In this study note we consider the origins of psychology and outline the contribution of Wundt - generally considered the father of experimental psychology. Show
The origins of psychologyAlthough the term psychology meaning “study of the soul” had been in use since the 16th century, its modern use arose in the 19th century when philosophers, physiologists and physicians applied the scientific method to studying the mind. The key step in this was the acceptance that conscious mental life was linked to biological processes in the body - a consequence of Darwin’s theory of evolution. This implied that the same methods used in the natural sciences could be used to study mental phenomena. By the end of the 19th century:
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) is generally considered the father of experimental psychology. After studying medicine, he worked as a physiologist at Heidelberg University and later at Leipzig University. While at Heidelberg, he delivered the first university course on scientific psychology and went on to write the first textbook on psychology, “Principles of Physiological Psychology” (Wundt, 1873-4). In 1879, at Leipzig University, he set up the first laboratory dedicated to experimental psychology. In doing so, he separated psychology from philosophy and biology and became the first person to be called a psychologist. Wundt’s approach became known as structuralism because he used experimental methods to find the basic building blocks (structures) of thought and investigate how they interacted. To do this, he studied sensation and perception, breaking participants’ observations of objects, images and events down into constituent parts in the same way that an anatomist would study a body trying to find its constituent parts and how they interact. At first he did this by studying reaction time - systematically changing the stimuli he presented to participants and measuring how long it took them to respond - inferring that the longer it took to respond, the more mental processes must be involved. Later, he adapted and developed a process called introspection to infer more about the nature of the processes involved. The psychology we know today is definitely not the subject it used to be. But how did we get here? And who made it possible? The first psychologist, now known as the founding father of psychology, is Wilhelm Wundt. Wundt developed the technique of introspection to allow researchers to understand individuals' internal thoughts. Now, this may not seem that crazy, but back then, he was one of the first to try and measure internal thoughts. Wundt and introspection have facilitated psychology to become the subject it is today.
Origins of Psychology: Wundt and IntrospectionWundt began his career as a medical doctor and neurophysiologist. He later argued that the psychology of humans could be investigated using scientific methods. He was the first to open a psychology lab and distinguished psychology as a genuine scientific field separate from the natural sciences and philosophy. While working in his role during his early career as an assistant to lecturer Hermann von Helmholtz, a physicist and physiologist, Wundt wrote his first book, Contributions to the Theory of Sense Perception. Six years later, he began to pursue his growing interest in psychology. As an associate professor, Wundt began teaching psychological topics. He published his lectures in his next book, an anthology titled Lectures on Human and Animal Psychology. His third book became a crucial text in the history of psychology. It was the very first textbook to be written on experimental psychology. Wundt's laboratory was at the University of Leipzig, Germany. It was the first of its kind and sparked the development of psychology into the rich, interesting and scientific discipline that we know today. Wilhelm Wundt was the first person ever to call himself a psychologist and is widely known for his introspection methods, the first psychological experimental technique to be considered scientific. Introspection is a technique developed by Wundt which involves participants reflecting and reporting their mental and emotional thoughts and states.  Wundt: The First Psychological LaboratoryWhile studying at the University of Leipzig, Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory. This event, which occurred in 1879, is regarded as the birth of the modern field of experimental psychology. The lab began by employing graduate students, who carried out research led by Wundt himself. It soon attracted the interest of many scholars, all intrigued by the new area of study Wundt had established. The lab quickly grew, from one room with 15 assistants to a whole institute of psychology with its building, officially recognised by the university in 1883. At this time, Wundt was teaching two-hour lectures daily, six days a week, on psychology, anthropology and philosophy. In this groundbreaking lab, he created the experimental technique of introspection. Wundt, Structuralism and IntrospectionTitchener, a student of Wundt's, used his teachings to develop one of the first approaches to psychology, structuralism. The approach aims to break down a phenomenon into simple components to understand behaviour, specifically consciousness. Rather than focusing on their function, it focused on what occurs during mental processes. The main goal of psychology then and now is to understand phenomena based on evidence. Now we can't see our consciousness. So how can it be measured? This is where introspection comes in. Wundt argued that we could use introspection techniques to understand what is happening in our consciousness. The process relies on individuals' focusing on their current state. Wundt favoured psychology as a scientific topic and argued that participants and observers should be as objective as possible. Thus, individuals should report their feelings and not try to interpret the meaning. Think about when you see a spider. You may notice that your heart rate is increasing; you are paying attention to your internal state as we don't have a system that alerts us that our heart rate is rising. From this, you realise you are scared of spiders, so you run away and call for help. In essence, this is introspection. Introspection ExampleIn his lab, Wundt aimed to make the process of introspection as systematic, replicable, structured and controlled as possible to present psychology as legitimate science. He instructed that all introspection carried out in his lab should follow set instructions. In simpler terms, this means that Wundt wanted his observers to know what they planned to observe before they began introspection. The person carrying out introspection should follow the course of their thoughts without losing their focus. He aimed for the observations to be replicated many times, and if they changed due to certain stimuli or environmental changes, for his observers to investigate the effects these changes created. This controlled method of introspection is often considered the first experimental method in psychology. However, this would not be regarded as scientific by modern standards. In modern society, aspects of introspection are used when writing diaries or during mindfulness practices. Let's take a look at an introspection example in a research setting. Wundt believed that the elements that constitute consciousness are sensations and feelings. An experiment that used introspection involved exposing participants to the sounds of a metronome and asking them to describe the subsequent sensations. The participants were given the same instructions and were tested in the same conditions. The study found that participants generally felt:
Wundt argued that these emotions predominantly constitute our affective state. Wundt and Introspection Evaluation: Strengths of Wundt and IntrospectionWundt's and introspection's strength is that it paved the way and caused a wave of later researchers to develop it to the scientific processes that we use today. The research methods proposed by Wundt all followed consistent instructions and conditions, meaning that the research could be considered to have high internal reliability. Practising introspection as an individual rather than in an experimental setting may benefit our mental health. For example, in some therapeutic settings (such as psychodynamic therapies), therapists help clients to find the root of their anxieties or stresses, and the process of introspection could help with that. Observing our thoughts may help us understand them, and when we find patterns in our thinking, we can see what may trigger them, which can help us avoid or interrupt unhelpful thinking patterns in the future. Therapies, such as CBT offered by the NHS, usually use a set framework similar for everyone receiving the intervention. In this intervention, clients are required to reflect on their current state. These concepts are similar to introspection. CBT is widely established as an effective intervention for many psychological illnesses. Wundt and Introspection Evaluation: Weakness of Wundt and IntrospectionOne main criticism of introspection is that it is a subjective method of experimentation, whereas scientific methods usually aim to be objective. Introspection is subjective as it can be influenced by cognitive biases (e.g., religious beliefs and upbringing). Some people may experience a particular thought and brand it as negative, whereas others may have the same thought and call it realistic. Even if their experience is the same, their report could be different. In other words, different sets of participants experiencing the same thoughts or feelings could report hugely different data, making it hard to replicate and, therefore, less reliable and generalisable. Another limitation of this approach is that introspection can only be used for certain participants. For example, children or people with severe learning disabilities may be unable to use this technique, and it would be impossible to use it to study animals. We can describe this as having low external validity. A low external validity means the method is not universally applicable. Introspection is criticised as the act of observing our thoughts usually results in us having opinions about them, which leads to a new thought separate from the train of thought we had at first—making it challenging to study what it sets out to, lowering the validity of the research. Who was the first to use experimental methods to study mental processes?Experimental psychology emerged as a modern academic discipline in the 19th century when Wilhelm Wundt introduced a mathematical and experimental approach to the field. Wundt founded the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
Who is the founder of experimental method?From the above information, we can say that the Experimental method was first of all introduced by Wilhelm Wundt.
What was Wilhelm Wundt's theory?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. Wundt argued that conscious mental states could be scientifically studied using introspection.
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