The Psychology Laboratory at the Turn of the 20th Century.
The psychology laboratory at the turn of the 20th century.
Research Question
Yes, the question is clearly stated in the article. The purpose of this article was to discuss the history and importance of experimental laboratories in development of psychology as independent field of study in science.
Introduction
Yes, the introduction of article gives an overview of the history of laboratories for psychological research; and discuss how with the help of established research laboratories, psychologists were able to investigate the mind, and identify different mental disorders and abnormal behaviours. Five sources are cited in the introduction. “The laboratories are more than jars, charts, and apparatus: the spirit that reigns in these rooms is the same that is found in other laboratories of exact science” (Nicholas, 1893, p.399 as cited in Benjamin, 2000, p.318), “American psychology laboratories joined their natural science counterparts in the 1880’s, bringing the experimental method to the investigation of mind” (Boring, 1929, as cited in Benjamin, 2000, p.318).
Methodology
With the establishment of first formal psychology laboratory at University of Leipzig, William Wundt was able to distinguish psychology as an independent topic of science. This laboratory attracted scholars from all over the world, and they conducted collaborative research on human mind and behaviour. The census of the students increased with the increase in the fame of experimental laboratory, especially from United States. This trend leads to the foundation of more laboratories in North America (Benjamin, 2000, p.318). Not all psychologists’ get away with easy funding from the universities, Harry Kirke Wolfe struggled to establish his laboratory at university of Nebraska (Benjamin, 2000).
Results
G. Stanley Hall, one of William Wundt’s students, founded the first formal laboratory of United States at Johns Hopkins University. The table was present to illustrate the growth of American
Research Question
Yes, the question is clearly stated in the article. The purpose of this article was to discuss the history and importance of experimental laboratories in development of psychology as independent field of study in science.
Introduction
Yes, the introduction of article gives an overview of the history of laboratories for psychological research; and discuss how with the help of established research laboratories, psychologists were able to investigate the mind, and identify different mental disorders and abnormal behaviours. Five sources are cited in the introduction. “The laboratories are more than jars, charts, and apparatus: the spirit that reigns in these rooms is the same that is found in other laboratories of exact science” (Nicholas, 1893, p.399 as cited in Benjamin, 2000, p.318), “American psychology laboratories joined their natural science counterparts in the 1880’s, bringing the experimental method to the investigation of mind” (Boring, 1929, as cited in Benjamin, 2000, p.318).
Methodology
With the establishment of first formal psychology laboratory at University of Leipzig, William Wundt was able to distinguish psychology as an independent topic of science. This laboratory attracted scholars from all over the world, and they conducted collaborative research on human mind and behaviour. The census of the students increased with the increase in the fame of experimental laboratory, especially from United States. This trend leads to the foundation of more laboratories in North America (Benjamin, 2000, p.318). Not all psychologists’ get away with easy funding from the universities, Harry Kirke Wolfe struggled to establish his laboratory at university of Nebraska (Benjamin, 2000).
Results
G. Stanley Hall, one of William Wundt’s students, founded the first formal laboratory of United States at Johns Hopkins University. The table was present to illustrate the growth of American
References: All the references listed in the reference list were cited in the article, and the listing format was consistent. Due to nature of the article, the sources used by the author were not recent. Personal Reaction I found this article entertaining and interesting. It gives an overview of evolution of experimental laboratory in psychology, which helped in the emergence of psychology as an independent modern academic discipline. This article only illustrates the number of laboratories open during the specific era in United States, but lacks the information regarding the experimental methods used by scholars to conduct researches in these laboratories. The laboratory experiments in psychology have their own advantages and disadvantages. Scholars can control the conditions better, can replicate, and can change the variables, which makes the experiment more reliable. But whereas on the other hand there are chances that scholars might miss the naturalistic behaviour and can cause personal bias.