history and systems of psychology 1. (The Birth of Psychology in Germany (Wundt,
ID: 3452794 • Letter: H
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history and systems of psychology
1. (The Birth of Psychology in Germany (Wundt, Ebbinghaus, Fechner, Brentano, Stumpf Muller, & Kulpe) Take some time to organize this essay before writing. Write in full sentences. Your essay should be about three typed paragraphs. Use a minimum of three of the psychologists/pioneers listed above Sean & Ellen are sitting at the table in the Elms Café drinking their cappuccinos when suddenly they hear the song, Thanks for the Memory. This suddenly reminds them of Hermann Ebbinghaus. Sean claims that the new psychology' of Germany is pretty close to what psychology is like today. Ellen is appalled and says that the German psychology in Wundt's time only slightly resembles modern psychology. You overhear the conversation, sit down with your cup of coffee and settle the dispute with some evidence Provide 5 points with a rationale from Sean's view, 5 points from Ellen's view and then evaluate those to come up with your own conclusion. Sean's (Provide 5 arguments with rationale) Ellen's (Provide 5 arguments with rationale) Evaluate both sides of the argument, take a position, and defend it based on the evidence 1. 2. 3. Why would William James be considered a forerunner to functionalism? Explain by describing James view of consciousness, as influenced by Darwin, and the resulting effects on psychological study in America? What other evidence can you find that supports his position as a psychologist? 2. How were Titchener's views on the science of psychology the same or different from those of Wundt's? Give evidence for how Titchener viewed psychology as a science as compared to American psychologists such as Hall, Cattell, Woodworth, Dewey, and Angell. 3. 4. What were William James' personal interests/activities that contributed to the emphasis of individual differences' in a functionalist psychology?Explanation / Answer
1. The Birth of Psychology in Germany
Wilhelm Wundt:
a)In 1879 Wundt's laboratory of psychology was opened in Leipzig, Germany since then it is considered the birth of modern psychology.
He was the first one to say that psychology is different from physiology or philosophy, thus guaranteeing the survival of psychology.
He gave the theory of Structuralism: Structuralism was the first school of psychology and aimed at breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Researchers tried to understand the basic elements of consciousness using a method known as introspection.
Hermann Ebbinghaus:
Another German Experimental psychologist who worked extensively on MEMORY and gave us inventions like
forgetting curve:This curve shows how information is lost over time when there is no attempt to retain it.
spacing effect: learning is greater when studying is spread out over time, as opposed to studying the same amount of content in a single session.
learning curve: graphical representation of how an increase in learning comes from experiences. Practice makes a man perfect with practice you get experience.
Gustav Theodor Fechner:
He was the founder of Psychophysics: the scientific study of the relation between stimulus and sensation
A man very interested in Physics + Experimental Psychology.
My above discussion explains what Sean and Ellen are trying to say. My rationale is Wilhelm Wund't will remain the father of psychology as he pioneered a lab and gave it an independant status of being PSYCHOLOGY differnt from it's counterparts also as man progresses in new era there is bound to be growth and progress hence modern psychology of Germany is close to what Psychology is today.
2. Charles Darwin was heavily influenced by Functionalism but William James was a for runner because he gave his acceptance and validity to Functionalism but his hatred of the lab and teaching of psychology may have prevented functionalism from being accepted if not for a student who had a more experimental perspective. James maintained that psychology should be practical and should be developed to make a difference in people's lives.One of the difficulties that concerned the functionalists was how to reconcile the objective, scientific nature of psychology with its focus on consciousness, which by its nature is not directly observable.
3. Wundt felt that psychology should also be studied through historical analyses and naturalistic observation apart from lab experiments. In addition, he believed that the methods used to study psychology could be utilized to describe social customs, religion, myths, morals, art, law, and language where as Titchener's view was more rigid in that he only believed that psychology could be studied in the laboratory through evidence-based methods.
4. William Jame's partiality toward research on learning, perception, animal psychology, physiological psychology, and the psychology of individual differences led to the development of individual differences topic.
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