A History Of Modern Psychology, 10th Edition Lecture Notes

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1I.A HISTORY OFMODERNPSYCHOLOGYTENTHEDITIONDuane P. SchultzSydney Ellen Schultz(i)

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2Table of Contents1.The Study of the History of Psychology12.Philosophical Influences on Psychology303.Physiological Influences onPsychology714.The New Psychology1045.Structuralism1386.Functionalism: Antecedent Influences1657.Functionalism: Development and Founding1978.Applied Psychology: The Legacy of Functionalism2489.Behaviorism: AntecedentInfluences28810.Behaviorism: The Beginnings32111.Behaviorism: After the Founding34912.Gestalt Psychology39513.Psychoanalysis: The Beginnings42914.Psychoanalysis: After the Founding48015.Contemporary Developments inPsychology532Chapter 1The Study of the History of PsychologyWhy study thehistoryof psychology? One reason is that the past is relevant for thepresent. For example, researchers in 1999 asked psychology students to watch a one-minutevideo of two teams of basketball players passing the ball to their teammates. Students wereasked to count the number of times the ball bounced during a particular team’s passes.Towards the end of the video, a person dressed in a large gorilla costume came out, stoppedamidst the players, and pounded his chest. When asked if they saw anything besidesthebasketball players, only about half of the students could identify the gorilla. The study ofTheInvisible Gorillasuggests that people may find it difficult, if not impossible, to pay attentionto more than one stimulus at a time. Similar results on the usefulness and effectiveness ofmultitasking were demonstrated in 1861 by a German psychologist. Thus, the history ofpsychology often informs the nature of psychology in the 21stcentury. In other words,

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3history is important is because studying the evolution of psychologists’ thought will helpstudents understand contemporary psychology.In addition, this course is being offered because faculty believes it to be an importantcontribution to the field. Courses about the history of psychology have been offered since atleast 1911, and are currently offered in 93% of 311 psychology departments surveyed in2010. Other sciences typically do not offer such a course. Furthermore, there are specializedjournals, research centers, and even a division of APA dedicated to the history of psychology.Because there is no single form, approach, or definition of psychology on which allpsychologists agree, present day psychology has become so diverse that our history isperhaps the one thing that provides order and imposes meaning to the seemingly chaoticfield.Psychology can be considered both one of the oldest fields of study and one of thenewest. It can be considered one of the oldest because its subject matter, the mind, can betraced back to the Greek philosophers in the fifth century BC. On the other hand, we can alsoview psychology as being about 200 years old if we mark our beginnings with the merging ofphysiology and philosophy. Psychology distinguished itself as a formal discipline in the lastquarter of the nineteenth century when it shed philosophical tools of speculation and intuitionand adopted the tools used in biology and physical sciences. While the questions addressedby early psychologists were similar to their philosophical predecessors, carefully controlledobservation and experimentation set psychology apart as a field with increased precision andobjectivity.History is quite different than psychology, so this course merges two distinctdisciplines. The methods used to study history, broadly termed historiography, are quitedifferent than those of science. History cannot be replicated, but is instead constructed fromthe scraps of information found and interpreted by the historian, and historical data can beincomplete and incorrect for a variety of reasons. Some data have become lost, for exampleJohn Watson burned his letters, research notes, and unpublished manuscripts before he died.In other cases, data have been found decades or even centuries after having been lost, such aswhen some papers written by Hermann Ebbinghaus were found in 1984 or when missingletters written in 1641 by Rene Descartes were later recovered in 2010. Other times,information is purposefully withheld in order to protect the reputation of an individual, suchas when Freud’s biographer, Ernest Jones, purposefully downplayed Freud’s cocaine use.Some data will be made available at a later time, for example, the Library of Congress inWashington D.C. is holding papers and letters from Freud’s estate with instructions not torelease them until a certain time.Sometimes information is distorted, which is often seen in faulty translations, and cancause errors in either the meaning of the term or the emotions attached to them. For example,Freud’s original systems of personality were translated into Id, Ego, andSuperego. A bettertranslation of these ideas from their original German might be It, I, and above-I. Likewise,his idea translated as free-association is more accurately translated into something thatconveys the idea of an invasion or intrusion of thought. Other historical data is inaccuratebecause individuals recount a biased perception of their lives to protect themselves orenhance their public image. In his autobiography, B. F. Skinner portrayed his graduatestudent days as being filled with nothing but work. Twelve years after the account waspublished, Skinner recanted his statement as being a “pose” rather than a reality. Somedistortions can be resolved by consulting other sources. In this example, graduate studentcolleagues of Skinner remember him for finishing his work quickly in order to spend hisafternoons playing ping pong.

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4Contextual forces such as the Zeitgeist of the time often shape the nature and directionof psychology. Every age has a Zeitgeist, which is the intellectual climate or spirit of thetimes. During the early years of the twentieth century, increased economic opportunitiescoupled with changes in America’s demographic composition lead to a fundamental shift inemphasis. The focus of psychology went from the academic laboratory to using psychologyto solve issues related to teaching and learning. World War Iand II implemented anothercontextual shift as psychology extended its influence into personnel selection, psychologicaltesting, and engineering psychology... During World War II, European researchers andtheorists escaped to America, thereby relocatingthe forefront of the discipline to the UnitedStates.Finally, prevailing discrimination also shaped the field, with its impact on women,Jews, and African Americans. Women were often denied admission to graduate school orconferment of degrees, and later had a difficult time finding jobs particularly if married.Eleanor Gibson, who later won a number of professional awards for her work in perceptualdevelopment and learning, was restricted from certain courses and areas on campus when sheattended Yale. Such discrimination extended into 1960, when Sandra Scarr was told by theofficer interviewing her for admission that most women don’t finish their degrees, and theones that do amount to nothing anyway. Despite such obstacles, women did attain doctoraldegrees in psychology. One champion for the educationof women was James McKeenCattell, who supported women frequently, urging scientific societies to include women.Largely because of his efforts, the APA was the first scientific society to admit women asmembers. Mary Whiton Calkins became the first female president of APA in 1905.Discrimination extended to Jewish psychologists as well. A study of discrimination ofJews at three universities—Harvard, Yale, and Princeton—found widespread practices thatexcluded Jews from admission. Those Jews who were admitted to colleges were oftenseparated and socially ostracized. Many colleges and universities, including two important topsychology (Johns Hopkins and Clark), had explicit policies to disallow Jewish students. Inthe face of such discrimination, some Jewish psychologists changedtheir names, whichhelped them secure jobs. Isadore Krechevsky became David Krech, David Bakanovskybecame David Bakan, and Harry Israel (even though he was a protestant) changed his nameto Harry Harlow.Some chose not to do this, for example Abraham Maslow refused to change his first name tosomething “less Jewish”.African Americans also faced an enormous amount of discrimination. When Blackstudents were allowed to attend predominantly White universities, they were often notallowed to live on campus or mix socially with White students. Howard University inWashington D.C., a traditionally Black school, provided an education in Psychology formany Black students. Kenneth Clark graduated from Howard with his bachelor’s degree andwas refused admittance to graduate school at Cornell. He received his doctoral degreefromColumbia University, married Mamie Phipps Clark, and they both went on to perform theirlandmark study about the self-concept of Black children that was cited in the 1954 U.S.Supreme Court decision that ended racial segregation in schools. For thoseBlack studentswho did receive their doctoral degrees, finding a job was the next obstacle, and many foundwork at the traditionally Black universities. Because so many of these universities wereunder funded, it was difficult for these psychologists todo research that received wideattention, therefore their work is less visible. Although the history of psychology isdominated by White male psychologists, it is important to bear in mind that we can only

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5focus on a few individuals. The overwhelming majority of psychologists, no matter whatrace or sex, receive no attention at all.There are two ways to conceptualize how history happens; the personalistic theoryand the naturalistic theory. The personalistic theory is the view that the contributions ofindividuals is what fuels progress. With this theory, if these special individuals had not donetheir work, their fields would not have progressed. The naturalistic theory is the idea that thetimes draw out ideas from people. For example, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallacedeveloped the idea of the theory of evolution independent of (and half way around the worldfrom) each other, indicating that the time was right for that idea to emerge. As furthersupport, sometimes ideas are presented before their time. The Scottish scientist Robert Whyttpresented the idea of the conditioned response in 1763 but was largely ignored by hiscontemporaries. A century later, Ivan Pavlov expanded on Whytt’s ideas when the Zeitgeistwas more receptive. The Zeitgeist may be directed by some individuals. Oftentimes journaleditors can act asgatekeepers of mainstream ideas and refuse to publish papers that arerevolutionary. Psychologist John Garcia tried to publish a paper that challenged prevailingthought on stimulus-response theory. Although the research was solid, he was only able topublish in journals that were less known. This book uses both the personalistic andnaturalistic viewpoints, while highlighting the importance of the Zeitgeist in defining thehistory of psychology.Wilhelm Wundt, a German physiologist working in the last quarter of the nineteenthcentury, is often credited as the founder of psychology because he determined its goals,subject matter, research methods, and topics of investigation. Although Wilhelm Wundt firstdefined and promoted psychology, challenges to his conception began quickly. By 1900,there were several organized positions that rose in opposition to Wundt’s psychology and toeach other. Each of these was a “school of thought”, and a series of them emerged, rose, andfell in succession as psychology developed over time.Thomas Kuhn wrote a book about how sciences develop over time calledTheStructure of Scientific Revolution. According to Kuhn, when a science has produced anaccepted way of thinking and has matured, this way of thinking is called a paradigm.Paradigms are present in other science, for example for about 300 years the paradigm inphysics was the Galilean-Newtonian framework. Paradigms can also change, in what Kuhncalls a scientific revolution, such as when Einstein’s model of physics became the paradigm.Because psychology remains divided, it is considered to be “preparadigmatic”—there is noprevailing school of thought. In fact, many contemporary psychologists criticize the fieldbecause of its fragmentation.To some extent, it has always been fragmented, because competing schools of thoughthave always been present. Oftentimes, new schools of thought are proposed and championedby younger psychologists. The schools of thought described in this book began with Wundt’spsychology and structuralism, followed by functionalism, behaviorism, and Gestaltpsychology, all three of which opposed structuralism. At about the same time,psychoanalysis developed independent from (instead of in opposition to) these other schools.Later, humanistic psychology develops as a reaction to both psychoanalysis and behaviorism.The last formal school discussed in the text is cognitive psychology which opposesbehaviorism. Contemporary new foci in psychology include evolutionarypsychology,cognitive neuroscience, and positive psychology.

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6OutlineII.The Invisible GorillaA. Study of multitasking and attention (Simon & Chabris, 1999)B. Conclusions similar to 1861 studyC. Example of the past informing the presentIII.Why Study the History of Psychology?A.History ofpsychology: common requirement for majorsB.Unique among the sciences in the focus on our historyC.An area of status within psychology1.journals2.formal organizationsa.APA Division 26b.The Archives of the History of American Psychology)D.Rationale forstudying the history of psychology1.recognizes diversity within psychology2.provides a framework for solidarity3.emphasizes the relationships that make the whole cohesive4.integrates topics and issues5.is interesting in its own rightIV.The Development of Modern PsychologyA.Paradox: Psychology is both1.a 2,500 year-old disciplinea.traced to 5thcentury B.C. speculation about human nature andbehaviorb.Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle wrestled withissues with issues still covered in introductory psychologyclasses.2.a new discipline began 200 years agoa.formed when it emerged from(1)theories of philosophy(2)tools used in other biology and physical sciencesB.Historical roots1.philosophical in character2.principal methods were speculation, intuition, andgeneralizationC.Modern distinct from the old1.a primary scientific field2.applies tools and methods from biology and physiology3.relies on controlled observation and experimentation4.objectivity and precision are continually sought and refinedD.represents a union of philosophy and physiology that emerged with its owncharacter, status, and popularityE.a better starting point is the nineteenth century1.psychology becomes independent2.early philosophical approaches can be considered psychology’s“prehistory”V.The Data of History: Reconstructing Psychology’s PastA.Historiography: “the principles, methods, and philosophical issues of historical

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7research”B.The data of history are different than the data of sciences like psychology1.there is nolaboratory for historians in which situations are controlled andmanipulated2.there is no replication or independent verification of resultsC.The data of history1.materials used to reconstruct lives, events, eras2.unique: not replicable, conditions not controlled3.data fragments: the shardsD.Lost or suppressed data1.lost permanently: Watson burning his papers2.losttemporarily: found papers by Hooke, Ebbinghaus, Fechner3.suppressed: Freud’s materials to be opened in the 21stcentury4.altereda.self-interest: Freud’s cases, Skinner’s youthb.to protect: Köhler’s papers, Freud’s cocaine useE.Data distorted in translation1.Freud’s use of Es (it), Ich (I), and Über-Ich (above-I)2.Freud’s Einfall, translated as free association, but meant intrusionF.Self-serving data1.Skinner’s report as wholly “nose to the grindstone”2.Freud’s self-depiction as a martyr to his causeVI.Contextual Forces in PsychologyA.The Zeitgeist: “The intellectual and cultural climate or spirit of the times.”B.Economic opportunity as a contextual force1.turn of the century: more PhDs than academic positions2.rapid increase in U.S. immigration leads to swelling public schoolenrollment3.American pragmatism: interest in the practical utility of psychology4.result: shift in theoretical focus of psychology, increased application ofpsychology to “real-world” problems in educationC.War as a contextual force1.World War I:Application of psychology to personnel selection, psychological testing,and engineering psychology demonstrated the usefulness of psychology tothe community at large2.World War IIa.leading European psychologists fled to the U.S.b.clinical psychologists: assessment and treatment3.influence on theories: Freud’s ThanatosD.Prejudice as a contextual force1.women denied admission to schools, denied jobs2.Jews barred from many schools, difficulties finding academic positions sosome change their names to secure positions3.African American largely denied graduate study altogether, with rareexceptions4.1960-APA made an effort to increase diversity through fundingopportunities

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85.effects of prejudice: to this day minorities and women as underrepresentedon psychology facultiesVII.Conceptions of Scientific HistoryA.The personalistic theory of scientific history: “The view that progress and changein scientific history are attributable to the ideas of unique individuals”B.The naturalistic theory of scientific history: “The view that progress and change inscientific history are attributable to the Zeitgeist, which makes a culture receptiveto some ideas but not to others”1.Simultaneous discovery: Darwin and Wallace2.Sometimes the discovery made before its time: Whytt3.Dominant theories may stifle new thought: journal editors as gatekeepersC. This text uses both personalistic andnaturalistic viewpointsD. Highlights the importance of the Zeitgeist in the analysis of historyVIII.Schools of Thought in the Evolution of Modern PsychologyA.Wundt1.drew together the various philosophical and scientific lines to foundpsychology2.psychology was shaped by his visionB.The term school of thought “refers to a group of psychologists who becomeassociated ideologically, and sometimes geographically, with the leader of amovement”C.Thomas Kuhn (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions1.paradigm: “an accepted way of thinking within a scientific discipline thatprovides essential questions and answers”2.preparadigmatic phase: the “stage in the development of a science when itis still divided into schools of thought”3.paradigmatic phase: “The more mature or advanced stage in thedevelopment of a science...when the majority of the scientists agrees ontheoretical and methodological issues....a common paradigm or modeldefines the entire field”D.Fragmentation characterizes psychology: it ispreparadigmaticE.Schools of thought as protests against the current order that correct thepredecessor’s errors and then incur their own protestIX.Plan of the BookA.Philosophical antecedents of experimental psychologyB.Physiological antecedents of experimental psychologyC.Wundt’s psychologyD.StructuralismE.FunctionalismF.BehaviorismG.Gestalt psychologyH.PsychoanalysisI.Humanistic psychologyJ.Cognitive psychologyK.Contemporary developments1.evolutionary psychology2.cognitive neuroscience3.positive psychology

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9Lectureprompts/Discussion topics for chapter one•Use a salient recent event and ask your class how that event might currently shape thefield of psychology (what gets funded, what gets studied). For examples, the terrorattacks of 9/11 may have spurred interest and research in the psychology of terrorism,post-traumatic stress syndrome, psychology of fear, etc. The subsequent invasion ofIraq may have spiked interest in effective repatriation of soldiers, psychologicalwarfare, effective recruiting techniques, etc.•Have the class suppose that one of them in the room will become a future eminentpsychologist. What types of information might future historians of psychology use topiece together their current lives? How might this information differ from theinformation used to study an eminent psychologist who lived 100 years ago?Internet Resources for chapter oneToday in the History of Psychologyhttp://www.cwu.edu/~warren/today.htmlThis site provides a listing of a number of historical events in psychology for any dayof the year you submit. You can find out what has happened in psychology on yourbirthday in the past.Women in Psychology Historyhttp://psychology.okstate.edu/museum/women/cover2.htmlThis site provides a listing of a number of women in psychology history, along withphotographs and a listing of their accomplishments.Association for Women in Psychologyhttp://www.awpsych.org/This is a site that provides networking for women in psychology, as well as a list ofresources for women psychologists and an email discussion list.Association for Black Psychologistshttp://www.abpsi.org/This is a site that provides networking for Black Psychologists, and is an organizationwhose goal is to have a positive impact on the mental health of Black Americans.Thomas Kuhnhttp://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/Kuhnsnap.htmlThis site provides a summary of Kuhn’s life and works, and has a nice collection oflinks including some that summarizeTheStructure of Scientific Revolutions.Potential answers to chapter one discussion questions1) What can we learn from studying the history of psychology?The history of psychology has become a discipline in its own right; psychology departmentsoffered history of psychology courses as early as 1911, there are journals dedicated to

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10publishing history of psychology papers, APA has division 26 (History of Psychology), and93% of 311 surveyed psychology departments offer a course in History of Psychology.Understanding the history of and therefore the evolution of thought preceding contemporarypsychology will help one to understand contemporary psychology. Furthermore,contemporary psychologists differ widely in the topic areas they study, but all psychologistsshare the history. A study of the history of psychology will bring cohesion to the diversediscipline as a whole.2) Why can psychologists claim that psychology is one of the oldest scholarly disciplinesas well as one of the newest? Explain why modern psychology is a product of bothnineteenth-century and twentieth-century thought?Psychology can trace its roots to the fifth century BC, to the Greek philosophers such asPlato, Aristotle, and Socrates, because we grapple with the same questions they attempted toanswer. On the other hand, we could view psychology as emerging when philosophy andphysiology merged to include experimentation and empirical methods to answer thosequestions about 200 years ago. Modern psychology can be considered a product ofnineteenth-century thought because this is the time when the field developed itsownindependent methods and became its own independent discipline. One can also see theinfluence of the historical context on the formation of the field. The Zeitgeist of the time canhave a tremendous influence on what the focus of psychology is at any given time. Forexample, during the world wars, psychological testing, personnel selection, and engineeringwere emphasized.3) In what ways do the data of history differ from the data of science? Give examples ofhow historical data can be distorted.History is different from science because historians must find, interpret, and assimilate scrapsof information from a variety of sources to try to understand a complete picture. Such datacannot be reconstructed in a laboratory like a scientific experiment can. John Watson burnedhis letters, manuscripts, and notes before he died. Some papers written by HermannEbbinghaus had been lost but were recently found. Another problem relates to the distortionof data through translations. Some of the terms Sigmund Freud used to label phenomenawithin psychoanalysis lost the original meaning intended by Freud when the terms weremistranslated into English.Some data of history are best described as being distorted to promote a particular impressionof a person. In his autobiography, B.F. Skinner portrayed himself as doing nothing but workwhile he was a graduate student, although his classmates remember hisPing-Pong playing.4) In what ways have contextual forces influenced the development of modernpsychology?Psychology has been shaped by historical events. Economic conditions toward the latenineteenth century lead to more psychologists being trained than there were academicpositions to employ them. At the same time, the increase in immigrants caused an increase inthe number of students needing public education. Psychologists sought to apply their skills toeducational settings. Thus, applied psychology mushroomed in America. Wartime has alsoshaped the field. World war II lead to the migration of researchers and theorists from Europeto the United States and thus the forefront of psychology moved as well.Prejudice and discrimination also shaped the field, as women, African Americans, Jews, andother groups were systematically denied education and employment in psychology.

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115) Describe the obstacles faced by women, Jews, and African Americans in pursuingcareers in psychology, especially during the first half of the twentieth century.Women were often denied admission to graduate school or conferment of degrees, and laterhad adifficult time finding jobs particularly if she was married. Eleanor Gibson, who laterwon a number of professional awards for her work in perceptual development and learning,was restricted from certain courses and areas on campus when she attended Yale.Suchdiscrimination extended into 1960, when Sandra Scarr was told by the officer interviewingher for admission that most women don’t finish their degrees, and the ones that do amount tonothing anyway. Despite such obstacles, women did attain doctoraldegrees in psychology.One champion for the education of women was James McKeen Cattell, who supportedwomen frequently, urging scientific societies to include women as members. Largelybecause of his efforts, the APA was the first scientific society toadmit women as members.Mary Whiton Calkins became the first female president of APA in 1905.Discrimination extended to Jewish psychologists as well. A study of discrimination ofJews at three universities—Harvard, Yale, and Princeton—found widespread practices thatexcluded Jews from admission. Those Jews who were admitted to colleges were oftenseparated and socially ostracized. Many colleges and universities, including two important topsychology (Johns Hopkins and Clark), had explicit policies to disallow Jewish students. Inthe face of such discrimination, some Jewish psychologists changedtheir names, whichhelped them secure jobs. Isadore Krechevsky became David Krech, David Bakanovskybecame David Bakan, and Harry Israel (even though he was a protestant) changed his nameto Harry Harlow.Some chose not to do this, for example Abraham Maslow refused to change his first name tosomething “less Jewish”.African Americans also faced an enormous amount of discrimination. When Blackstudents were allowed to attend predominantly White universities, they were often notallowed to live on campus or mix socially with White students. Howard University inWashington D.C., a traditionally Black school, provided an education in Psychology formany Black students.6) How does the process of writing history in any field necessarily restrict the number ofpeople whose work can be singled out for attention?What gets highlighted in histories are a few individuals or events that have had an impact.Bydefinition, this is a very small percentage of total individuals in a particular field. Forexample, many contemporary psychologists might be therapists, or might work forcorporations. Unless they take the unusual step of publishing their work and ideas, theirwork will remain invisible to later psychology historians and won’t move beyond a smallgroup of colleagues.7) Describe the differences between personalistic and naturalistic conceptions ofscientific history. Explain which approach is supported by cases of simultaneousdiscovery.The personalistic conception of scientific history states that science advances because ofeminent individuals whose work creates an impact on the field. The naturalistic conceptionof scientific history is the viewpoint that the intellectual climate (theZietgeist) fosters thecreation of a particular idea. If one person does not discover the idea, another person is likelyto. There are many instances of simultaneous and independent discoveries which lendssupport to this naturalistic conception. For example, Wallace developed the shell ofevolutionary theory independent of Darwin and halfway around the world from him.

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128) What is the Zeitgeist? How does the Zeitgeist affect the evolution of a science?Compare the growth of a science with the evolution of a living species.The Zeitgeist is the intellectual spirit of the times, andmay be directed by some individuals.Oftentimes journal editors can act as gatekeepers of mainstream ideas and refuse to publishpapers that are revolutionary. Psychologist John Garcia tried to publish a paper thatchallenged prevailing thought on stimulus-response theory. Although the research was solid,he was only able to publish in journals that were less known. The Zeitgeist can inhibit orpromote methods of investigation or a discipline’ssubject matter. Just like species adjust tothe demands of the environment, a science will change depending on the Zeitgeist.9) What is meant by the term “school of thought”? Has the science of psychologyreached the paradigmatic stage of development? Why or why not?A school of thought is when a group of psychologists agree on a subject of study, on methodsto use, and approaches to psychology. Thomas Kuhn wrote a book about how sciencesdevelop over time calledThe Structure of Scientific Revolution. According to Kuhn, when ascience has produced an accepted way of thinking and has matured, this way of thinking iscalled a paradigm. Paradigms are present in other science, for example for about 300 yearsthe paradigm in physics was the Galilean-Newtonian framework.Paradigms can also change,in what Kuhn calls a scientific revolution, such as when Einstein’s model of physics becamethe paradigm. Because psychology remains divided, it is considered to be“preparadigmatic”—there is no prevailing school of thought. Infact, many contemporarypsychologists criticize the field because of its fragmentation. There is no single view ofpsychology upon which a majority of psychologists agree.10) Describe the cyclical process by which schools of thought begin, prosper, and thenfail.In the history of psychology, the early schools of thought rose in opposition to the prevailingschools. Emerging schools would criticize the weaknesses of the previous schools and wouldaddress these weaknesses and attempt to redefine psychology, its methods, and its topics ofstudy. If enough people agreed with the new school, the old school was rejected. Some earlyschools of thought (structuralism, functionalism) no longer exist while other schools(behaviorism, psychoanalysis) still do.Key terms from chapter one•BehaviorismThis school of thought is most associated with Watson and Skinner,which grew in opposition to those interested in conscious experience. Behavioristswere interested in studying only visible and therefore objective behavior. Studieswere carefully controlled and experimental as opposed to observational.•Cognitive psychologyThis is the most recent school to form;its members also studyconscious processes, particularly how the mind organizes thoughts.•Data Distorted in translationsTranslations can lead to a change in meaning of aconcept. For example, Freud’sEinfallwas translated into English asFreeAssociation, which does not convey the idea of intrusion/invasion Freud intended.

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13•FunctionalismThe school of psychology that grew in opposition to structuralism,and like structuralism focused on conscious experiences as it relates to evolutionaryadaptation. To functionalists, conscious experience should be studied as it happens,and the goal isto determine the utility of consciousness.•Gestalt psychologyThis school of thought began in Germany then came to theUnited States. With Gestalt, there is a focus on learning and perception in the contextof the real world, and a focus on the wholeness of experience.•HistoriographyThe methods and techniques used to study history, shaped by the factthat the data of history (fragments of what has been left behind and found) are quitedifferent than the data of science (which allows replication).•Humanistic psychologyThis school of thought grew in opposition to bothbehaviorism and psychoanalysis, and emphasized the wholeness of human nature andcommunicated the ability to overcome the past.•Lost/Suppressed dataSome historical data has become lost over time (John Watsonburning his papers), and some is purposefully suppressed (Freud’s biographydownplaying his cocaine use).•Naturalistic theoryThis is the idea that science progresses not because of the workof extraordinary individuals, but rather because the time is ripe for the progression.The Zeitgeist, or intellectual climate, can be both accepting of new discoveries or candampen a newdiscovery if it is too revolutionary.•ParadigmA paradigm is an accepted way of thinking in a particular discipline. Inphysics, for example, Einstein’s theories are broadly accepted. This is in contrast topsychology, where there is no broadly accepted psychological ideology.•Personalistic theoryThis is the idea that the skills and discoveries of specificindividuals is what creates new information•PsychoanalysisMost associated with Freud, the focus of psychoanalysis is on theunconscious mind, with application to therapy.•School of thoughtWhen a group of psychologists agree on a subject of study, onmethods to use, and approaches to psychology we can call this group a school ofthought.•Self-serving dataThe idea that historical participants are motivated to shape howthey are presented. For example, in his autobiography Skinner wrote that he didnothing but work in graduate school. At the same time, his graduate studentcolleagues remember his ping-pongskills.•StructuralismThe school of psychology most associated with Titchener, wherebyconscious experience is dissected using introspection.•Wilhelm WundtBroadly known as the father of psychology, he defined what earlypsychology should be.•ZeitgeistThe prevailing spirit of the times which influences the flow of new thought.Sometimes the Zeitgeist is ‘right’ for an idea and more than one individual has theidea at once, such as Darwin and Wallace developing the theory of evolutionindependently. At other times the Zeitgeist is ‘wrong’ for an idea, such as when theScottish scientist Robert Whytt suggested the idea of the conditioned response in1763.Chapter 2

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14Philosophical Influences on PsychologyIn 1739, a new machine was showcased in France that captured the intellectual spirit,or Zeitgeist, of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The “defecating duck” wasrevolutionary in that itcould quack, rise up on its legs, stretch out its neck, grab and swallowgrain, and defecate just like a live duck. This invention is but one example of the newmachines that were created for daily living and amusement. Such machines demonstratemechanism, which is the idea that all natural processes are mechanically determined and canbe understood by insight in chemistry and physics. Galileo and Newton started this doctrinewith their conceptualization of the clockwork universe, which suggests that every physicaleffect is derived from a direct cause. Thus, if the cause could be fully understood, one wouldbe able to make predictions. This intellectual atmosphere directly influenced the directionthat psychology would eventually take by incorporating new technology into the methods andpractice of science. With technology came increased precision. The scientific focus of thetime was on observation, experimentation, and measurement.Another new invention of the seventeenth century was the mechanical clock, whichwas referred to as the “mother of machines.” Clocks brought about regularity, order, andpredictability to all levels of social class and economic circumstance. They also ushered inthe idea that precision and regularity can apply to the universe. It was believed that aclockwork universe, once set in motion by God, would function with order, regularity, andpredictability. This set the tone for determinism, “the doctrine that acts are determined bypast events,” as well as reductionism, attempting to reduce complex phenomena into simplercomponents.Machines built to imitate humans and other animals were called automata. The“defecating duck” was one such machine, and there were many more, such as a five and ahalf foot tall automaton that looked like a man and could actually play a flute. Philosophersbegan to incorporate the idea of mechanism and automata in their approach to understandinghuman nature. Many believed that mechanical laws govern human behavior, and the methodsused to investigate the universe can be used to investigate human behavior. The Zeitgeist ofthe mechanical man that pervaded science and philosophy was echoed in literature, withMary Shelley’sFrankensteinand L. Frank Baum’sThe Wizard of Ozbooks.Charles Babbage exemplified the intellectual spirit of the time when he invented a”difference calculator” that could imitate human mental actions like playing chess andconducting mathematical calculations. It is the direct forerunner of the modern computer andstarted the idea of “artificial intelligence”. One of Babbage’s supporters was Ada Lovelace,who described Babbage’s machine and how it worked. She identifies a fundamentaldifference between a thinking machine and a human, that is, a machine cannot createsomething new, it can only do what it is programmed to do.Until the seventeenth century, when empiricism introduced new ideas to be formedthrough observation, prevailing thought was dictated by the dogmatism of the church.Although many scholars contributed to the introduction of psychology, Rene Descartes iscredited as having inaugurated modern psychology. Descartes’ approach to philosophy wasto discard all that he knew and to build his knowledge from scratch. One of the issues hetackled was the mind-body problem: “the question of the distinction between mental andphysical qualities.” If the mind and body are different, then how do they interact with eachother?

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A History Of Modern Psychology, 10th Edition Lecture Notes - Page 16 preview image

15Descartes agreed with previous thought that mind and body are different.Unlike hispredecessors who thought that mind controlled body, he believed in a mutual interaction,which means that the body also controls the mind to some extent. This placed moreimportance on the body’s functioning and allowed it to become subject ofscientific inquiry.Being influenced by the automata and machines of his day, Descartes believed that thebody could be explained mechanically. For example, he thought that some movements arenot governed by the conscious experience but by stimulus outside of the body that elicits aninvoluntary response, which was later termed thereflex action theory. If the body can bedescribed mechanically, then human behavior can be predictable; like with other machines,all movements (effects) happen because of causes and as long as one knows the causes onecan predict the effects.Descartes was a dualist, believing that the mind and body were separate entities. Thisleft him with the problem of how they interact. He looked to the brain, and saw thatstructures were duplicated in each hemisphere, except for the pineal body. For this reason, hesaw this structure as the vehicle through with the mind and body interact. Perhaps his biggestinfluence on psychology comes through Descartes’doctrine of ideas. He believed the mindhad two types of ideas; derived ideas, which are “produced by the direct application of anexternal stimulus” and innate ideas, which “arise from the mind or consciousness,independent of sensory experiences.”Auguste Comte was also influential to modern psychology when he foundedpositivism (an ideal system based exclusively on facts that are objectively observable and notdebatable). Comte believed that while the physical sciences had already reached a positiviststage, the social sciences would have to abandon metaphysical questions and explanations inorder to do so. Similarly, the doctrine of materialism believes that “the facts of the universecould be described in physical terms and explained by the properties of matter and energy.”On the other hand, the doctrine of empiricism proposed that “all knowledge is derived fromsensory experience.” Positivism, materialism, and empiricism all provided some of thephilosophical basis for psychology, yet empiricism played the major role.One of the main British empiricists was John Locke. His major influence onpsychology is his bookAn Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which “marks theformal beginning of British empiricism.” He rejects Descartes’ innate ideas, and says that atbirth the human mind is atabula rasa, or a blank slate, and we acquire knowledge throughour experiences. Locke defines two types of experiences: sensation (direct sensory input),and reflection (interpretations of sensations to form higher-level thinking).Theseexperiences combine to form ideas. The first are simple ideas, which come from bothsensation and reflection and can’t be broken down further. The second are complex ideas,which are combinations of simple ideas. This sets the ground forassociation, whichpsychologists later call learning. According to Locke, everything begins with the objects inspace and our sensations of them. Such objects have two qualities: primary qualities, whichexist in the object whether we perceive them or not (such assize and shape), and secondaryqualities, which exist not in the object but in our perception of it (“such as color, odor, sound,and taste”). Locke, like Galileo before him, was making the distinction between what issubjective and what is objective andthus highlighting the importance of human perception.George Berkeley addressed the question of whether any real differences in stimulusexisted. Berkeley believed that there were only secondary qualities, and all knowledge is afunction of perception (this position later is called mentalism). With this conception, we cannever know the real world in an objective way. However, Berkeley believed that stabilityexists because God constantly perceives the world. For example, when a tree falls in the

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