The Origins of Psychology
Wundt was impressed by the progress made in natural sciences and
wanted to apply these methods to the mind. Him and his followers
became known as structuralists, as they wanted to know about
(+) Wundt’s methods inspired the whole field of
structure of the mind and mental processes.
psychology, especially the cognitive psychologists. The
- An example is Griffith’s study comparing gambling addicts with structuralists used systematic methods, such as
non-addicts. While playing on a gambling machine, participants standardised instructions, and tested mental
were asked to verbalise their thoughts. It was found that phenomena under strictly-controlled conditions.
addicts made more irrational statements, such as ‘the machine Many techniques pioneered in Wundt’s lab, such as
wants to pay out now’, supporting a cognitive explanation of
reaction time measurements, are still used today.
gambling addiction.
(-)Introspection is seen as unreliable, as the
Research Methods: The structuralists developed the
researchers try to describe their own private thoughts. In
technique of introspection, a way of carefully and
contrast, behaviourist psychologists developed
systematically observing and analysing one’s own
techniques for measuring observable behaviour,
sensations, perceptions, thoughts and feelings. For
which were more reliable. Introspection and Wundt’s
example, the sensations elicited by a ticking
methods fell out of favour in the early 20th century.
metronome could be broken down into things like
loudness, timbre and pitch
They also developed controlled methods for measuring
behaviour, such as reaction times, which are still often
used today, especially in the cognitive approach.
Wundt was impressed by the progress made in natural sciences and
wanted to apply these methods to the mind. Him and his followers
became known as structuralists, as they wanted to know about
(+) Wundt’s methods inspired the whole field of
structure of the mind and mental processes.
psychology, especially the cognitive psychologists. The
- An example is Griffith’s study comparing gambling addicts with structuralists used systematic methods, such as
non-addicts. While playing on a gambling machine, participants standardised instructions, and tested mental
were asked to verbalise their thoughts. It was found that phenomena under strictly-controlled conditions.
addicts made more irrational statements, such as ‘the machine Many techniques pioneered in Wundt’s lab, such as
wants to pay out now’, supporting a cognitive explanation of
reaction time measurements, are still used today.
gambling addiction.
(-)Introspection is seen as unreliable, as the
Research Methods: The structuralists developed the
researchers try to describe their own private thoughts. In
technique of introspection, a way of carefully and
contrast, behaviourist psychologists developed
systematically observing and analysing one’s own
techniques for measuring observable behaviour,
sensations, perceptions, thoughts and feelings. For
which were more reliable. Introspection and Wundt’s
example, the sensations elicited by a ticking
methods fell out of favour in the early 20th century.
metronome could be broken down into things like
loudness, timbre and pitch
They also developed controlled methods for measuring
behaviour, such as reaction times, which are still often
used today, especially in the cognitive approach.
