, Maaha Malik
Psychology
Approaches
Introspection
Wilhelm Wundt
• Variety of methods to collect data in his lab
• Developed the method of introspection
• A method involving asking participants to observe their inner mental processes like
emotions, then to report them back to the researcher in terms of intensity, duration or
quality
• This method involves training the participants so they have the acquired skills to be able to
observe their inner mental processes accurately
• He also presented each participant with the same stimuli (metronome) in a controlled
environment and asked them to describe their experiences
• This means that Wundt may have been the first person to try and examine the human mind
in a scientific way
• This developed the idea that psychology is in fact a science
Psychodynamic Approach
Sigmund Freud
• Austrian doctor who developed his own ideas about the unconscious mind
• Used clinical evidence from his patients, he became convinced that some areas of the mind
are inaccessible and can only be reached with the help of a psychologist
• These ideas formed the basis of the psychodynamic approach
• However this approach is often criticised for not being scientific as it relies on subjective
interpretations of individuals thought processes and dreams by the psychologist
Behaviourist Approach
John .B. Watson
• American psychologist who questioned the focus on the mind in the 1900’s
• 1913 ‘psychology as the behaviourist views it’ also known as the behaviourist manifesto
outlined new philosophy called Behaviourism
• Argues that psychology should adopt a scientific approach
• Collecting objective data using scientific methods like experiments
• Behaviourists focus on observable behaviour rather than subjective behaviour or processes
in the head that are subject to bias
• This approach dominated until the 1940’s
Psychology
Approaches
Introspection
Wilhelm Wundt
• Variety of methods to collect data in his lab
• Developed the method of introspection
• A method involving asking participants to observe their inner mental processes like
emotions, then to report them back to the researcher in terms of intensity, duration or
quality
• This method involves training the participants so they have the acquired skills to be able to
observe their inner mental processes accurately
• He also presented each participant with the same stimuli (metronome) in a controlled
environment and asked them to describe their experiences
• This means that Wundt may have been the first person to try and examine the human mind
in a scientific way
• This developed the idea that psychology is in fact a science
Psychodynamic Approach
Sigmund Freud
• Austrian doctor who developed his own ideas about the unconscious mind
• Used clinical evidence from his patients, he became convinced that some areas of the mind
are inaccessible and can only be reached with the help of a psychologist
• These ideas formed the basis of the psychodynamic approach
• However this approach is often criticised for not being scientific as it relies on subjective
interpretations of individuals thought processes and dreams by the psychologist
Behaviourist Approach
John .B. Watson
• American psychologist who questioned the focus on the mind in the 1900’s
• 1913 ‘psychology as the behaviourist views it’ also known as the behaviourist manifesto
outlined new philosophy called Behaviourism
• Argues that psychology should adopt a scientific approach
• Collecting objective data using scientific methods like experiments
• Behaviourists focus on observable behaviour rather than subjective behaviour or processes
in the head that are subject to bias
• This approach dominated until the 1940’s
