Evaluation for Wundt. introspection & emergence of psychology as a science

What are two strengths of Wundt’s contribution?

Two strengths of Wundt’s contribution=

• scientific methods

• still useful in psychology (Csikszentmihalyi and Hunter)

Why are “scientific methods” a strength to Wundt’s contribution?

Scientific methods a strength to Wundt’s contribution=

• introspections recorded on the controlled environment of the lab, so extraneous variables were not a factor

• procedures & instructions were standardised: all ppts received same info & tested in the same way

Why is being “still useful in psychology” a strength to Wundt’s contribution?

Still useful in psychology a strength to Wundt’s contribution =

• Csikszentmihalyi & Hunter (2003) used introspective methods to making happiness a measurable phenomenon

- when teens here their beepers during random times of the day, they write their thoughts & feelings

What are two weaknesses of Wundt’s contribution?

Two weakness of Wundt’s contribution=

• unscientific today

• unreliable, as it’s unobservable

Why is “unscientific today” a weakness of Wundt’s contribution?

Unscientific today a weakness of Wundt’s contribution=

• it relied on ppts’ self-reporting, which is subjective

• ppts may have hidden some of their thoughts

• difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’

Why is “unreliable” a weakness of Wundt’s contribution?

Unreliable as it is unobservable a weakness of Wundt’s contribution=

• relied primarily on ‘nonobservable’ responses

• ppts could report on their conscious experiences; the processes themselves (e.g., memory, perception) were considered to be unobservable constructions.

• the lack of reliability of his methods

• Introspective ‘experimental’ results were not reliably reproducible by other researchers in other labs