Wundt

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Wundt

• Voluntarism and Introspection

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Voluntarism, not volunteerism

• Voluntarism the power of the will to organize
  the minds content into higher-level thought
  processes.
• An associationist model, from simple elements to
  larger compounds, but it does not simply progress
  mechanically, the will has an organizing effect.

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The contents of the mind

• Basic immediate experience (ex the experience of
  redness or discomfort)
• Wundt wanted to catalog all possible basic
  immediate experiences, and form a periodical
  table of elements as chemistry did.
• The way to observe consciousness is through the
  method of introspection.

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The method of introspection

• Introspection or internal perception (intro
  inside, spectare looking)
• Observation of simple processes under very
  careful conditions that can be replicated
• Observers were extensively trained (10,000
  observations before they were considered trained)

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The Method of mental Chronometry

• Invented by Donders
• Makes use of reaction time
• The more complex mental operation takes more
  time.

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Elements of conscious experience

• Sensations the result of the stimulation of a
  sense organ. Classified by
• Intensity, duration, sense modality
• Feelings the affective tone of a sensation

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Sensations (1)

• General sense
• Pressure, heat, cold
• Sound
• Simple noise, simple tone
• Smell and taste
• Smell hard to categorize
• Taste sour, sweet, bitter, salty

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Sensations (2)

• Light
• Achromatic (black/white)
• Chromatic (colors)
• Dimensions tone, saturation, brightness

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Feelings

• Pleasant /unpleasant
• Excitement/depression
• Tension/relaxation

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Psychical compounds

• Ideas (composed of several sensations)
• Composite feelings (several feelings mixed
  together)
• Emotions (typical form in which affective
  processes occur). Emotions have a temporal
  quality beginning, middle, end.
• Volitions (changes in ideas and feelings that
  bring an emotion to a close)

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General consciousness

• Interconnects the psychical compounds
• When connections are broken, unconsciousness or
  sleep results
• The process of synthesis is creative, growth
  oriented, and leading toward the development of
  opposites

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The field of consciousness

• Everything that is in the field of consciousness
  at one time.
• Includes
• What is subject to apperception, and is perceived
  clearly
• What is subject to Apprehension, and is not seen
  clearly --background material, existing as a
  potential for apperception.

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Apperception

• Apperception is a volitional process, i.e. it has
  to do with the will.
• It is the will that directs the attention and is
  at the basis of the creative synthesis that leads
  to the construction of knowledge

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Apperception and clinical psychology

• Projective tests such as the Rorschach and the
  TAT are based on the concept of apperception.
• TAT Thematic Apperception Test
• Why is it that we perceive reality this or that
  way?

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The End