PSYCHOLOGY:the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context.
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The Beginnings of Psychology as a Discipline
In the early days of psychology there were two dominant theoretical perspectives. An American psychologist named William James (1842-1910) developed an approach which came to be known as functionalism.
He argued that the mind is constantly changing and it is pointless to look for the building blocks of experience.
Instead, focus should be on how and why an organism does something. It was suggested that psychologists should look for the underlying cause of behavior and the mental processes involved. This emphasis on the causes and consequences of behavior has influenced contemporary psychology.
Structuralism was the name given to the approach pioneered by Wilhelm Wundt. The term originated from Edward Titchener, an American psychologist who had been trained by Wundt.
Structuralism relied on trained introspection, a research method whereby subjects related what was going on in their minds while performing a certain task. However, it proved to be unreliable method because there was too much individual variation in the experiences and reports of research subjects.
Despite the failing of introspection Wundt is an important figure in the history of psychology as he opened the first laboratory dedicated to psychology in 1879, and its opening is usually thought of as the beginning of modern psychology.
Wundt was important because he separated psychology from philosophy by analyzing the workings of the mind using more objective and standardized procedures.
Because psychology is a science it attempts to investigate the causes of behavior using systematic and objective procedures for observation, measurement and analysis,backed-up by theoretical interpretations, generalizations, explanations and predictions.
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