APPROACHES IN PSYCHOLOGY
Origins of Psychology
Wundt and introspection:
-Wundt opened the first ever lab dedicated entirely to psychological enquiry in Leipzig.
-marked the beginning of scientific psychology, separating it from its broader philosophical
roots.
-his aim was to analyse the nature of human consciousness and represented the first
systematic attempt to study the mind under controlled conditions – introspection (breaking
up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations).
Standardised procedures:
-Wundt’s objective was to try and develop theories about mental processes such as
language and perception.
-he and his co-workers recorded their experiences of various stimuli, dividing their
observations into 3 categories: thoughts, images and sensations.
Structuralism:
-isolating the structure of consciousness
-stimuli were always presented in the same order and the same instructions were issued to
all ppts.
+SCIENTIFIC
Methods were systematic and well-controlled. All introspections were recorded in the
controlled environment of the lab, controlling for extraneous variables. Procedures and
instructions were carefully standardised.
-SUBJECTIVE DATA
Wundt relied on ppts self-reporting their mental processes. Such data is subjective and also,
ppts may have hidden some of their thoughts. It is difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of
bhvr’ from such data and general laws are useful to predict future bhvr.
The emergence of psychology as a science:
Science: a means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation.
The aim is to discover general laws.
1900s behaviourists:
-value of introspection was questioned by many, incl John B Watson, as it produced
subjective data.
-Watson and Skinner proposed that a truly scientific psychology should only study
phenomena that can be observed objectively and measured.
-behaviourists focused on behaviours that they could see and used carefully controlled
experiments, and behaviourism went on to dominate scientific psych for the next 50 years.
1950s cognitive approach:
-digital revolution of the 50s gave a new generation of psychologists a metaphor for studying
the mind.
, -cognitive psychologists likened the mind to a computer (e.g., the multi-store model) and
tested their predictions about memory and attention using experiments.
1980s biological approach:
-researchers within this area have taken advantage of advances in technology to investigate
physiological processes as they happen, for example scanning techniques such as fMRI and
EEG to study live activity in the brain.
-new methods (e.g., genetic testing) also allow us to better understand the relationship
between genes and behaviour.
+MODERN PSYCHOLOGY
Research in modern psych can claim to be scientific. It has the same aims as the natural
sciences – to describe, understand, predict, and control behaviour. The learning, cognitive
and biological approaches all rely on the use of scientific methods e.g., lab studies.
-SUBJECTIVE DATA
Not all approaches use objective methods. The humanistic approach rejects the scientific
approach, preferring to focus on individual and subjective experiences. The psychodynamic
approach makes use of case studies – unrepresentative samples. Finally, the subject of study
– humans- are active ppts in research, responding to things like demand characteristics, so a
scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience may not always be
possible or desirable.
-PARADIGM
Kuhn said that any science must have a paradigm; a set of principles, assumptions, and
methods that all people who work within that subject agree on. He said psychology is not a
science as it does not have a paradigm, there is too much internal disagreement at its core.
Learning approaches: the behaviourist approach
Behaviourist approach: a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in
terms of learning.
Assumptions:
-only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured, not concerned
with investigating mental processes of the mind. (Watson rejected introspection as it
involved too many concepts that were vague and difficult to measure, so behaviourists try to
maintain more control and objectivity within their research and rely on lab studies.)
-all behaviour is learned. Baby’s mind is ‘tabula rasa’ – blank slate, and this is written on by
experience.
-animals replace humans as experimental subjects.
-behaviourists identify 2 important forms of learning: classical and operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning- Pavlov’s research
-learning through association
-Pavlov showed how dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell, if that
sound was repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food. Gradually,
Origins of Psychology
Wundt and introspection:
-Wundt opened the first ever lab dedicated entirely to psychological enquiry in Leipzig.
-marked the beginning of scientific psychology, separating it from its broader philosophical
roots.
-his aim was to analyse the nature of human consciousness and represented the first
systematic attempt to study the mind under controlled conditions – introspection (breaking
up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations).
Standardised procedures:
-Wundt’s objective was to try and develop theories about mental processes such as
language and perception.
-he and his co-workers recorded their experiences of various stimuli, dividing their
observations into 3 categories: thoughts, images and sensations.
Structuralism:
-isolating the structure of consciousness
-stimuli were always presented in the same order and the same instructions were issued to
all ppts.
+SCIENTIFIC
Methods were systematic and well-controlled. All introspections were recorded in the
controlled environment of the lab, controlling for extraneous variables. Procedures and
instructions were carefully standardised.
-SUBJECTIVE DATA
Wundt relied on ppts self-reporting their mental processes. Such data is subjective and also,
ppts may have hidden some of their thoughts. It is difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of
bhvr’ from such data and general laws are useful to predict future bhvr.
The emergence of psychology as a science:
Science: a means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation.
The aim is to discover general laws.
1900s behaviourists:
-value of introspection was questioned by many, incl John B Watson, as it produced
subjective data.
-Watson and Skinner proposed that a truly scientific psychology should only study
phenomena that can be observed objectively and measured.
-behaviourists focused on behaviours that they could see and used carefully controlled
experiments, and behaviourism went on to dominate scientific psych for the next 50 years.
1950s cognitive approach:
-digital revolution of the 50s gave a new generation of psychologists a metaphor for studying
the mind.
, -cognitive psychologists likened the mind to a computer (e.g., the multi-store model) and
tested their predictions about memory and attention using experiments.
1980s biological approach:
-researchers within this area have taken advantage of advances in technology to investigate
physiological processes as they happen, for example scanning techniques such as fMRI and
EEG to study live activity in the brain.
-new methods (e.g., genetic testing) also allow us to better understand the relationship
between genes and behaviour.
+MODERN PSYCHOLOGY
Research in modern psych can claim to be scientific. It has the same aims as the natural
sciences – to describe, understand, predict, and control behaviour. The learning, cognitive
and biological approaches all rely on the use of scientific methods e.g., lab studies.
-SUBJECTIVE DATA
Not all approaches use objective methods. The humanistic approach rejects the scientific
approach, preferring to focus on individual and subjective experiences. The psychodynamic
approach makes use of case studies – unrepresentative samples. Finally, the subject of study
– humans- are active ppts in research, responding to things like demand characteristics, so a
scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience may not always be
possible or desirable.
-PARADIGM
Kuhn said that any science must have a paradigm; a set of principles, assumptions, and
methods that all people who work within that subject agree on. He said psychology is not a
science as it does not have a paradigm, there is too much internal disagreement at its core.
Learning approaches: the behaviourist approach
Behaviourist approach: a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in
terms of learning.
Assumptions:
-only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured, not concerned
with investigating mental processes of the mind. (Watson rejected introspection as it
involved too many concepts that were vague and difficult to measure, so behaviourists try to
maintain more control and objectivity within their research and rely on lab studies.)
-all behaviour is learned. Baby’s mind is ‘tabula rasa’ – blank slate, and this is written on by
experience.
-animals replace humans as experimental subjects.
-behaviourists identify 2 important forms of learning: classical and operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning- Pavlov’s research
-learning through association
-Pavlov showed how dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell, if that
sound was repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food. Gradually,
