PSYC 15065G Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Edward B. Titchener, Gestalt Psychology, Wilhelm Wundt
Document Summary
Psychology: study of behavior and mental processes. Behavior includes actions and reactions (talking, facial expression), whereas, mental processes is internal activity of our minds. Wundt believed that the mind was made up of thoughts, experiences and other basic elements. Objective introspection: process of objectively examining and measuring one owns thoughts and mental activities. Wundt is known as the father of psychology due to his attention to objectivity and his establishment of the first true experimental laboratory in psychology. Edward titchener and james baldwin brought wundt"s ideas to north. Titchener expanded on wundt"s ideas and called his new viewpoint as structuralism. Structuralism: focus of study on the structure of the mind. Titchener believed every experience could be broken down into its individual emotions and sensations. He said that introspection could be used on thoughts just as how it can be used on physical sensations. Structuralism was dominant in early days of psychology, but died out in the early 1900s.