Approaches Revision Notes
Origins of Psychology:
Psychology
-The scientific study of the mind, behaviour and experience.
Science
-A means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation. The aim is
to discover general laws.
Timeline of Approaches:
• Early 1900s: Sigmund Freud proposes psychodynamic approach, emphasising the
role of the unconscious mind.
•
• 1913: Watson and Skinner establish the behaviourist approach, emphasising the
role of learning.
•
• 1950s: Rogers and Maslow devise the humanistic approach, emphasising the ‘whole
person; and their subjective experience, including the role of free will.
•
• 1950s: the cognitive approach emerges, emphasising the role of thought processes.
•
• 1960s: Bandura proposes social learning theory, emphasising the role of observation
and imitation.
•
• 1980s: the biological approach becomes popular, emphasising the role of the brain
and physical processes.
•
• End of the 20th century: cognitive neuroscience emerges, combining elements of the
cognitive and biological approaches, emphasising the role of biological structures in
determining thought processes.
,Wundt and Introspection:
Wundt’s Lab:
• 1879 - Wilhelm Wundt founded the Institute of Experimental Psychology in a town
called Leipzig in Germany.
• His work is significant because it marked the beginning of scientific psychology,
separating it from its broader philosophical roots.
• Wundt’s aim was to try to analyse the nature of human consciousness, and thus
represented the first systematic attempt to study the mind under controlled
conditions.
This pioneering method became known as introspection:
- Stimulus Exposure - A willing test subject was exposed to any kind of interesting
stimuli.
- Internal Examination - The test subject is asked to examine their own thoughts,
emotions and sensations and report them back.
- Analysis - The psychologists analyse various results to think of explanations and
hypotheses.
Standardised Procedures:
• Wundt’s main objective was to try and develop theories about mental processes,
such as language and perception.
• He and his co-worders recorded their experiences of various stimuli they were
presented with such as different objects or sounds.
• They would divide their observations into three categories, thoughts, images and
sensations.
Structuralism:
• Isolating the structure of consciousness in this way is called structuralism.
• Stimuli used were always presented in the same order and the same instructions
were issued to all participants.
, Evaluation:
Scientific
• Strength of Wundt’s work is that some of his methods were systematic and well-
controlled.
• All introspections were recorded in the controlled environment of the lab, ensuring
that possible extraneous variables were not a factor.
• Procedures and instructions were carefully standardised so that all participants
received the same information and were tested in the same way.
• Suggests that Wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific
approaches in psychology, such as the behaviourist approach.
Subjective Data
• Limitation of Wundt’s research is that other aspects would be considered
unscientific today.
• Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their mental process. Such data is
subjective (influenced by a personal perspective). Also, participants may have hidden
some of their thoughts.
• It is difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’ from such data. And general
laws are useful to predict future behaviour, one of the aims of science.
• Suggests that some of Wundt’s early efforts to study the mind were flawed and
would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
Origins of Psychology:
Psychology
-The scientific study of the mind, behaviour and experience.
Science
-A means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation. The aim is
to discover general laws.
Timeline of Approaches:
• Early 1900s: Sigmund Freud proposes psychodynamic approach, emphasising the
role of the unconscious mind.
•
• 1913: Watson and Skinner establish the behaviourist approach, emphasising the
role of learning.
•
• 1950s: Rogers and Maslow devise the humanistic approach, emphasising the ‘whole
person; and their subjective experience, including the role of free will.
•
• 1950s: the cognitive approach emerges, emphasising the role of thought processes.
•
• 1960s: Bandura proposes social learning theory, emphasising the role of observation
and imitation.
•
• 1980s: the biological approach becomes popular, emphasising the role of the brain
and physical processes.
•
• End of the 20th century: cognitive neuroscience emerges, combining elements of the
cognitive and biological approaches, emphasising the role of biological structures in
determining thought processes.
,Wundt and Introspection:
Wundt’s Lab:
• 1879 - Wilhelm Wundt founded the Institute of Experimental Psychology in a town
called Leipzig in Germany.
• His work is significant because it marked the beginning of scientific psychology,
separating it from its broader philosophical roots.
• Wundt’s aim was to try to analyse the nature of human consciousness, and thus
represented the first systematic attempt to study the mind under controlled
conditions.
This pioneering method became known as introspection:
- Stimulus Exposure - A willing test subject was exposed to any kind of interesting
stimuli.
- Internal Examination - The test subject is asked to examine their own thoughts,
emotions and sensations and report them back.
- Analysis - The psychologists analyse various results to think of explanations and
hypotheses.
Standardised Procedures:
• Wundt’s main objective was to try and develop theories about mental processes,
such as language and perception.
• He and his co-worders recorded their experiences of various stimuli they were
presented with such as different objects or sounds.
• They would divide their observations into three categories, thoughts, images and
sensations.
Structuralism:
• Isolating the structure of consciousness in this way is called structuralism.
• Stimuli used were always presented in the same order and the same instructions
were issued to all participants.
, Evaluation:
Scientific
• Strength of Wundt’s work is that some of his methods were systematic and well-
controlled.
• All introspections were recorded in the controlled environment of the lab, ensuring
that possible extraneous variables were not a factor.
• Procedures and instructions were carefully standardised so that all participants
received the same information and were tested in the same way.
• Suggests that Wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific
approaches in psychology, such as the behaviourist approach.
Subjective Data
• Limitation of Wundt’s research is that other aspects would be considered
unscientific today.
• Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their mental process. Such data is
subjective (influenced by a personal perspective). Also, participants may have hidden
some of their thoughts.
• It is difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’ from such data. And general
laws are useful to predict future behaviour, one of the aims of science.
• Suggests that some of Wundt’s early efforts to study the mind were flawed and
would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
