- A well-written booklet covering the topic Approaches for AS AQA Psychology.
- Includes summarised, detailed notes, question practices, fill in the gaps, A03 evaluation points, progress tracker etc
, Origins of Psychology
What is Psychology?
The scientific study of human mind and its functions especially those functions affecting
behaviour in a given context.
Can you name at least 10 behaviours that are studied in Psychology?
Rene Descarte's Dualism
• Mind and the body are independent
• Mind is an independent object of study
• i think therfore i am.
John Locke's Empiricism
• All experiences are gained through senses
• Human beings inherit neither knowledge nor instinct.
• Basis for Behaviourism
Charles Darwin's Evolutionary theory
• Humans and animals have evolved over generations
• survival of the fittest
• Basis for Biological approach.
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, Who is Wilhelm Wundt and why is he important for
Psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt opened the Institute for Experimental
Psychology at the University of Leipzig in Germany in
1879. This was the first laboratory dedicated to psychology,
Father of Psychology
and its opening is usually thought of as the beginning of
modern psychology.
Wundt was important because he separated psychology
from philosophy by analyzing the workings of the mind in a
more structured way, with the emphasis being on objective
measurement and control.
Wundt believed in reductionism. That is he believed consciousness could be broken down (or
reduced) to its basic elements without sacrificing any of the properties of the whole.
He studied the mind scientifically using introspection.
What is introspection?
Introspection is derived from a Latin meaning called- ‘looking into’.
It is the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by
breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thought,
images, and sensations.
Wundt claimed that with sufficient training, mental processes such
as memory and perception can be observed systematically using
introspection. For example, in an experimental set up, under
controlled conditions, participants will be presented with a stimulus
such as a visual image or an auditory tone. They would then be
asked to provide a description of the inner processes they
experiences as they looked at the image or heard the tone.
Can you introspect about your experience of being in the class of psychology for the first
time?
But do you think that the method of introspection devised is scientific? Answer the following
hint questions that will help you derive at a critical evaluation for the method of
introspection. Explain your answer in about 50 words.
a) Do you think introspection will yield information that is subjective or objective in its
nature?
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