From paper 2 psychology with the exam board AQA. This document includes a wide variety of AO1 and Ao3, incorporating issues and debates into evaluation to enhance your essays.
,Origins of psychology
Psychology scientific study of the human mind and its functions and how these influence behavior
Wilhelm Wundt as the ‘founder of psychology’::
- Opened 1st lab dedicated to psychological enquiry in Leipzing, Germany 1879
o Investigate nature of human consciousness
o Focusing on scientific psychology with experimental methods
- So needed controlled conditions allowing for accurate measurements that could be replicated
- Asked people to focus on everyday objects (stimulus) and look inwards
o Noted sensations and feelings and images
o Done immediately to stop opinions influencing
o Recorded thoughts w the
Aim to breaking them down to further explain
- 1 research to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness
st
o Into basic structures of thoughts, feelings, images, reaction and sensations
Terms used:
Term Meaning
Structuralism Isolating parts of consciousness (building blocks of more
elaborate thought process)
Apperception How we organize and make sense of experience
Experimental perception Systematic reporting of an experience of an object
Psychological timeline:
1879, Wundt opens first experimental psychology lab
1900, Freud establishes psychodynamic approach
1904, Pavlov begins behavioral approach w classical conditioning
1913, Watson and Skinner operant conditioning
1954, Maslow and the humanist approach
1961, Bandura and social learning theory
1960s, computer invented - cognitive approach
1980s, biological approach
The emergence of psychology as a science includes:
Controlled observations / Objectivity / Falsifiability / Replicability
, Evaluation
Techniques are subjective
o Watson (behaviorist) – unreliable interpretation technique
o Only observable behaviour should be studied
o Difficult to establish general principles (results not been reliably reproduced)
o Therefore is not truly scientific
o Early behaviorists like Pavlov may have made greater contributions to development
of psychology as he produced reliable findings that are generalizable
Lacks validity
o Aspects of our mind are outside of conscious awareness e.g., implicit racism
o Self-reports through introspection would not uncover this
o Reports therefore may not be accurate
No ecological validity
o Too much concentration on objectivity and control
o Create artificial situations w operationalized variables – not about normal behaviour
o Lacks mundane realism and is not generalizable
Not all psychologists believe human behaviour can be explored by use of scientific bethods
o Human behaviour may not be subject to regulations made by scientific methods
o Predictions become difficult and methods inappropriate
o Approaches focusing on abstract concepts / unconscious mind (e.g., Freud) believe
not all human behaviour can be easily measured and tested
o Reductionist approach loses complexity of human mind
Contribution to approaches in psychology
o Relying on objective and systematic methods w controlled environments
o To establish general theories about mental processes
o Forerunner of cognitive approach – used Wundt’s ideas to develop more empirical
o Cognitive neuroscience (eg) has increased credibility of psych as a science
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