Hypothesis formation, correlational research to test the hypothesis

Hypothesis formation, experimental research to test the hypothesis

Surveys, case studies, observation

Theory building

Edward Titchener, Wilhelm Wundt (Germany, 1879)

-Analyze consciousness into basic elements

-Introspection- careful, systematic observations of one's own conscious experience

Goal: To specify the structure of conscious experience

Method: Experimental introspection

Application: "Pure scientific research": spurred development of psychological laboratories

William James (US, 1890s) James McKeen Cattell, E.L. Thorndike, John Dewey

-Investigate function of consciousness

-Led to investigation of mental testing, developmental patterns, and sex differences

Goal: To study how the mind works to allow an organism to adapt to its environment

Method: Naturalistic observation of animal and human behavior

Application: Child psychology, educational and industrial psychology, study of individual differences

John B. Watson (US, 1910s), B.F. Skinner

Goal: To study only observable behavior and explain behavior via learning

Method: Observation of the relationship between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses

Application: Learning theory, environmental emphasis, development of language to make psychological informatin more explicit and communicable

Max Wertheimer (Germany, 1910s) Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler

Goal: To describe organization of mental processes. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts"

Method: Phenomenology (e.g. phi phenomenon)

Application: Perception: some groundwork for cognitive psychology

Sigmund Freud (Germany, early 1900s) Carl Jung, Alfred Adler

Goal: To explain personality and behavior and develop techniques for treating mental illness

Method: Free association under guidance of analyst; clinical insight

Application: Development of psychotherapy, emphasis on childhood as important in later personality

US, 1960s

Goal: To explore the mental processes involved in judgment, decision making, and other aspects of complex thought

Abraham Maslow (US, 1960s), Carl Rogers

Goal: To ensure mental healthiness of individuals and develop therapeutic techniques