Psychology, Experimental
Psychology, Experimental
Psychology, Experimental, application of laboratory techniques
to investigations of mind and behavior, including such subjects as
perception, memory, thinking, learning, and problem solving.
Experimental psychology as a defined field of science began with
the German physicist Gustav Theodor Fechner, whose Elements of
Psychophysics (1860; trans. 1966) presented experimental evidence
for relating magnitudes of sensation in the person being tested to
objective magnitudes of stimulation. Then, in 1879, the German
psychologist Wilhelm Max Wundt established the first research
laboratory for psychological experimentation. Wundt trained people
to describe in detail sensations evoked by systematically
controlled stimuli. The psychologist also measured reaction times
in tests of varied complexity and tried to catalog the components
of consciousness and to work out the laws of their combination.
Wundt and his conception of psychology dominated the field until
the turn of the 20th century but then lost authority as
introspective methods proved incapable of deciding such
controversial issues as whether imageless thoughts are possible.
Rivals in the field rebelled against Wundt's rules. For example,
the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus conducted a monumental
investigation of memory that involved rote learning of strings of
nonsense syllables, thus setting a pattern for succeeding
generations of psychologists in search of laws of learning. The
same goal was pursued by scientists who began to use laboratory
animals for psychological experiments; the American psychologist
Edward Lee Thorndike gave both methodological and conceptual
direction to this trend. Thereafter in behaviorism, as promulgated
by the American psychologist John Broadus Watson, psychology was
defined as the science of behavior, as opposed to the science of
mental life. This development meant the rejection of previous
mentalistic concepts and introspective methods.
Introspection continued to be used, however, in Gestalt
psychology, which began as an approach to perception and was later
extended to problem solving, learning, creativity, and even social
dynamics. Gestalt psychology emphasized configuration,
relationship, and active organization, in contrast to behaviorist
conceptions.
Experimental psychology thus encompasses a considerable
diversity of methods, interests, and viewpoints, and it has found
practical applications in industry, education, and therapy, among
other areas. Traditional concerns with psychophysics, perception,
memory, and learning persist, but they are complemented by
physiological approaches and the use of statistical procedures in
experiment design and data analysis; computer technology has also
had an impact on both method and theory. The powerful influence of
behaviorist doctrine has been mitigated by the revival of cognitive
conceptions and a renewed alliance with biology. As yet, however,
no one theory unifies experimental psychology; its practice crosses
the boundaries of many fields of psychological interest and schools
of psychological thought. See also Psychology.
Contributed By:Colin G. Beer
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2004. 1993-2003 Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved.
