Psychology: A Smorgasbord Stephanie Cubero Keiser University Psychology: A Smorgasbord Psychology, spanning across biology to sociology, actively seeks to find the answer to the age-old question “why we do the things we do?” To answer this question, psychologist study behavior and mental processes, relying on scientific observation. Using the data collected, psychologist hope to describe, understand, predict, and control behavior, the goals of psychology (Coon & Mitterer, 2016). The field first emerged in the late 1870s in Germany, where Wilhelm Wundt, the father of psychology, established the first psychological laboratory (Coon & Mitterer, 2016). Soon after, the theory of structuralism was born followed by functionalism, psychodynamic psychology, behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, humanistic psychology, and cognitive psychology. Today’s psychology is a smorgasbord of these theories creating three broad views, biological, psychological, and sociocultural perspectives. The Father of Psychology …show more content…
At his laboratory, he studied the conscious experience, by systematically observing and measuring the subject’s response to stimuli by using introspection. To ensure the results were reliable, Wundt trained his introspectionists to be systematic and scientific (Coon & Mitterer, 2016). Structuralism One of Wundt’s students, Edward Titchener, established a theory of structuralism based on Wundt’s views, in which you analyze the structure of the mental life into basic elements, or building blocks (Coon & Mitterer, 2016). To analyze mental chemistry, the structuralists used introspection as well. According to Coon and Mitterer (2016), structuralists might have asked, “What basic tastes mix together to create complex flavors as different as broccoli, lime, bacon, and strawberry cheesecake?”