Wundt Contribution To Behaviourism Essay

"The behaviourist approach has been a dominant influence in psychology, it represents one of the ‘hardcore' approaches, which has contributed a great deal to our understanding of psychological functioning " (Malim & Birch, 1998)

Compare and contrast Wilhelm Wundt’s (1832-1920) and Edward Titchener’s (1867-1927) systems of Psychology.History of Psychology

Psychology, due to its complexity can be approached in a variety of ways. To help us understand the human mind, behaviourist and psychodynamic approaches have helped us understand the alternative outlooks in the science of mind and behaviour. Both approaches can be examined by the means of theoretical assumptions and methodology.

Many ideas were shared between Watson, Tolman, and Skinner who all played a role in the forming of behaviorism. They did, however, differ on some of their beliefs as well as their methods of study. At this time, methods of studying psychology as well as psychology in general were in the developing stages. Watson was largely credited with the foundation of behaviorism, however, he was by no means the only one to make contributions. There has been some debate as to whether Watson’s contributions were enough to make him the “founder of behaviorism.” It is important to examine contributions from several of the early

The purpose of this essay is to outline and evaluate at least three psychological perspectives of human behaviour. The three approaches that will be summarised are humanistic, social learning theory and the Biological approach. They will also be criticised and compared to one another. A brief description on psychology will occur, and there will also be a short summarisation on some key early influences of psychology, from its origins in philosophy.

This essay will outline and compare both biological and behavioural perspectives on human behaviour. The history, major discoveries and theories will be discussed along with some of the most influential theorists in each of these two areas of psychology. This essay will also compare the two areas strengths and weaknesses in the field of psychology.

Behavioural Psychology originated in the late 19th to early 20th century and was concerned with the prediction and control of the observable, measurable, external aspects of human experience. Behaviourist psychologists rejected the introspective method used by previous philosophers and psychologists and instead relied on using observation and data that was objective and empirical. This is known as an anti-mentalist approach; Behaviourists considered the workings of the mind

Psychology is not just philosophical speculation and reasoning over the years it has evolved and it is now also recognised as a science, to understand what psychology is all about it is necessary to know it’s origins and the theorist who brought it out of obscurity, Sigmund Freud. He developed the Psychodynamic or Psychoanalytical perspective to enable better understanding of human behaviour these concepts will be discussed further later in this study. After Freud opened the gateway other perspectives and approaches have been developed, now with five main areas of psychology - Cognitive, Behaviourist, Biopsychology and Humanist approaches. For a comparison with the Psychodynamic theory, Behaviourist Theory will be discussed.

James was referred to the counselling service for chronic low mood in terms of demonstrating depressed mood, worthless and hopeless feeling, and marked diminished interests or pleasure in university activities and social relationship activities. Based on his background information, it seems that James’ early life experiences and his developed core beliefs of self, world and future have huge impacts on his chronic low mood symptoms.

Psychologists have been focused on observing and understanding human behavior for centuries, dating back to the Greek philosophers when psychology and philosophy were considered one.Today, Psychology is the study of human behavior, beginning before birth and lasting until death. It is clear that the observance human behavior is a vast and profound source of data for psychologists. Early philosophers relied on methods of observation and logic. A physiologist named Wilhelm Wundt in the 1800’s began using scientific research methods in his study of mental processes. However, the situation was totally different in the beginning of 20th century when psychology still struggled to be regarded as a separate discipline with practical value(Mastering,2011). Psychologists had only begun to be accepted as a science. It was John B. Watson who established the school of Behaviorism and inspired many other psychologists to study patterns of human behavior and their mechanisms. Watson 's contribution to psychology is important not to underestimate; he studied animal and human behavior to come up with a methodology that would give Psychology a respected status among other scientific disciplines. This essay will focus on the biography and works of John B. Watson with a purpose to show why his works are important for Psychology today(Hergenhahn & Henley, 2013).

Although Watson was not the first to suggest an empirical and objective approach to psychological research he was the first to offer a coherent and organized program, and is often viewed as the catalyst for behaviorism, especially among American psychologists (Bewsbury, 2013). Perhaps the most famous behaviorist is B.F. Skinner (b.1904-d.1990). Skinner’s approach almost completely disregarded anything outside of observable behaviors, and his strict approach to looking at anything other than observable behaviors resulted in the development of the term radical behaviorism (Feist et al., 2013).

Psychology is the study of the mind, its biology, and behavior if the individual. The father of psychology, Wilhelm Wundt, used objective measurement and controlled analyzing to find and emphasize separation between psychology and philosophy (McLeod). Wundt opened the Institute for Experimental Psychology at the University of Leipzig in Germany in 1879, using his background in physiology to study reactions and sensations (McLeod). There is no doubt that he, along with the later help of Sigmund Freud, launched what is now modern psychology. Psychology and its research helped the world understand the inner workings of the mind and how it affects everyone around us.

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a German physiologist, physician, philosopher, and professor. He was born on August 16th in 1882, in Mannheim, Germany. Wundt had become known as “the father of experimental psychology”. Wilhelm Wundt is linked to many “firsts” in the world of psychology. He was the first person to be given the title of “psychologist”, the first to separate psychology from philosophy, the first Physiological Psychology instructor at Heidelberg University, the first to introduce scientific study of the mind, and the first to create an experimental psychology lab. Wundt began his studies majoring in medicine, but changed his focus to physiology. He went on to earn his doctorate at Heidelberg University, and accepted a position as lecturer there in 1857. During his time at Heidelberg working as a physiologist assistant, Wundt began work on several publications introducing his theories on psychology and sense perceptions, and in 1862 became the first person to teach a course in Physiological Psychology. Wundt’s lectures focused on the use of the natural science methods of experimentation for the analysis of psychology, and were published in 1863. Wundt continued his career at Heidelberg, and began writing Principles of Physiological Psychology (1874) which explained his theories of conscious perception and the investigation of consciousness. That publication is now considered to be one of the most important to the history of psychology.

In the beginning of the chapter, some limitations and shortcomings of introspection and behaviorism are explained and illustrated as reasons for the occurance of the “cognitive revolution.” During the late nineteenth century, Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchener decided that the only way to study thoughts was through introspection, or to look within oneself to study the topic of our mental lives. The primary limitation of this method lies in its nature. When studying or researching oneself, there is not another party to test the claims and perform the scientific method to prove or disprove findings. “Science” that is performed by one individual and based on one individual is simply anecdotal and opinionated. Additionally, there is no way to “introspect” on one’s unconscious self, which is a huge influence on decision making and a person’s mental makeup as whole. Due to these limitations of introspection as a research tool, many psychologists abandoned it completely on the basis that psychology would never be a science, should it progress in this manner (Cognition, pg. 9). By the first half of the twentieth century, behaviorist theory started to control the field of psychology. The study of behaviors could yield testable claims due its objective data that could be recorded by observing another human’s behaviors. The stimuli that happens in the environment around people is also objective data that could be recorded and manipulated for different tests and experiments.

A significant piece of several psychological theories in the late nineteenth century was introspection, which is “the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes” (Press, 2013). In retort to this theory behaviorism came about. Behaviorism is predominantly concerned with observable and measurable aspects of human behavior. In other words behaviorism does not look at the biological aspects but it suggests that all behaviors are learned habits and changes in response to the environment. It endeavors to explain how these particular habits are formed. Behaviorism claimed that the causes of behavior was not necessarily found in the complexities of the mind but could be observed in one’s immediate environment, from stimuli that produced, reinforced, and punished certain responses also known later on as conditioning. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that the scientist began to discover the actual systems to learning, thereby laying a foundation for behaviorism. A theorist by the name of Ivan Pavlov was a major contribution to the discovering of significant behavioral theories.