always determines our outcomes and
- Humans/animals operate on their environment. actions.
- Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences - L: An extreme viewpoint, ignoring all influence of conscious
SKINNER BOXES decision-making processes
- Rats: skinner box / Pigeons: pellets - No internal mental processes, mechanistic view that we are
when they turned simply passive responders.
- Rat activated a lever = rewarded with
a food pellet Behavioural modification - negative real-w applications
- A desirable consequence = the - Behaviourist modification techniques
repetition of that behaviour - Used to alter human behaviour
- Wrong lever = electric shock - Manipulative with harmful affects
- Right lever = no shock - EG → Gambling, exploiting compulsive behaviours with
knowledge of their harm
3 consequences of behaviour: - E: Positive reinforcement - sounds, colours, money, physical
Positive reinforcement actions
- Receiving a reward when a behaviour is performed - Ethical concerns around token economies (dehumanising,
- Eg → stickers / food coercing vulnerable people into compliance)
Negative reinforcement - L: Negative implications on mental health, increasing social
- Avoiding something unpleasant when a behaviour is isolation and reducing quality of life, contributing to rising
performed addictions.
- Eg → Taking a tablet to relieve pain - COST-BENEFIT analysis needed
Punishment
- An unpleasant consequence of behaviour
- Punishment decreases it - extinction
- The INTERPLAY of + & - reinforcement increase the likelihood
of repeating the behaviour
AO1 AO3
The origins of psychology Aspects of Wundt’s work are scientific
Wundt = The father of experimental psychology - He recorded introspections in a controlled lab.
- Wilhelm Wundt established the world’s 1st psych lab - Using standardised procedures (same instructions, stimuli,
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Leipzig, Germany, 1870s etc)
- 1st academic journal publishing psychological experiments - E: Controlled and ensuring all participants were tested the
- Aim: Describe the nature of human consciousness, the same way
“mind” - Large sample sizes and transparent methods
- In a controlled lab environment - L: Wundt’s research can be viewed as fundamental to the later
Introspection scientific approaches in psychology
- 1st SYSTEMATIC experimental attempt / to study the mind - Introduced a baseline level of high scientific rigour.
objectively / using controlled empirical evidence & techniques
Process: Wundt’s contribution to psychology
- CONTROLLED & SYSTEMATIC - Produced the 1st academic journal for psychological research
- Standardised instructions / order / stimuli - Wundt = the father of psychology.
- Ppts presented with standardised sensory events - E: He pioneered the foundations of approaches
- Asked to self-report on their reactions - (behavioural & cognitive psychology), influences on cognitive
- Eg - a ticking metronome psychologists - making inferences about later studied
- Analysing one’s own conscious experience experimental processes like memory and attention.
- Focus on an everyday object / look inwards / notice - L: There are flaws with his early experimental research but he
sensations / feelings & images made a significant contribution to psychology.
- Objective & systematic reporting
- Break down thoughts into separate elements Other aspects of Wundt’s research are subjective
Structuralism - Relied on self-reporting of participants’ private mental
- Introspection = Wundt identified the structure of processes during introspection.
consciousness - Data is subjective & ppts may have hidden thoughts or lied.
- Thoughts / images / sensations - E: Makes it hard to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’
(an aim of science), reduces objectivity - mental states.
Emergence of psychology as a science - Social desirability bias may have been implicated in their
reflections (LOW INTERNAL V)
1900s: Rejection of introspection by Watson (1913), - (Skinner / Watson - criticisms of introspection as unscientific)
- Wundt = controlled conditions, self-report - L: Early efforts to study the mind by Wundt can be deemed as
- Introspection is subjective & influenced by personal ‘naive’, not upholding the strict guidelines of scientific enquiry
perspective. that exist today
- “Scientific” psychology should be measured/observable.
Modern psychology can claim to be ‘scientific’
1930s: Behaviourist scientific approach dominated - Psychology has the same aims as the natural sciences (to
- Watson & behaviourism describe/understand/control and predict behaviour)
- Language/rigour of natural sciences into psych - E: Many approaches use scientific methods (lab studies,
- Focus on learning, carefully controlled lab studies. control - biological, behavioural, etc)
- EG: Genetic scanning & family studies to identify candidate
1950s: Cognitive approach genes
- Studied mental processes scientifically - L: In the 20th century, psychology has established itself to be
- Computer revolution → memory & attention testing, likening a scientific discipline.
the mind to a computer - Growing value & reputation
- Legitimised the study of the mind
Some psychological approaches use subjective data
1980s: Biological approach - Humanistic approach does not formulate laws of behaviour
- Technological advances - Psychodynamic approach uses case studies (unrepresentative
- Brain scans to monitor activity (fMRI & EEG) & genetic samples)
research methods. - E: Psychologists who study humans are active participants ->
- More rigorous (computer modelling, scanning) demand characteristics and investigator bias.
- L: A scientific approach to the study of human thought is NOT
POSSIBLE (no empirical evidence - brain scanning, recent
developments, maybe) POPPER → Not falsifiable
, 2 - Learning approaches: The BEHAVIOURIST approach
AO1 AO3
Behaviourist principles Behaviourism used well-controlled research
Focus on observable behaviour - Focus on the careful measurement of observable behaviour in
- Studying behaviour which can be observed and measured. a controlled lab.
- Introspection was rejected = too vague and difficult to - E: Behaviours are broken down into stimulus- response units
measure concepts by behaviourists. & causal relationships studied
- Mind is a black box - EG: Skinner boxes and Pavlov’s saliva collection experiments.
Controlled lab studies - L: Behaviourism experiments have scientific credibility.
- Maintaining control and objectivity - Empirical and objective nature of behaviourism
- Stimulus - response units, hypothesis & conclusions
Use of animals Behaviourist laws have real-world application
- Processes that govern learning are the same in all species - Application to a broad range of real world problems and
- so animals can replace humans as experimental subjects behaviours in every decade (temporal -> high ext. validity)
- E: ‘Token economy systems’ are behaviour management
Classical conditioning (1920s) systems where appropriate behaviours are exchanged for
PAVLOV’s research privileges
- Learning by association; - (O.C - using secondary reinforcers - neutral tokens to gain
- Pavlov showed how a NS can come to elicit a new learned generalised reinforcers - the primary driver)
response (CR) through association. - Use in prisons & treating SZ
- Using dogs and measuring saliva produced - Systematic desensitisation for phobias
- UCS = Food / UCR = Salivation / NS = Bell - L: Increases the value of the approach due to the widespread
BEFORE CONDITIONING: applicability.
- UCS → UCR / NS -→ No response
DURING CONDITIONING: A form of environmental determinism
- NS + UCS - Behaviours are shaped by internal/external forces and past
- (Bell is paired with the arrival of food) experiences that have been conditioned and free will has no
AFTER CONDITIONING: influence.
- CS → CR (Bell leads to salivation) - “You are a product of your environment”
- LOCKE: We are born “tabula rasa” (like a blank slate and you
Operant conditioning (1950s) are shaped)
SKINNER’s research - E: Skinner suggested free will was an illusion
- Learning as an active process - Past conditioning always determines our outcomes and
- Humans/animals operate on their environment. actions.
- Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences - L: An extreme viewpoint, ignoring all influence of conscious
SKINNER BOXES decision-making processes
- Rats: skinner box / Pigeons: pellets - No internal mental processes, mechanistic view that we are
when they turned simply passive responders.
- Rat activated a lever = rewarded with
a food pellet Behavioural modification - negative real-w applications
- A desirable consequence = the - Behaviourist modification techniques
repetition of that behaviour - Used to alter human behaviour
- Wrong lever = electric shock - Manipulative with harmful affects
- Right lever = no shock - EG → Gambling, exploiting compulsive behaviours with
knowledge of their harm
3 consequences of behaviour: - E: Positive reinforcement - sounds, colours, money, physical
Positive reinforcement actions
- Receiving a reward when a behaviour is performed - Ethical concerns around token economies (dehumanising,
- Eg → stickers / food coercing vulnerable people into compliance)
Negative reinforcement - L: Negative implications on mental health, increasing social
- Avoiding something unpleasant when a behaviour is isolation and reducing quality of life, contributing to rising
performed addictions.
- Eg → Taking a tablet to relieve pain - COST-BENEFIT analysis needed
Punishment
- An unpleasant consequence of behaviour
- Punishment decreases it - extinction
- The INTERPLAY of + & - reinforcement increase the likelihood
of repeating the behaviour
