Describe and evaluate Wundt’s role in the emergence of psychology as a
science (16)
AO1
P- Wundt is regarded as the first psychologist to attempt to study psychology as a science.
E- For instance, he opened the first ever laboratory dedicated to psychological inquiry in 1879,
which was in Germany.
E- This laboratory’s main objective, as set by Wundt, was to document and describe the nature
of human consciousness. This was done in this controlled laboratory setting adhering to a
standard scientific method.
L- Thus, Wundt is seen to be a pioneer of establishing psychology as a scientific discipline.
AO1
P- Wundt’s method of studying behaviour and thought was based on isolating the structure of
consciousness; this was called structuralism.
E- For example, structuralism is applied in introspection, a method of studying thinking and
feelings pioneered by Wundt
E- Introspection involves training participants to objectively report their responses, thoughts, and
feelings in response to specific stimuli. Here, they would record their own conscious thoughts,
with the aim of breaking these down into their constituent parts.
L- Thus, this use of standardised procedure caused Wundt to believe he was studying
psychology scientifically. This was significant in that it marked the separation of modern
scientific psychology from its broader philosophical roots.
AO3
P- One weakness of this is that it was rejected by behaviourists and deemed unscientific.
E- For instance, Watson, a behavioural psychologist, criticised introspection due to its subjective
nature making it very difficult to establish general principles.
E- This means that introspection would not be generalisable or valid in explaining internal
processes as the results vary greatly and the method was in fact not scientific.
L- Thus, Wundt ultimately did not succeed in studying psychologically empirically nor
scientifically due to the methodological flaws of introspection
AO3
P- Another weakness of Wundt’s introspection is that it has weak validity
E- For instance, it was initially introduced as a method for investigating human behaviours and
experience however, complex topics such as learning, development, mental disorders, and
personality could not be investigated with this method.
E- This is because it is subjective - only an individual can report his/her own mental processes,
and these reports are often not representative of these mental processes and phenomena in
wider populations, making studies which use introspection highly ungeneralisable as the results
of its studies are often inaccurate
L- Therefore, introspection further loses usefulness as the validity and generalisability of studies
using introspection are often very low, making it less useful as a method of studying psychology
empirically.
science (16)
AO1
P- Wundt is regarded as the first psychologist to attempt to study psychology as a science.
E- For instance, he opened the first ever laboratory dedicated to psychological inquiry in 1879,
which was in Germany.
E- This laboratory’s main objective, as set by Wundt, was to document and describe the nature
of human consciousness. This was done in this controlled laboratory setting adhering to a
standard scientific method.
L- Thus, Wundt is seen to be a pioneer of establishing psychology as a scientific discipline.
AO1
P- Wundt’s method of studying behaviour and thought was based on isolating the structure of
consciousness; this was called structuralism.
E- For example, structuralism is applied in introspection, a method of studying thinking and
feelings pioneered by Wundt
E- Introspection involves training participants to objectively report their responses, thoughts, and
feelings in response to specific stimuli. Here, they would record their own conscious thoughts,
with the aim of breaking these down into their constituent parts.
L- Thus, this use of standardised procedure caused Wundt to believe he was studying
psychology scientifically. This was significant in that it marked the separation of modern
scientific psychology from its broader philosophical roots.
AO3
P- One weakness of this is that it was rejected by behaviourists and deemed unscientific.
E- For instance, Watson, a behavioural psychologist, criticised introspection due to its subjective
nature making it very difficult to establish general principles.
E- This means that introspection would not be generalisable or valid in explaining internal
processes as the results vary greatly and the method was in fact not scientific.
L- Thus, Wundt ultimately did not succeed in studying psychologically empirically nor
scientifically due to the methodological flaws of introspection
AO3
P- Another weakness of Wundt’s introspection is that it has weak validity
E- For instance, it was initially introduced as a method for investigating human behaviours and
experience however, complex topics such as learning, development, mental disorders, and
personality could not be investigated with this method.
E- This is because it is subjective - only an individual can report his/her own mental processes,
and these reports are often not representative of these mental processes and phenomena in
wider populations, making studies which use introspection highly ungeneralisable as the results
of its studies are often inaccurate
L- Therefore, introspection further loses usefulness as the validity and generalisability of studies
using introspection are often very low, making it less useful as a method of studying psychology
empirically.
