PS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Wilhelm Wundt, Edward B. Titchener, Naturalistic Observation
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Psychology: Roots and Goals
What is psychology? Study of:
- Mental processes and behaviour
- Whole groups and cultures
- Individuals
- Parts of individuals (cell on up)
History of psychology
- Starts in the earliest pages of recorded history
- Starts when people wondered about human nature and behaviour
- Psychology = philosophy
- No unique domain of psychology
- Philosophers were the ones arguing about what it was to be “human”, “alive” and
to “experience things”
- Question, hypothesis, testing (provided us with the tools → methodology)
- *** know names like Socrates etc.
The Change
- Wilhelm Wundt credited as the founder of psychology
- 1879 Leipzig, Germany
- Titchener, etc. were Wundt’s students
- Wundt:
- Conducted experiments, but not like today...
- Questioned experience, immediate, consciousness, belief that all
experience could be reduced to basic elements (like lego/atoms)
- Goal: define/explain the structure of conscious experience
- Experiments such as reaction times, attention span, perception of visual stimuli,
touch and hearing
- Will how does will influence behaviour? → primary motivator for action and
decisions: voluntarism
Two schools of thought
Structuralism
- Titchener → student of Wundt, own spin on Wundt’s ideas
- Belief that all experience could be reduced to basic elements
- Could identify structures (e.g. chemistry, water = H20)
- Used introspection (self observation, self reflection)
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Document Summary
Starts in the earliest pages of recorded history. Starts when people wondered about human nature and behaviour. Philosophers were the ones arguing about what it was to be human , alive and to experience things . Question, hypothesis, testing (provided us with the tools methodology) Wilhelm wundt credited as the founder of psychology. Questioned experience, immediate, consciousness, belief that all experience could be reduced to basic elements (like lego/atoms) Goal: define/explain the structure of conscious experience. Primary motivator for action and decisions: voluntarism. Titchener student of wundt, own spin on wundt"s ideas. Belief that all experience could be reduced to basic elements. Could identify structures (e. g. chemistry, water = h20) Problem: criticism, not objective, stimulus stays same but reported experience could change, changes within and across people. Focus not on structure of consciousness but with how mental processes function. How do we use mental processes to adapt and survive. Darwin: origin of species by natural selection.
