The Psychology Laboratory, Article Critique Example

Research Question/Problem

The author examines the history behind the psychology laboratory between the period 1879-1900 and considers the critical role this played in the foundation and establishment of scientific psychology.  It is the laboratory model that provided the basis for research and training and formed the basis for undergraduate studies in psychology. The paper provides a brief historical reflection of the merits of the psychology laboratory at the turn of the 20^th century.

Introduction

The paper provides a brief introduction to the establishment of the Psychology Laboratory and relates to a number of important academic contributions in this area. Most significant being the establishment of the research laboratory at the University of  Leipzig and this followed on with the development of American psychology laboratories in the mid-19th century.  A significant publication being the work through Wilhelm Wundt in 1834.  (Benjamin, L.T. 2000).  In addition reference is made to the work of E.G. Boring (1929) on the study of the human mind and that of Nichols (1893) that introduced more of a laboratory setting to the classroom, the concept of academic collaboration by a group of scholars researching specific aspects of psychology.

Methods

The author examined the founding of the American Psychological Laboratory  over a range of different US Universities between 1879-1900.  This was more of a historical reflection of accomplishment as opposed to the scientific methods that were chosen in order to accomplish this. As such the view was more of a holistic methods approach that explained the evolution of psychological laboratories in different US Academic institutions.  It underscored the community approach to study as opposed to historical individualistic studies “ This community approach stood in stark contrast to the solitary investigations of Wundt’s predecessors” (Benjamin, L.T. 2000).

Results

Table 1 of the paper sets out the Founding of American Psychology Laboratories between 1883-1900.  As such this is a historical list of leading American Universities that adopted the Psychology Laboratory approach. The research table was compiled with the assistance of Garvey (1929), Murray and Rowe (1979) and contributions from G.Stanley Hall and Wilelm Wundt. (Benjamin, 2000).  The results state Year of formation, the University name and the founder.  The list does address the important significance the laboratory has played with the University educational framework and setting.  There was no real explanation of how the data was collected other than to conclude it was empirical research carried out by the stated contributors.  Equally there were no underpinning metrics or information to confirm validity or accuracy of the table data presented.

Discussion and Conclusions

 The article seems to be well researched and very credible providing a number of excellent supporting academic references. It must be noted that this was more of a historical holistic study of the formation of psychology laboratories in the USA; as opposed to more of a scientific study that collected sample data and validated this against a specific hypothesis.  The author brings this up to date in his concluding remarks stating how the significance of the laboratory has changed at the end of the 20^th century although the laboratory still has an important place in the conducting of psychological experiments in practice today.

References

The references selected by the author provided a good understanding related to the body of the research and were from reliable sources.  The references were cited in the body of the text which appears to be in MLA citation style; somewhat unusual as most psychology papers tend to follow the APA citation style. The author did provide a variable amount of sources from both books and peer reviewed journals

Personal Reaction

An interesting paper that provides a historical account of the formation of the Psychology Laboratory at the turn of the Century and how this helped to develop both research and teaching in an academic setting.  The article provided primarily a holistic representation of historical development and did not provide any real in depth analysis or indication of method treatment. The citation method was not I current APA format, normally expected for psychology papers. (Owl, 2012)

References

Benjamin, L. (2000). The Psychology Laboratory at the turn of the 20th Century. American Psychologist, Vol 55(3), 318-321.

Owl. (2012, 8 12). APA Citation Style. Retrieved from Owl: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/