Since the birth of psychology in December of 1879, psychologists have created and come across different eras of research methods and experiments. There are too many questions out in the world, some which we can answer off the top of our head, and others which we may need a little extra help to comprehend. Things go bump in the night and we want answers to our questions. That is where scientific methods and experiments come into the picture, to answer all those questions eating away at our brain. In every experiment, there is a question needing an answer, a scientific method if you will.
A scientific method consists of five simple steps. An observation, we are naturally curious about the world and the things it inhabits. Form a question, for example, “How fast will it take a person to react and hit a button after hearing a sound?”. After making an observation and question, a persons’ mind itches to find out more information, creating a hypothesis. Next comes the fun part, the experiment, to prove our hypothesis conclusive or inconclusive. We then complete the final two steps of the scientific method, analyze the data and draw a conclusion. These are all key steps in completing an experiment.
Experiments are important to Psychology, for the main purpose of gaining more knowledge; gaining more knowledge of a persons’ mind and the world. The study of behavior and mental process helps us understand one another; to understand why we do what we do. An experiment can help answer all that we choose to explore in the world. Thus, making them an important role in our knowledge. How can we know if our hypothesis is conclusive if not tested? Creating and going through an experiment tests one’s knowledge of the said material, it helps us know we understand what we studied. Our minds change, develop, and adapt to its surroundings; making the study of Psychology a necessity in this world.
127 our experts are availableright now
Research questions play a major role in the experiment process. For example, “Why did introspection fail as a method for understanding how the mind works?” After an observation and question were created, psychologist Edward Bradford Titchener wanted to discover the structure of the mind. Edward Titchener then followed with the experiment, asking people to participate in a self-reflective “introspection”. Teaching them to report the findings of their experience as they looked at a flower, listened to a sound, smelled a scent, or tasted a substance. He then analyzed the data, “what was their first reactions? How did each test subject relate to one another?” Once everything came together, Edward completed the final step, the experiment concluded “introspection” to be unreliable. The experiment needed smart, verbal people to participate, the results varied from person to person. The experiment showed how the scientific method helped solve the research question.
There are many advantages to using this method, one would be that it provides people with guidance in their search for knowledge about others and the world. Many of the world greatest scientists like Darwin, Einstein, and many like them used the scientific method to complete their experiments. Affected by the difficultness of Psychology’s matter and our own limitations, we have a lot to learn by being guided in our research with theories of the scientific method. It is not all advantages, there are certain limitations to using this method. The scientific method tries to minimize the influence of bias or prejudice in the person conducting the experiment while they do the hypothesis.
There are many methods and experiments out in the world, some old, some new, and some are still in the process of being created. Experiments are an important factor in the world we live in. It helps to understand what goes on in the world, to create a better place for us to live in. The study of psychology is just another point of my statement, with this study we will have an answer to our questions. “How fast will it take a person to react and hit a button after hearing a sound?” thanks to Wilhelm Wundt’s experiment we have an answer, one-tenth of a second.
