THE BEGINNINGS OF THE FIELD OF on the characteristics of what they were

PSYCHOLOGY surreptitiously (that is, privately) experiencing

with the help of substantial training. Hence, a
subject may be seated in front of a desk and
At the German University of Leipzig in 1879, asked to describe the magnitude and length of
Wilhelm Wundt is credited for establishing the the visuals, sensations, and feelings that she or
field of psychology as a separate academic he is experiencing at the moment.
study. Just at that time and location, the very
first laboratory that was solely devoted to the
study of psychological occurrences was It was only a matter of time before other
founded. Previous to that time, investigations scientists with an interest in psychology voiced
that now fall under the umbrella of psychology their opinions on various parts of Wundt's
were carried out in settings more traditionally groundbreaking approach to the field. William
associated with physics and neurology. James, a professor at Harvard, released his
Research on psychophysics undertaken by seminal textbook, The Principles of Psychology,
Fechner (1860) exploring changes on sensory in 1890. This book is considered to provide the
dimensions that are only apparent is one foundation for most of the material and design
example. Helmholtz's studies of vision, which of later introductory psychology textbooks.
were conducted between the years 1850 and Edward Titchner, a student of Wundt's who
1860, are another example (translated into established a laboratory at Cornell University,
English in 1924). differentiated between Wundt's and James'
approaches to psychology, labeling the former
as functionalism and the latter as structuralism.
About Wilhelm Wundt Titchner was a student of Wundt's when he first
began his work in the field of psychology (1898,
Wundt (1873, 1896) described psychology as 1899). James Angell, a professor at the
the scientific study of conscious experience, or University of Chicago, provided a response to
as the study of the mind, as some people like to this issue using the functionalist point of view in
refer to it. Dmitri Mendeleev, the Russian 1903 and 1907. Charles Darwin's (1859) insights
scientist who developed the periodic table of about natural selection were a significant factor
elements, was a significant intellectual that affected this point of view. Titchner and
inspiration for him. Wundt believed that the Angell contended that Wundt's initial purpose
purpose of psychology should be to identify the of investigating conscious experience did not
underlying components of conscious fully stress the adaptive function performed by
experience, which he referred to as a kind of the mind in survival. Titchner and Angell were
"mental chemistry." His study indicated that the responding to Wundt's contention that
fundamental components were pictures, analyzing conscious experience was his primary
sensations, and emotional states (also known as goal. In addition to William James and James
emotions), and that these parts possessed the Angell, the key functionalists also included John
characteristics of quality, intensity, and Dewey and Harvey Carr, both of whom were
duration. Introspection, or "seeing inside," was affiliated with the University of Chicago. They
the only strategy that Wundt used throughout argued for expanding the goals of psychology
his research. He was of the opinion that people and proposed expanding the methodology of
could be educated to the point where they psychology beyond introspection to include
could be trained to make objective judgements
active experimentation in which the effects of while attempting to describe conscious
different variables could be investigated. In experience. For instance, describing a desk in
addition to their argument for expanding the terms of the sights and sounds it conjures up as
goals of psychology, they proposed expanding well as the feelings it evokes in the body does
the methodology. not reflect the meaningful totality that we
experience.

About William James

About Max Wertheimer
Max Wertheimer, a doctor of psychology, began
his investigation into the perceptual sensation There is a running joke in the scientific
of apparent movement, which he would later community that scientific progress is made
refer to as the phi phenomenon, in the year when one scientist "stands on the shoulders of
1910. He had recently acquired a toy another scientist," but psychological progress is
stroboscope, which, when used in conjunction made when one psychologist "stomps on the
with appropriately timed presentations of still head of another psychologist." It's possible that
photographs, could give the impression of the person who made this statement had John
continuity (in a manner analogous to the Watson in mind when they did so. After
projection of filmed still images in a movie receiving his training as a functionalist at the
theater), and he was looking for people to University of Chicago, Watson took an
experiment on in order to study the effect. At outstanding post at Johns Hopkins University,
the Frankfurt Psychological Institute, he was where he stayed for the next 12 years after
able to use the laboratory facilities thanks to a graduating. With the publication of his paper
friend who also connected him to the great "Psychology as the Behaviorist Sees It" (1913) in
post-doctoral students Kurt Koffka and Psychological Review, the field underwent
Wolfgang Kohler, who would serve as subject nothing less than a fundamental shift that will
colleagues (Kendler, 1987). This merger led to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. In
the development of a separate psychological contrast to the functionalists and Gestalt
approach that is now known as Gestalt psychologists, Watson believed that Wundt's
psychology (Kohler, 1929). It is common method was off to the wrong start. The concept
practice to interpret the German term gestalt as of psychology, its objectives, and its approach
"organized whole," and the tagline "the whole is were all brought into question by his manifesto.
greater than the sum of its parts" aptly reflects Watson came to the conclusion that in order for
the primary takeaway from this method. The psychology to be classified as a natural science,
purpose of studying conscious experience was the field's subject matter would have to satisfy
something that gestalt psychologists and the three requirements of being visible,
structuralism could not agree on. This message testable, and reproducible. Since conscious
was shown with an example using the phi experience is incapable of being independently
phenomenon. It is not permissible to divide the validated in any way, there is no way to ask
phenomena into separate presentations of testable questions about it, and the findings
individual images and conduct analysis. They cannot be duplicated. With his definition of
contended that doing so would be misleading psychology as the "science of individual
and would really undermine the fundamental conduct," Watson restricted the subject matter
nature of what we experience. It was necessary of psychology to observable behavior in order
to operate at the level of whole ordered units to narrow its scope. To achieve the objective of
accurate prediction and effective management galvanic skin response (GSR), Skinner-box,
of observed behavior, the scientific approach electroencephalograph (EEG), magnetic
would be used. resonance imaging (MRI), computerized
recording of behavior, and other such
innovations were beneficial to psychology.
The behaviorism of John B. Watson was
notorious for its hostility against introspection
as a research strategy. Introspection was not The contemporary field of psychology has also
only intrinsically subjective, which made the benefited from the sage advice offered by
independently verifiable replication of findings Gestalt psychologists. When it was found that
difficult; also, it was a reactive method that many of the findings made on human memory
unduly constrained the field's scope of study. A based on the study of nonsense syllables (for
process is said to be reactive if the example, GUX) did not apply to meaningful
observational procedure has an effect on the words and sentences, this was a difficult lesson
findings of the operation. The process of to learn. Certainly, it was a difficult lesson to
introspection, according to Watson's argument, learn. For instance, research has shown that the
must inevitably result in a change to a person's individual letters that make up words are
conscious experience. That is to say, the results processed concurrently rather than sequentially
of the study that were gained while (Adelman, Marquis, and Sabatos-DeVito, 2010).
introspecting would only be applicable under This indicates that the word is processed as a
conditions in which a person is engaged in "Gestalt," which refers to an ordered whole,
introspection. This is not how things usually and not as individual letters.
work at all. It was also hard to analyze atypical
populations, children, or other animals as
subjects since only dependable verbal human Within the field of psychology, functionalism is
people could correctly express their still a significant influence. Likewise,
introspections. This made it impossible to do evolutionary psychology has lately emerged as a
the research. unifying viewpoint for such disparate topic
areas as biological psychology, learning, and
social psychology. This is because evolutionary
Psychology Today psychology is an approach that is congruent
with significant ideas discussed in this book
Every single one of the main early schools made
(Confer, Easton, Fleischman, Goetz, Lewis, and
a considerable contribution to the way that
Buss, 2010).
psychology is today practiced. Backtracking, it is
established that the scope of our scientific
observations is restricted to observable activity
Wilhelm Wundt was able to define, express the
(Skinner, 1990). In point of fact, much like the
aims of, and create the methodology of
expansion of subject matter in other scientific
psychology due to the fact that he was the first
fields, the field of psychology benefits from the
person to do so. As we have seen, this benefit
creation of new methods and tools. The
came with a price since it gave others the
invention of the telescope was beneficial to
chance to make ideas and provide critiques, and
astronomy, the microscope was beneficial to
these interactions were not always carried out
biology, and innovations in psychology such as
in a collegial manner. Despite this, the most
the IQ test, personality tests, reaction timer,
significant aspects of structuralism have been
integrated into the practice that is used today.
Continued interest in conscious experience is
shown by the fact that almost all introduction to
psychology textbooks contain chapters on
perception, learning, and cognition. We do not
have direct observation over how individuals
learn, perceive, or think. These subjects need to
be investigated using an inferential approach
based on observations of people's behaviors. To
put it another way, individuals act in a way that
suggests they see, learn, and reason.

The practice of introspection is being used as a

strategy for gathering data in the form of self-
report, despite the fact that the inherent
limitations of this kind of data are being
acknowledged and investigated independently.
Confirmatory measurements, including but not
limited to self-report, are usually acquired
wherever available. For instance, in research
aimed at reducing the number of people who
smoke cigarettes, participants are often asked
to report their carbon dioxide levels in addition
to the number of cigarettes they smoke on an
average day.

Exercise

Explain Wundt's first structuralist description of

psychology, as well as its aims and techniques,
together with the responses of the functionalist,
Gestalt, and behavioral schools to Wundt's
work. Demonstrate how the early schools'
contributions are reflected in the present
method we use in the study of psychology.