“Psychology was established as an empirical science in the 19th century”. Discuss the contribution behaviorism made to the emergence of the modern discipline of Psychology.
1. Learning outcomes of the assessment
Demonstrate writing skills, literature search and critical thinking appropriate to Level
2. Rationale for assessment
Literature searches and finding articles in paper and electronic journals
Scientific communication and writing
Referencing and citation skills
Evaluating the quality of literature and understanding the contribution made by different sources of knowledge, distinguishing between media-related articles, primary and secondary research sources of knowledge
3. Instructions
Your essay should include the following sections (but no subheadings):
1. Introduction:
Provide a brief definition of modern Psychology and how it emerged as an empirical science. Mention the first known laboratory experiments in the field of Academic Skills in Psychology.
Psychology in the 19th century, their authors, and how these experiments contributed to Psychology being acknowledged as an empirical science.
2. Overview of the contribution of behaviorism to modern Psychology:
Provide an historical and theoretical overview of behaviorism, considering how it built upon and/or departed from what had come before (outlined in the introduction).
Introduce the contributions of key behaviorists in the early 20th century (e.g., Ivan Pavlov, Edward Thorndike, John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner) and indicate how their work contributed to Psychology being acknowledged as an empirical science.
3. Empirical evidence:
Describe the experiments conducted by these authors, their main findings, and the theorical approaches that emerged from that evidence.
Provide information about what these authors tested (hypotheses), how they tested it (methods), what they found (results), what their conclusions were, and what the limitations and strengths of their studies were.
4. Contribution to the field:
Now explain how these authors advanced the empirical field of Psychology from its roots in the 19th century and reflect upon the continuing influence of their work.
5. Conclusion:
In relation to the essay question, briefly summarise the aim of your essay and what you conclude with regards to the theory and empirical evidence discussed.
