Official June 2024 AQA AS PSYCHOLOGY 7181/2
Paper 2
Wundt's Lab - ANSWER The first ever lab created dedicated to psychology study
was opened by Wundt in 1879.
Wundt's objective - ANSWER He wanted to document and describe the nature of
human consciousness. It involved Wundt and his co-workers recording their
conscious thoughts; with the aim of breaking them down into basic structures of
thoughts, images and sensations
Introspection - ANSWER The first systematic experimental attempt to study the
mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images
and sensations
Wundts controlled methods - ANSWER Some would describe his attempts as naive
but some would recognize the work of Wundt and his co-workers as scientific even
today. All introspection's were recorded under strict conditions using the same
stimulus each time (e.g. a ticking metronome). The same instructions were given to
all participants which meant it could be repeated.
behaviourist - ANSWER A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is
observable in terms of learning. It is not concerned with investigating mental
processes. John B. Watson rejected introspection as it involved too many concepts
that were vague and difficult to measure. As a result behaviourists tried to maintain
more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab experiments.
Behaviourists and Darwin - ANSWER After Darwin behaviorists suggested that
basic processes are the same in all species. This is why Behaviourists use animals
as experimental subjects.
Classical Conditioning - ANSWER Pavlov - learning through association. Pavlov
discovered that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell that was
repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food.
Gradually Pavlov's dogs associated the sound of the bell (a stimulus) with the food
(another stimulus) which would produce salvation as a response every time they
heard the sound.
This showed how a neutral stimulus can bring out a new learned response
(conditioned response) through association.
Operant conditioning - ANSWER Skinner - suggested that learning is an active
process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment. There are 3
different consequences for behaviour:
- Positive reinforcement: receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
e.g. praise from a teacher for packing your toys away in pre-school
Paper 2
Wundt's Lab - ANSWER The first ever lab created dedicated to psychology study
was opened by Wundt in 1879.
Wundt's objective - ANSWER He wanted to document and describe the nature of
human consciousness. It involved Wundt and his co-workers recording their
conscious thoughts; with the aim of breaking them down into basic structures of
thoughts, images and sensations
Introspection - ANSWER The first systematic experimental attempt to study the
mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images
and sensations
Wundts controlled methods - ANSWER Some would describe his attempts as naive
but some would recognize the work of Wundt and his co-workers as scientific even
today. All introspection's were recorded under strict conditions using the same
stimulus each time (e.g. a ticking metronome). The same instructions were given to
all participants which meant it could be repeated.
behaviourist - ANSWER A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is
observable in terms of learning. It is not concerned with investigating mental
processes. John B. Watson rejected introspection as it involved too many concepts
that were vague and difficult to measure. As a result behaviourists tried to maintain
more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab experiments.
Behaviourists and Darwin - ANSWER After Darwin behaviorists suggested that
basic processes are the same in all species. This is why Behaviourists use animals
as experimental subjects.
Classical Conditioning - ANSWER Pavlov - learning through association. Pavlov
discovered that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell that was
repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food.
Gradually Pavlov's dogs associated the sound of the bell (a stimulus) with the food
(another stimulus) which would produce salvation as a response every time they
heard the sound.
This showed how a neutral stimulus can bring out a new learned response
(conditioned response) through association.
Operant conditioning - ANSWER Skinner - suggested that learning is an active
process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment. There are 3
different consequences for behaviour:
- Positive reinforcement: receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
e.g. praise from a teacher for packing your toys away in pre-school
