Possible Research Questions:
- How has the definition of psychology changed over time?
- For what reasons did the definition of psychology change?
- Why has the way in which people define psychology changed so much over time?
- How have the events of history effected the evolution of the definition of psychology?
Starting Research Question:
How did the events in Europe, at the turn of the 20th century, inspire the shift from the way "psychology" was defined by the schools of structuralism and functionalism to the definition of "psychology" presented by the behaviourists?
Who:
The schools of Structuralism and Functionalism: Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Bradford Titchener, and William James
The Behaviorists: John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner
What:
Industrial Revolution, advances in medicine and science, and the discoveries of Charles Darwin
Where:
Europe: Germany, Britain
America
When:
1879 - the 1920s
The schools of Structuralism and Functionalism: Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Bradford Titchener, and William James
The Behaviorists: John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner
What:
Industrial Revolution, advances in medicine and science, and the discoveries of Charles Darwin
Where:
Europe: Germany, Britain
America
When:
1879 - the 1920s
Important Definitions:
Psychology: the science of behaviour and mental processes
History: the past considered as a whole
Structuralism: the goal of structuralism was to discover the mind's structure
Functionalism: the goal of functionalism was to discern the evolved functions of thoughts and feelings
Behaviourists: the perspective that psychology should be an objective science that studies behaviour without reference to metal processes
History: the past considered as a whole
Structuralism: the goal of structuralism was to discover the mind's structure
Functionalism: the goal of functionalism was to discern the evolved functions of thoughts and feelings
Behaviourists: the perspective that psychology should be an objective science that studies behaviour without reference to metal processes
Evolved Research Question:
How did the early radical behaviourists of the 20th century change the field of psychology and in what ways is psychology today influenced by their ideas?
Working Thesis:
When John B. Watson established the school of behaviourism, psychology was thrust into a new era of scientific observation and controversy. Methological behaviourism, and later B. F. Skinner’s radical behaviourism, gave birth to the science of psychology by placing vital importance on testable observation and applying the scientific method to the study of the human brain and behaviour. For these reasons, psychology, as it stands today, owes its origins to the early behaviourist of the 20th century.
Who:
The Behaviorists: John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner
What:
The early definitions of behaviourism, the implications of behaviourism, modern psychology
Where:
America, Germany and Britain
America
When:
1913 - Present
The Behaviorists: John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner
What:
The early definitions of behaviourism, the implications of behaviourism, modern psychology
Where:
America, Germany and Britain
America
When:
1913 - Present
Important Definitions:
Psychology: the science of behaviour and mental processes
Behaviorists: the perspective that psychology should be an objective science that studies behaviour without reference to metal processes
Skinner's Psychology: the scientific study of observable behaviour
Behaviorists: the perspective that psychology should be an objective science that studies behaviour without reference to metal processes
Skinner's Psychology: the scientific study of observable behaviour