History of Experimental Psychology

1874- Wilhelm Wundt published the first experimental psychology textbook, The Grundzüge der
physiologischen Psychologie (Principles of Physiological Psychology).

1875- William James opened Psychology lab in the United States. The lab was created for the
purpose of class demonstrations, rather than to perform original experimental research.

1879 - The first experimental psychology lab was founded in Leipzig, Germany. Modern
experimental psychology dates back to the establishment of the very first psychology laboratory by
pioneering psychologist Wilhelm Wundt during the late nineteenth century.

1879- G. Stanley Hall opened the first experimental psychology lab in the United States at John
Hopkins University.

1885- Herman Ebbinghaus published his famous Über Gedachtnis ('on memory" which was later
translated to English as Memory: A contribution to Experimental Psychology. In the work, he
described his learning and memory experiments that he conducted on himself.

1887- George Trumbull had published his textbooks. Elements of Physiological Psychology. The
first American book to include a significant amount of information on experimental psychology.

1887- James Mckeen Cattell established the world's 3rd experimental psychology lab at university
of Pennsylvania.

1890 - William James published his classic textbook, The Principles of Psychology.

1891- Mary Whiton Calkins- an experimental psychology lab was established by her at Wellesley
College, becoming the first woman to form a psychology lab.

1893- G. Stanley Hall formed the American Psychological Association the largest professional and
scientific organisation of psychologists in the United States.

1920- John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner conducted their now famous Little Albert experiment, in
which they demonstrated that emotional reactions can be classically conditioned in people.

1929- Edwin boring's book At History of Experimental Psychology was published. He was an
influential experimental psychologist who was devoted to the use of experimental methods
psychological research.

1955 - Lee Cronbach published construct Validity in Psychological tests, which popularised the use
of construct validity in psychological studies.

1958 - Harry Harlow published The Nature of Love, which described his experiments with rhesus
monkeys on attachment and love.

Types of Experimental Methods

Laboratory / Controlled Experiments
This type of experiment is conducted in a well-controlled environment and therefore accurate
measurements are possible.

Field Experiment

If a researcher wants to know high generalisability or to conduct studies which are not possible in lab
settings, she/he may go to a field or natural setting where the particular phenomenon actually
exists. In other words she / he may conduct a field experiment.

Quasi Experiment

In quasi (the latin word meaning "as if") experiment, the independent variable is selected rather
than varied or manipulated by experimenter.

Advantages and Limitations of Experimentation Method

Advantages

The most salient feature of experimental method is that it is very strong in determining the cause
and effect relation between IV and DV.

In experimental method the experimenter has control over his experiment. He can manipulate
variables the way he wants and can make some variables constant.

Replication of result (obtaining same result again and again) under similar condition is possible in
experimental method.

Limitations

Though some control is there, absolute control over variable is not possible.

Experimental situation is artificial and results may not be generalized well to the real world. The
individual may show different behaviour in the lab and real life.

Sometimes experimenter's biasness can also affect the results.