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Question
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Answer
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Define empiricism.
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The belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience.
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Define introspection.
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The process by which a person gains knowledge about their own mental and emotional states as a result of examination or observation of their conscious thoughts and feelings.
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What are the three features of the scientific method?
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Systematic, objective, replicable
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Who was the first person to call himself a psychologist?
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Wilhelm Wundt
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What did he believe about all aspects of nature, including the human mind?
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It could be studied scientifically.
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Where was his lab located?
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Leipzig, Germany
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What was his aim?
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To study the structure of the human mind.
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What is the general term for his approach?
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Structuralism
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What was the main technique he used called?
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Introspection
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What behaviours did he use to study the human mind?
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Perception / Sensation
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What was his original belief about human experience?
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All aspects of human experience could be investigated experimentally
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What did he realise about higher mental processes?
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Higher mental processes couldn't be studied in this strict controlled manner.
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What are examples of these higher mental processes?
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Learning / Language / Emotions
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These topics had to be studied using a more general technique which he called?
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Cultural psychology
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What does introspection mean in Latin?
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Looking into
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What year did he set up the first laboratory of experimental psychology?
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1879 / late 1870s
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What did he first study first?
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Reaction time
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What did he infer from this first study?
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The longer it took to respond, the more mental processes must be involved.
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What does introspection allow us to observe?
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Our inner world
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What was his nickname?
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The father of psychology
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How did he study perception?
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Participants were given a controlled stimuli (like an auditory tone) and asked to describe their inner processes of what they were experiencing when they listened to the tone.
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How did he establish general theories on perception?
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He compared different participant reports in response to the same stimuli.
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What do empiricists believe?
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Knowledge comes from observation and experience alone (it is not innate).
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What are the two major assumptions of scientific psychology?
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Behaviour is caused/determined
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What are the two major assumptions of scientific psychology?
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If behaviour is determined, then it should be possible to predict how human beings would behave in different conditions.
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What technique is used to explore these assumptions?
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The scientific method
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What makes data objective?
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Researchers don't let preconceived ideas or biases influence data.
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What makes data systematic?
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Observations or experiments are carried out in an orderly way.
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What makes data replicable?
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Observations can be repeated by other researchers to determine whether the same results are obtained.
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What do the findings lack if data is not replicable?
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Reliability
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What are the four stages of the scientific cycle?
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Objective, systematic, replicable observation
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What are the four stages of the scientific cycle?
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Building, refining, falsifying
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What are the four stages of the scientific cycle?
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Development of a scientific theory
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What are the four stages of the scientific cycle?
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Testing
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AO3: What is one LIMITATION of introspection?
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Unreliable - Based on non-observable constructs such as memory and perception which are unconscious processes. Based on inferences.
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AO3: What is one LIMITATION of introspection?
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Inaccurate - Some behaviours are unconscious so introspection wouldn't uncover them.
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AO3: What is one STRENGTH of introspection?
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Research support - Teenagers were given beepers that went off randomly to measure happiness. They used introspective methods to find that teenagers were happier when undergoing challenging tasks.
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AO3: What is one STRENGTH of the scientific approach?
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Reliable - Uses objective, systematic, replicable techniques and relies of determinism. If theories no longer fit the facts, they can be refined or abandoned.
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AO3: What is one LIMITATION of the scientific approach?
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Lacks ecological validity - Research is typically conducted in labs and used contrived situations that don't reflect real-life.
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AO3: What is one STRENGTH of the scientific approach?
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Self-corrective -If theories no longer fit the facts, they can be refined or abandoned. New theories will continually emerge.
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AO3: What is one LIMITATION of Wundt's research?
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Not replicable - Researchers struggled to reproduce his findings meaning his approach ultimately failed to be reliable. In comparison, Behaviourists were already achieving reliable, replicable results that were generalisable.
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