Introduction to Experimental Psychology

 Experimental Psychology

            The branch of psychology concerned with the scientific investigation of the responses of individuals to stimuli in controlled situations.

Definition of Experimental Psychology

“A branch of psychology dealing with the study of emotional and mental activity as learning in human and other animals by means of experimental methods.”

According to Wilhelm Wundt

·         “Experimental psychology defines as a matter of testing hypothesis.”

·         “The branch of psychology concerned with the scientific investigation of the responses of individuals to stimuli in controlled situation.”

According to Stedman’s Medical Dictionary

“Experimental Psychology is a branch of psychology that studies conditioning, learning, perception, motivation, emotion, language, and thinking by conducting experiments under controlled conditions.”

“The study of mental processes and phenomena by observation in a controlled environment using various tests, manipulations, and experiments.”

While experimental psychology is sometimes thought of as a separate branch or subfield of psychology, experimental methods are widely used throughout all areas of Psychology. Developmental psychologists use experimental methods to study how people grow through childhood and over the course of a lifetime. Social psychologist utilizes experimental techniques to study how people are influenced by group. Health psychologist relay on experimentation and research to better understand the factors that contribute to wellness and disease.

Experimental psychology examines relationships between human behavior and the mind. Experimental psychology is centered on fact based, scientific research and experimentation. Therefore, experimental psychologists manipulate research variables in order to discover relationships between cognition and behavior.

Experimental psychology is important because the findings discovered by psychologists play a vital role in our understanding of the human mind and behavior. By better understanding exactly what makes people sick, psychologists and other mental health professionals are able to explore new approaches to treating psychological distress and mental illness. For example, researchers might utilize experimental methods to investigate why people engage in unhealthy behaviors.

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