Psychology Assignment: Comparing Psychological Approaches and Tests

This assignment presents a student's responses to a psychology discussion board. The first task involves analyzing Wundt's structuralism and comparing it to the student's view of psychology, with a focus on functionalism. The second task examines a non-scientific therapeutic approach rooted in Freud's psychoanalytic principles, exploring free association and unconscious thoughts. The student's response analyzes this approach. The third task involves describing the implicit association test, its aims, and its model of measurement. The assignment also requires critical evaluation and peer responses, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of psychological theories and assessment methods.

Task 1
Step 2
Hi Alana Kripic
Wundt’s structural approach is based on the concept of structuralism where the focus is an
understanding of how the mind works based on the total of experiences that people go through
while they grow up. Through introspection, the psychologist can understand the issues of
experiences of the individual that shape the life of an individual (Taylor, 2010). Thus through
your argument of distinct psychological phenomena the issues within the life of the patient can
be understood. This implies that to develop a conscious experience of the life of the patient, the
theorist gives an overview of the best way to deal with issues within the life of the patient. For
Wundt however, the focus of this theory was to evaluate experience as a fact that was distinct
from the rest of the issues within the life of the individual. This is perhaps the major reason why
this theory criticized and led to the rise of functionalism.
The functionalist perspective which was based on the importance of rational thought which looks
at the capability of the mind through the process of thought. I therefore agree with your argument
that you prefer the functionalist standpoint which does not see the mind and body as isolated
entities. In this case, it means that the mind and the body are the same and play different
functions geared towards the functioning of the whole (Mun & Thirumoorthi, 2015). Since
behavior is an adaptation of the environment, then it means that functionalist look at the issues
within the life of the individual that determine the way the individual operates within the natural
environment. Thus by looking at the body and the mind to determine the way they operate in the
environment it becomes easy to solve the problems that people have since this creates a better
way of understanding the issues within their life.

References
Mun, B. W., & Thirumoorthi, T. (2015). Social Psychology Theories. In Selected Theories in
Social Science Research, . sedigheh Moghavvemi: UM Press.
Taylor, E. (2010). William James on a phenomenological psychology of immediate experience:
The true foundation for a science of consciousness? History of the Human Sciences, 23(3).

Task 2
Step 2
Hi Dianri Ridwan
The description of your non-scientific example is based on the principles of Freud’s
psychoanalytic approach. The approach of this process is based on the concept of free
association where the focus is to look at the issues within the life of the patient. Since human
beings have unconscious thoughts, desires, feelings and memories, then it means that their
existence can be positive to be beneficial to the individual or negative to be harmful (Woody &
Viney, 2017). This means that by focusing on the negative experiences within the life of the
patient, the approach is to uncover the childhood experiences and memories which can be
expressed through the topographic model. Thus from your treatment method, the focus is to
allow the client to speak freely by saying anything that comes in the mind. This allows the
therapist to understand the current problems. Fears and fantasies that the client is feeling which
can take place for some time. The psychoanalytic approach works in the same way since it seeks
to uncover unconscious thoughts in the mind of the client which create pain (Woody & Viney,
2017). In this case, it means that the role of the therapist is to explore the events, feelings, fears,
fantasies or any other related issues that have developed from childhood and developed to haunt
the patient. The strength of this approach to psychological problems is its ability to use the
unconscious to explore the behaviors that people are not aware that they are affecting them. This
leads to an understanding of defense mechanisms within the life of the client that lead abnormal
behaviors. However, this theory is limited by the fact it is based mostly on the use of the concept
of defense mechanisms to explain any event that deviates from the predicted outcomes. This

makes it difficult to explain situations where the individual exhibits positive behavior and others
where the negative behavior is reported.
References
Woody, W.D. & Viney, M. (2017). Chapter 10 – Psychophysics and the formal founding of
psychology. In A history of psychology: Emergence of science and application (6ed). (pp. 239–
259) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Task 3
Step 2
Hi Kyriah Simpson
The implicit association test is qualified as a psychology test since it looks that the strength of
one’s subconscious and its association with mental representations that are applied to objects.
According to Kurdi, et al. (2018) the basis of this test is the fact that people do not always say
what is on their mind simply because they are unwilling to speak in most cases. Here the focus is
to understand the association that the individual has between concepts and attributes. This test is
an alternative for understanding such attitudes and stereotypes that exist in the mind of people.
The test is the best is measuring implicit elements of the individual’s mind that unlike explicit
components the way people respond cannot be easily determined. This test has however, been
heavily used in measuring of the implicit stereotypes that are held by different people. For
example, this can be easily used to measure elements of racism. The focus of the theory is
understanding the level of mental operation in the unthinking part of the mind that shapes
associations which normally operate without an active thought. This test requires comparative
sorting of concepts and attributes to measure complexity. However, several models have been
proposed for use in measuring the stereotype that people have. However, the reliability of this
test has been questioned due to the inconsistent internal consistence with its reliability test
standing at 0.60 which is regarded as a weak level in statistics (Nosek, Greenwald, & Banaji,
2005). This has also been reported in variation that are seen on multiple administrations on
different traits and states. This is because when one is keen with the test and the way they

respond to the questions, the results can be different. This implies that the test can yield different
results if repeated due to the changes in perception that people have that vary from time to time.
References
Kurdi, B., Axt, J. R., Kaushik, N., Greenwald, A. G., Seitchik, A. E., Carroll, T. J., . . . Banaji,
M. R. (2018). Relationship Between the Implicit Association Test and Intergroup
Behavior: A Meta-Analysis. American Psychologist, 5(1).
Nosek, B. A., Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (2005). Understanding and using the Implicit
Association Test: II. Method variables and construct validity. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 31(2), 166–180.