https://www.coursera.org/learn/introduction-psychology/supplement/r9Hqk/introductory-readings
History of Psychology
Understanding the history of psychology helps us make sense of how it has grown
and developed over the years. History helps define who we are. E.g your first
conversation The conversation usually begins with a series of questions such as,
“Where did you grow up?” “How long have you lived here?” “Where did you go to
school?” The importance of history in defining who we are cannot be overstated.
The same is true for studying the history of psychology; getting a history of the field
helps to make sense of where we are and how we got here.
Precursors to American psychology can be found in philosophy and physiology.
Philosophers such as John Locke (1632–1704) and Thomas Reid (1710–1796)
promoted empiricism, the idea that all knowledge comes from experience. The
work of Locke, Reid, and others emphasized the role of the human observer and
the primacy of the senses in defining how the mind comes to acquire knowledge. In
American colleges and universities in the early 1800s, these principles were taught
as courses on mental and moral philosophy. Most often these courses taught about
the mind based on the faculties of intellect, will, and the senses (Fuchs, 2000).
German physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz’s (1821–1894) work indicated our
senses can deceive us and aren’t a mirror of the external world: basically what you
see isn’t always what you get.
An important implication of Helmholtz’s work was that there is a psychological
reality and a physical reality and that the two are not identical. This was not a new
idea; philosophers like John Locke had written extensively on the topic, and in the
19th century, philosophical speculation about the nature of mind became subject
to the rigors of science.
Behaviorism emerged early in the 20th century and became a major force in
American psychology. Championed by psychologists such as John B. Watson
(1878–1958) and B. F. Skinner (1904–1990), behaviorism rejected any reference to
,mind and viewed overt and observable behavior as the proper subject matter of
psychology. Through the scientific study of behavior, it was hoped that laws of
learning could be derived that would promote the prediction and control of
behavior. Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) influenced early
behaviorism in America. His work on conditioned learning, popularly referred to as
classical conditioning, provided support for the notion that learning and behavior
were controlled by events in the environment and could be explained with no
reference to mind or consciousness (Fancher, 1987).
For decades, behaviorism dominated American psychology. By the 1960s,
psychologists began to recognize that behaviorism was unable to fully explain
human behavior because it neglected mental processes. The turn toward a
cognitive psychology was not new. In the 1930s, British psychologist Frederic C.
Bartlett (1886–1969) explored the idea of the constructive mind, recognizing that
people use their past experiences to construct frameworks in which to understand
new experiences. Some of the major pioneers in American cognitive psychology
include Jerome Bruner (1915–), Roger Brown (1925–1997), and George Miller
(1920–2012). In the 1950s, Bruner conducted pioneering studies on cognitive
aspects of sensation and perception. Brown conducted original research on
language and memory, coined the term “flashbulb memory,” and figured out how
to study the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon (Benjamin, 2007). Miller’s research on
working memory is legendary. His 1956 paper “The Magic Number Seven, Plus or
Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information”is one of the
most highly cited papers in psychology. A popular interpretation of Miller’s research
was that the number of bits of information an average human can hold in working
memory is 7 ± 2. Around the same time, the study of computer science was growing
and was used as an analogy to explore and understand how the mind works. The
work of Miller and others in the 1950s and 1960s has inspired tremendous interest
in cognition and neuroscience, both of which dominate much of contemporary
American psychology.
,Timeline
1600s – Rise of empiricism emphasizing centrality of human observer in acquiring
knowledge
1850s - Helmholz measures neural impulse / Psychophysics studied by Weber &
Fechner
1859 - Publication of Darwin's Origin of Species
1879 - Wundt opens lab for experimental psychology
1883 - First psychology lab opens in the United States
1887 – First American psychology journal is published: American Journal of
Psychology
1890 – James publishes Principles of Psychology
1892 – APA established
1894 – Margaret Floy Washburn is first U.S. woman to earn Ph.D. in psychology
1904 - Founding of Titchener's experimentalists
1905 - Mary Whiton Calkins is first woman president of APA
1909 – Freud’s only visit to the United States
1913 - John Watson calls for a psychology of behavior
1920 – Francis Cecil Sumner is first African American to earn Ph.D. in psychology
, 1921 – Margaret Floy Washburn is second woman president of APA
1930s – Creation and growth of the American Association for Applied Psychology
(AAAP) / Gestalt psychology comes to America
1936- Founding of The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
1940s – Behaviorism dominates American psychology
1946 – National Mental Health Act
1949 – Boulder Conference on Graduate Education in Clinical Psychology
1950s – Cognitive psychology gains popularity
1954 – Brown v. Board of Education
1957 – Evelyn Hooker publishes The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual
1968 – Founding of the Association of Black Psychologists
1973 – Psy.D. proposed at the Vail Conference on Professional Training in
Psychology
1988 – Founding of the American Psychological Society (now known as the
Association for Psychological Science)
History of Psychology
Understanding the history of psychology helps us make sense of how it has grown
and developed over the years. History helps define who we are. E.g your first
conversation The conversation usually begins with a series of questions such as,
“Where did you grow up?” “How long have you lived here?” “Where did you go to
school?” The importance of history in defining who we are cannot be overstated.
The same is true for studying the history of psychology; getting a history of the field
helps to make sense of where we are and how we got here.
Precursors to American psychology can be found in philosophy and physiology.
Philosophers such as John Locke (1632–1704) and Thomas Reid (1710–1796)
promoted empiricism, the idea that all knowledge comes from experience. The
work of Locke, Reid, and others emphasized the role of the human observer and
the primacy of the senses in defining how the mind comes to acquire knowledge. In
American colleges and universities in the early 1800s, these principles were taught
as courses on mental and moral philosophy. Most often these courses taught about
the mind based on the faculties of intellect, will, and the senses (Fuchs, 2000).
German physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz’s (1821–1894) work indicated our
senses can deceive us and aren’t a mirror of the external world: basically what you
see isn’t always what you get.
An important implication of Helmholtz’s work was that there is a psychological
reality and a physical reality and that the two are not identical. This was not a new
idea; philosophers like John Locke had written extensively on the topic, and in the
19th century, philosophical speculation about the nature of mind became subject
to the rigors of science.
Behaviorism emerged early in the 20th century and became a major force in
American psychology. Championed by psychologists such as John B. Watson
(1878–1958) and B. F. Skinner (1904–1990), behaviorism rejected any reference to
,mind and viewed overt and observable behavior as the proper subject matter of
psychology. Through the scientific study of behavior, it was hoped that laws of
learning could be derived that would promote the prediction and control of
behavior. Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) influenced early
behaviorism in America. His work on conditioned learning, popularly referred to as
classical conditioning, provided support for the notion that learning and behavior
were controlled by events in the environment and could be explained with no
reference to mind or consciousness (Fancher, 1987).
For decades, behaviorism dominated American psychology. By the 1960s,
psychologists began to recognize that behaviorism was unable to fully explain
human behavior because it neglected mental processes. The turn toward a
cognitive psychology was not new. In the 1930s, British psychologist Frederic C.
Bartlett (1886–1969) explored the idea of the constructive mind, recognizing that
people use their past experiences to construct frameworks in which to understand
new experiences. Some of the major pioneers in American cognitive psychology
include Jerome Bruner (1915–), Roger Brown (1925–1997), and George Miller
(1920–2012). In the 1950s, Bruner conducted pioneering studies on cognitive
aspects of sensation and perception. Brown conducted original research on
language and memory, coined the term “flashbulb memory,” and figured out how
to study the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon (Benjamin, 2007). Miller’s research on
working memory is legendary. His 1956 paper “The Magic Number Seven, Plus or
Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information”is one of the
most highly cited papers in psychology. A popular interpretation of Miller’s research
was that the number of bits of information an average human can hold in working
memory is 7 ± 2. Around the same time, the study of computer science was growing
and was used as an analogy to explore and understand how the mind works. The
work of Miller and others in the 1950s and 1960s has inspired tremendous interest
in cognition and neuroscience, both of which dominate much of contemporary
American psychology.
,Timeline
1600s – Rise of empiricism emphasizing centrality of human observer in acquiring
knowledge
1850s - Helmholz measures neural impulse / Psychophysics studied by Weber &
Fechner
1859 - Publication of Darwin's Origin of Species
1879 - Wundt opens lab for experimental psychology
1883 - First psychology lab opens in the United States
1887 – First American psychology journal is published: American Journal of
Psychology
1890 – James publishes Principles of Psychology
1892 – APA established
1894 – Margaret Floy Washburn is first U.S. woman to earn Ph.D. in psychology
1904 - Founding of Titchener's experimentalists
1905 - Mary Whiton Calkins is first woman president of APA
1909 – Freud’s only visit to the United States
1913 - John Watson calls for a psychology of behavior
1920 – Francis Cecil Sumner is first African American to earn Ph.D. in psychology
, 1921 – Margaret Floy Washburn is second woman president of APA
1930s – Creation and growth of the American Association for Applied Psychology
(AAAP) / Gestalt psychology comes to America
1936- Founding of The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
1940s – Behaviorism dominates American psychology
1946 – National Mental Health Act
1949 – Boulder Conference on Graduate Education in Clinical Psychology
1950s – Cognitive psychology gains popularity
1954 – Brown v. Board of Education
1957 – Evelyn Hooker publishes The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual
1968 – Founding of the Association of Black Psychologists
1973 – Psy.D. proposed at the Vail Conference on Professional Training in
Psychology
1988 – Founding of the American Psychological Society (now known as the
Association for Psychological Science)
