Critically discuss the emergence of psychology as a separate discipline

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Unit 1: Introduction to Psychology                                                                                Leigh Webber

Critically discuss the emergence of psychology as a separate discipline

Psychology itself is a comparatively new field, but its roots can be traced back to early Philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, who had for years, contemplated the human mind and the relationships between people and society. Hippocrates, for example, philosophized about basic human temperaments and their related traits, reasoning that physical conditions, such as yellow bile or too much blood, may cause differences in temperament (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). However, psychology takes these ponderings and turns them into hypotheses, scientifically testing them in an attempt to answer and understand them further.

It also differs from sociology, which although similarly looks at behaviour; how it affects and is affected by the environment, because it focuses specifically on individuals or small groups, whereas sociology looks at large groups and subcultures. However, the area of social psychology does look specifically at society.

Wilhelm Wundt, credited as the father of psychology, was a physiologist, elements of physiology still being found within today’s schools of psychological thought. He opened the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany. He formed the Structuralist school of thought, whose underlying belief was that consciousness can be broken down into components; perception, sensation and affection (Gross, McIlveen, Coolican, Clamp and Russell,2000). The main method he used was introspection, careful observation of one’s own conscious experiences (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). In contrast, Functionalism, led by William James and John Dewey, was concerned more with the capability of the mind than with the process of thought (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). Although these two schools of thought were eventually replaced, they created interest in psychology that spread as far as the US.

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Watson, in early 1900 took psychology in another direction. He questioned the validity and usefulness of Wundt’s introspection, reasoning that any results gained could never be proved or disproved. He felt that since only behaviour could be measured objectively, psychologists should concentrate on this (Gross et al, 2000). According to behaviourists, behaviour can be studied in a systematic and observable manner with no consideration of internal mental states (Cherry, 2011).  Skinners theory of learning was based upon the idea that all behaviours are acquired through conditioning, the use of reinforcement (Gross, et al, 2000).

However, Bandura felt not all behaviour ...

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