George

The smartest and greatest thinker the world has ever known was George. He invented the game of chess, which still quite popular. It has never achieved such rave reviews as George’s greatest hits: fire and the wheel.

Despite he amazing contributions, George has never been a household name. Partly due natural shyness, part due to the lack of pen and paper, the accomplishments of George have gone unheralded.

As George shows, not every great thinker is well known. No one knows who founded Hinduism. It’s the world’s third largest religion but its origins are obscure. similarly, no one knows when Abraham, father of Judaism, was born.

As it turns out, history had to be invented. A lot of living occurred before people started writing down events that happened, or described people they knew or event that happened.

And even then, only the rich got mentioned. Sure, only the rich could afford a scribe. And only the rich really mattered, at least to other rich people. But the reason you can trace your ancestry to some king and not to some horse thief is that the horse thief couldn’t afford a press agent. Slaves and surfs had relatively little social media presence.

Progress is not linear. Ideas hopscotch through history. One idea may be popular and then jump to another century. It might start in religion, zigzag to science, hop to philosophy and land in computer science. There may be a grand scheme but ideas seem to show up by chance.

Consider the nature of man, as a case in point.

Judaism proposed a bipartite nature. People are composed of body and soul. God created man out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into it the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). Much later, Greek philosophers continued this body-soul dualism.

In contrast, some early Christian writers held a trichotomous view of human nature. A third part was added. According to this view, individuals are composed of body, soul and spirit. Justine Martyr and Clement of Alexandria held this view. But both of these were greatly influenced by the writings of Saul of Tarsus (aka, the Apostle Paul). The tripartite view appears to not have been popular until the Apostle Paul.

Three separate components seems like a problem to decide what survives death. But most trichotomonists believe the soul and spirit survive; only the body dies. In general, this formal three-part theology is converted to a daily dualism when needed.

As history progresses, dichotomy becomes trichotomy becomes dichotomy. Jumping forward a thousand plus years, Descartes reaffirms dualism. This gave him two great advantages.

First, Descartes could study nature. At a time when the Catholic Church was in one of its anti-science moods, Descartes could study the body and physical nature of things without impinging on the soul. If God put the universe in motion, one could study how the system works without questioning God’s rule. Descartes was simply explaining how God did things, not why.

Second, a dual nation allowed Descartes to differentiate between reflex (body) and voluntary actions (soul). This voluntary-involuntary dualism continues to today. Voluntary behaviors are the result of the cerebral processes of the brain. Involuntary behaviors are the result of the subcortical processes of the Limbic system. Think and do with the brain; react and do with the structures under the brain.

In addition to dualism (and tripartitsm), there is monism. Monism is not a new idea. Hinduism and Indian philosophy have long maintained that the body and mind are inseparable. One influences the other reciprocally. If one dies, so does the other.

Hobbes, Spinoza and La Mettrie were all physical monists.

 

 

Disorders

Tunnel Vision

Visional Dead Spot

Macular Degeneration

Nystagmus

Strabismus

Cataract

Lens more dense & hard (sclerosis)

less transparent (cataract)

can be irregularly shaped

jelly-like (like raw egg whites), becomes more liquid with age and separates from the retina, causing floaters (dark specks in vision). As the vitrious separates, sometimes the retina can become detached (posterior vitreous detachmentor PVD).

Far sighted

Near Sighted

Astigmatism

An inherited condition (astigmatism) produces an irregularly shaped cornea; symptoms include headaches, eye strain, squinting and vision that is blurred or distorted.

Nerve Damage

Color Blindness

Glaucoma

Detached Retina

Nystagmus = can’t hold eyes still

Strabismu (strabismic amblyopia)

Lazy Eye or Amblyopia

Eyes don’t point same direction

Two don’t help perceive depth

Treatment

Patch over active eye

Play action video games

Choroid

Causes leakage of blood and fluid into eye

causes rods to degenerate

starts in periphery

gradual onset of night blindness

 

 

 

Terms

intensity = amount of light needed to fire

geniculostriate – form and detail

tectopulvinar – motion and location

can lose one and maintain function of the other

nonpigmented ciliary epithelium (NPCE).

ligaments

ciliary body

Array of photoreceptors = retina

Focusing = cornea plus crystalline lens

Photoreceptors are “backwards”

Axons (nerves) leave through blind spot

Discussate = cross over

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hobbes, Thomas (1588-1679)

Although he was skilled at both Latin and Greek at age 15, as a philosopher Hobbes was a late bloomer. He was 40 when he read Euclid’s Elements and turned his attention to philosophy. Hobbes was 63 when he published his greatest work (Leviathan), and 88 when he translated the Iliad into English. 

He was born in Malmesburg, England, where his father was a vicar. Malmesburg, built in 640, is in western England, along the Avon river. It’s closer to Bristol than to London, and the surrounding region of Wiltshire is best known for the Stonehenge megalith. When Hobbes was quite young, his father deserted the family, leaving them to fend for themselves. Fortunately, Hobbes was supported by his uncle, a wealthy glover, who paid for the boy’s education in private school and at Oxford. After graduation, a wealthy family hired Hobbes as a private tutor and he traveled widely with them.

In 1636, at the age of 47, Hobbes visits Galileo in Florence and comes away convinced that the universe is composed only of matter and motion. For him, man is a machine whose mental activity was reducible to the motion of atoms in the brain, and free will, spirit and mind are illusions.

Although Hobbes was friends with Francis Bacon (and served as his secretary for a short time), he rejected Bacon’s inductive reasoning in favor of the deductive methods of his other friends (Galileo and Descartes). He builds his case as a chain of deductive proofs.

Thomas Hobbes is best known for his “trains of thought,” his Laws of Nature, and his emphasis on social contracts. According to Hobbes, ideas tend to follow each other, like cars of a train. These “trains of thought” are often unguided and rambling but they become orderly when two ideas are similar. One association leads to another, like train cars all coupled end to end, forming trains of thought. Although the metaphor was new, the concept of association dates back to ancient Athens. Hobbes reintroduced Plato’s and Aristotle’s explanation of learning by wrapping it in an undated package.

Hobbes proposed that there are Laws of Nature that govern human interaction. These laws are society’s way of countering the essential selfishness of people. Although these laws coincide with God’s commands, they can be discovered by reason alone and should be obeyed for purely secular reasons. For Hobbes, people are motivated by selfishness. Even good behavior is the result of personal selfishness. Good behavior leads to good internal feeling. Consequently, we do good things because we derive some internal benefit. Nature’s laws, which include the laws of peace, duty, and gratitude, are to be followed because it is in our best interest to be at peace. Moral laws are social contracts we make with other people for our mutual benefit.

For Hobbes, one thing leads to another. Just as one idea is linked to another to form a train of associations, one principle leads to another, like proofs of mathematics. Laws of Nature are connected to social contracts. Hobbes maintains that because people are basically selfish, they enter into social contracts with others out of self-preservation. Morality is a matter of convenience and survival. Nature is in a constant state of war and quarrelsomeness, so people form contracts (I won’t steal from you if you don’t steal from me) in order to survive. It is these social contracts that form the basis of civilization.

Hobbes’ ideas were quite radical. He combined the British empiricism of Bacon and the continental rationalism of Descartes. He emphasized the importance of sensory perception and experience but used the deductive reasoning and mathematical forms of geometry more characteristic of the continental thinkers. Because of his ideas, Hobbes was often at odds with those in power. From 1640-1651, he fled to France, fearful for his life. In 1667, the British House of Commons was readying a bill outlawing blasphemous literature. Hobbes had the dubious distinction of having his work Levianthan cited as an example of what should be banned.

 

Spinoza, Baruch

Baruch (1632-1677)In contrast to Descartes’ separation of God, mind and matter, Baruch (Benedict in Latin) Spinoza proposed an integrated view. Not three separate entities; three aspects of one substance. Although raised in the predominantly Christian city of Amsterdam, and contrary to the teaching of his parents who were Portuguese Jews, Spinoza was basically a pantheist (God does not exist as a separate entity but is in everything). He believed that mind and body can’t be separated because matter and soul are the same thing but viewed from different points of view. Spinoza’s double-aspectism (mind-body are two sides of the same coin) was in contrast to the dualism of Descartes and others. Dualists held that the material mind and spiritual mind were independent but had to meet somewhere. Spinoza’s monism eliminated the conflict by reducing mind and matter to the same substance.

 

La Mettrie, Julien (de) (1709-1751)

Born on December 25, La Mettrie was encouraged to become a priest but turned to medicine instead. Quick-witted and quick-tempered, La Mettrie wrote pointed and often satirical articles on medicine and its practice. During the war between France and Austria (1742), La Mettrie caught a high fever. During his recovery, he considered the relationship between the mind and body, and concluded that they are more fully intertwined that Descartes had proposed. Indeed, La Mettrie’s solution was to disavow any spiritual aspect of the mind. Like Hobbes, La Mettrie was a physical monist: all that exists is matter. Matter could be rearranged, which explained humans as being more complex animals, but there is no qualitative difference between them.

Physical monism is quite popular today. With all of the research on the brain, it is easy for people assume that brain activity explains all human behavior. Psychology can’t define, let alone study, the soul And it has no idea what survives death, if anything. Consequently, there is little hypothesizing of dualism explanations.

One theory often overlooked in the mind-body debate it’s spiritual monism.

 

Berkeley, George (1685-1753).

Born in Kilkenny, Ireland, Berkeley waseducated at Oxford, spent several years in Italy and America, and served for 18 years as the Anglican Bishop of Cloyne, Ireland.

In psychology, he is best known for his work on vision, his emphasis on associations and his belief that complex perceptions are composed of simple mental elements. In philosophy, he founded idealism and challenged Newton’s concepts of time and space. In 1866, Berkeley, California was named in his honor.

Berkeley’s 1709 book on vision explained how we perceive 3 dimensions with eyes which can only see in two dimensions. According to Berkeley, we perceive depth by associating the convergence of the eyes with other sensations (e.g., the size of an object is smaller as distance increases). His interest in perception also tied to Berkeley’s philosophy. He maintained that perception is the essence of being. In an attempt to counter what he perceived to be attacks on God, Berkeley proposed an imaginative argument against dualism and materialism.

Materialists reasoned that matter is all that exists so God cannot exist. Dualists maintained that this world is a bad copy of a separate world of ideas. Berkeley started with the premise that God exists and argued that without Him nothing would exist. Berkeley’s argument rested on 2 premises: (a) nothing can be perceived without a mind and (b) there are things the human mind can’t perceive. His conclusion was that there must be a mind that perceives everything seen and unseen: God. It is not so much that we perceive therefore we are (to paraphrase Descartes) but that we are, therefore someone is perceiving us. Although Berkeley’s philosophy was not widely accepted, his criticism of materialism and dualism founded a new approach called idealism.

 

 

 

 

which resides under the brain.

 

Rene Descartes favored a similar dualistic view.

Some Christian thinkers

 

 

 

BIOS BY TANGEN

Adler, Alfred (1870-1937)

Born in Vienna, the 2nd of six children. Unhappy childhood; sickly, frail, pampered by parents, jealous of older brother (mother’s favorite). Broke with Freud: sex not motivating force, not stress unconscious.

Key words: birth order, compensation, individualtiy, social interest, masculine protest, superiority, inferiority, style of life

 

Ambrose (340-397)

Ambrose didn’t set out to be a priest. Born in what is now Germany, he studied law in Rome and began his career as a civil service. When he was appointed governor of Aemilia and Liguria in 370, he made Milan his headquarters. He was such a popular ruler that four years after he moved there, he was asked to become Milan’s bishop. Ambrose accepted the position, became baptized, and then formally joined the church.

Angell, James Rowland (1867-1949)

Having studied with both Dewey and James, Angell developed the laboratory at the Univerisy of Chicago into a major training program. Coming from a long line of college presidents, Angell studied with Dewey (at Michigan) and James (at Harvard). After chairing the psychology department at the University of Chicago for 25 years, Angell became the president of Yale (1921).

 

Aquinas, Thomas (1225-1274)

Born to an aristocratic Italian family, Thomas Aquinas studied at the University of Naples. But when he joined the Dominican Order, he was abducted by his family and confined to the family castle. Upon being freed, he traveled to Paris and studied under Albertus Magnus. Augustine had said that truth must depend on revelation, but Aristotle’s philosophy (along with Averroes’ commentaries) emphasized the importance of empirical knowledge. Aquinas proposed a middle ground. He held that some truths can only be known through revelation and others only through experience. Still others, such as God, can be known through both. Instead of condemning each, Aquinas reconciled them. He noted that sensory information is not autonomous as Averroes suggested but that it is processed by the intellect. For Aquinas, body and soul are separate entities but work together. Man may be a highly specialized animal, but he possesses a soul.

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Sometimes called the first psychologist, Aristotle proposed 3 laws of association (i.e., similarity, contiguity, and opposites). A student of Plato, much of philosophy can be traced by to his writings. Aristotle came to Plato as a student but stayed on a teacher until Plato’s death. He served as counselor to Hermias and, later, as tutor to Alexander the Great. He started a school (the Lyceum), wrote Athens’ constitution, and impacted zoology, psychology, ethics, logic, and theology. Aristotle’s belief that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones lasted until Galileo. His view that earth is the center of the universe went unchallenged until Capernicus. Aristotle argued for the existence of a divine principle above all the rest; the Prime Mover (first cause) was pure intellect, perfect unity and unchangeable. Like Hippocrates, Aristotle noted four basic elements, each with its own “specific gravity.” But in addition to earth, air, fire and water, Aristotle added a fifth: ether (to describe the content of the heavens).

Aristippus

Although a student of Socrates in Athens, Aristippus was born in Cyrene, so his philosophy is called Cyrenaicism. The basic doctrine was pleasure is all that matters. For Aristippus and his followers, the pursuit of happiness required the immediate gratification of any and every desire. People should control their circumstances, and not allow circumstances to control them. This Cyrenaic approach allowed no thought of the consequences because knowledge is unreliable, amoral and only exists in the sensations of the moment. Although Aristippus may have argued for restraint, for many Cyrenaicism was an excuse for sexual promiscuity and physical brutality.

Augustine (354-430)

Raised in a philosophically-mixed family (his mother was a Christian, his father was not), Augustine converted to Christianity as an adult. He advocated introspective meditation, denunciation of the flesh, and the importance of self understanding. Since true knowledge comes from God, examining the world is of limited value. For Augustine, the soul is composed of memory, understanding and will. Sometimes called the first of the Christian philosophers, Augustine’s views dominated western Europe for nearly 1000 years. Augustine believed that truth comes directly from God through introspective self-examination. For Augustine, the soul is a self-contained entity with no physical dimension. It is a trinity of memory, understanding, and will.

Averroës

His full name was Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Rushd. Born in Cordoba, Spain, Averroës was the son a judge. He studied medicine, philosophy and Muslim law (which has both moral and legal aspects). His commentaries on Aristotle were translated into Latin and Hebrew and influenced both Hellenistic Judism and scholastic philosophy. Averroes became a judge, chief physician for the caliph of Morocco and believed that the world has no beginning and no miraculous creation. God is “prime mover” of the universe and the human soul comes from Him. Averroes emphasized both reason and revelation so much so that his opponents referred to it as “double truth.”

Bain, Alexander (1818-1903)

The son of a weaver, Bain was born, raised and educated in Aberdeen, Scotland. Indeed, except for several years in London, he lived whole life in Aberdeen. In 1876, Bain wrote the first journal devoted exclusively to psychology (Mind). He also provided the first books on psychology as such. Until William James wrote Principles of Psychology (1890), Bain’s books (The Senses and Emotions) were widely used as textbooks of psychology. A friend of JS Mill (who he met during his London years), Bain was an empiricist and a utilitarianist. He emphasized the law of contiguity, but differentiated between voluntary and reflexive behavior, held that people are capable of spontaneous activity which becomes increasingly purposive as it is rewarded by pleasure, and was a mind-body parallelist. He held that every sensation has both a physiological and a mental reaction. Bain is sometimes called the first modern physiological psychologist because of his detailed descriptions of sense organs and how they worked. He is best known for his description of the reflex arc.

 

Bandura, Albert (1925-)

Born in Mundara, Alberta (Canada), Bandura was educated in America. Following the tradition of Tolman, Bandura stressed social learning. He held that behavior is a function of cognitive and environmental factors, and how they interact with previous behaviors. Essentially, environment is what we make it to be. It is our perception of reality. In addition to classical and operant conditioning, we can learn by observing others (modeling). According to Bandura, we can benefit from other’s mistakes, and are motivated by our own goals and dreams. He maintained that people are capable of self-reinforcement (e.g., exceeding your personal standards of performance) and delayed self-gratification. Bandura offers a positive view of people actively involved in real life. Although uncomfortable labeling himself as a cognitive behaviorist, he certainly accepts a softer view of behaviorism.

 

Bechterev, Vladimire M (1887-1927)

A contemporary of Pavlov, Bechterev gave a more psychological interpretation of classical conditioning. His “associated reflex” described the process better but Pavlov’s terms prevailed. Bechterev began the first experimental psychology lab in Russia (at the University of Kazan). Following his graduation, Bechterev studied with Wundt, DeBois-Reymond and Charcot. Instead of Pavlov’s conditioned reflex, Bechterev called it an “associated reflex.” Instead of studying secretions (a very physiological orientation), Bechterev studied motor reflexes. For Bechterev, behavior was completely explainable within a S-R (stimulus-response) format. Indeed psychology was for him simply “human reflexology.”

 

Bell , Charles (Sir) (1774-1842)

Knighted in 1831, Scottish surgeon, Charles Bell, was the first to show that different parts of the brain held different functions, and that there was a difference between sensory and motor nerves. Formally known as the Bell-Magendie Law (since both made the same discovery independently), Bell showed that sensory and motor nerves are not bi-directional communicators but one way conductors of information.

Berkeley , George (1685-1753)

In an attempt to counter what he perceived to be philosophical attacks on God, Berkeley did away with reality. He believed that Aristotle’s skepticism and the materialism of Descartes, Hobbes and Locke had been direct attacks on Christianity. Berkeley’s counter-argument to materialism was that matter doesn’t exist. Like Locke, Berkeley held that knowledge is ideas, and the mind acts on ideas. Unlike Locke, Berkeley maintained that ideas are not caused by the physical world because we can’t know physical world directly. We only know by perception, so reality is perception. Our inner experience is our perception; the external reality around us is God’s perception. To be is to be perceived. Berkeley’s philosophy of perception was a mixture of his two interests: vision and religion. In addition to emphasizing the importance of associations, Berkeley showed that complex perceptions can be explained in terms of less complex elements.

 

Binet, Alfred (1857-1911)

Born in Nice, France, and educated at the Sorbonne (law), Binet is best known for his development of the first standardized test of intelligence. He worked with Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), but resigned in shame when his research on the healing powers of magnetism couldn’t be replicated. Fortunately, Binet was independently wealthy. Using his time wisely, Binet read Darwin, Galton, and J.S. Mill, and published studies on his two daughters (then aged 2 1/2 and 4 1/2). Using tests similar to those employed by Piaget years later, Binet also provided a detailed, longitudinal study of his daughters. Binet believed that intelligence was not a single factor but that it represented a cluster of abilities. In 1908, he and Simon revised their scale to differentiate between levels of normal intelligence. Binet never liked the terms “intelligence quotient” (coined by German psychologist, William Stern) or “IQ” (coined by American psychologist Lewis Terman). Binet thought the emphasis on mental age was limiting. Like Galton, Binet emphasized individual differences. Unlike Galton, Binet believed that environment was a significant influence on performance. Binet recommended “mental orthopedics” (special exercises) to improve an individual’s attention and performance. He believed that with special attention, children could learn better. Coincidentally, both Galton (89) and Binet (54) died in 1911.

 

Binswanger, Ludwig (1881-1966)

Although he studied psychiatry under Bleuler and Jung, Binswanger is best known for his existential beliefs. One of the first psychoanalysts in Switzerland (and a personal friend of Freud), Binswanger combined Heidegger’s phenomenology with Freud’s psychoanalysis. Binswanger stressed the interconnectedness of people with their environment. We are responsible for creating our own world design (“Weltanschaung“). This design can be open or closed, or expansive or constrictive. Stressing the importance of living an authentic life, he proposed three modes of existence: unwelt (around world), mitwelt (with world), and eigenwelt (own world). He emphasized the here and now, rejected determinism, and championed freedom of choice. People should act in their own best interest, Binswanger maintained. Since we are thrown into the world, our “thrownness” determines the limits of our freedom. The circumstances within which we can exercise freedom is called our “ground of existence.” People should seek to grow beyond their limits; it is a process of becoming. Refusing to “become” causes neurotic or psychotic problems.

 

Brentano, Franz (1838-1917)

Trained in the priesthood (he left the Church when the Vatican Council proclaimed infallibility of Pope), Brentano emphasized empirical observation but not experimentation. His “act psychology” focused on what the mind does. In contrast to Wundt, Brentano was not interested in the mind’s content or component parts but in the active process of thinking. He held that the mind was responsible for idea-ing (having ideas), judging (affirming the presence or state of an object), and feeling (generating attitudes).

 

Broca, Paul (1824-1880)

He is best known for his discovery that the brain has a specific area responsible for speech. Broca hypothesized that his patient’s aphasia was caused by a brain lesion. After the patient died (of unrelated causes), Broca performed an autopsy and found a lesion on the third frontal convolution of the left cerebral hemisphere. This portion of the brain which controls speech is called “Broca’s area.” More of a clinician than experimenter, Broca taught surgical pathology in Paris, founded a society of physical anthropology, and served in the French Senate.

Brown, Thomas (1778-1820)

Like Reid and Stewart, Brown’s rationalism was a reaction against Hume’s empiricism. Brown re-proposed Artistotle’s three laws of suggestion: contiguity, resemeblans, and contrast.

Buhler, Karl (1879-1963)

A student of Kulpe, Buhler emphasized “thought elements.” That is, thoughts are composed of non-sensory thought processes.

Carr, Harvey A (1873-1954)

Carr maintained that behavior is an “adaptive act.” Carr still used introspection but more behavioral in approach than many functionalists. Using introspection and observation, Carr studied thinking, emotion and adaptive behavior. Carr maintained that an “adaptive act” has 3 characteristics: a motivating stimulus, a sensory stimulus, and a response which adjusts life to meet the requirements set by the motivating stimulus. Thinking, then, is the substitution of ideas for motivating stimuli, and emotions are physiological readjustments to the environment.

 

Cattel, James McKeen (1860-1944)

Best known for coining the term “mental tests” and for studying the span of apprehension. A student of Wundt but greatly influenced by Galton, Cattell was the first to call the measurement of perceptual acuity and mental functions “mental tests.” Focusing on individual differences, Cattell established the first psychology laboratory for undergraduates (1887, at the U of Pennsylvania). Interested in practical applications, Cattell started, owned and edited several journals (e.g., Psychological Review, Science, Popular Science Monthly, The American Nativist, and School & Society). Similarly, his research focused on practical matters, such as the span of apprehension (the number of elements the mind can hold).

 

Chomsky, Noam (1928-)

Although he is primarily a linguist, Chomsky’s impact on psychology has been immense. In his scathing review of Skinner’s book Verbal Behavior, Chomsky calls psychology to task for its oversimplification of language and its acquisition. Chomsky pointed out that because language occurs in complex situations, stimulus control is very unlikely. Similarly, unless behaviorism can specify how language is overtly reinforced, there is no need to assume that reinforcement is involved. Chomsky also attacked response strength, noting that yelling “beautiful” repeatedly at a painting would show high response strength but would not necessarily convey what the speaker thought of it. According to Chomsky’s transformational-generative grammar, language is an innate human capacity. It is a unique, creative process. For Chomsky, the capacity for language is innate but the actual language one speaks is learned. He maintains that children acquire language too quickly for it to be learned.

 

Confucius

At nearly the same time as Pythagoras, Confucius was teaching his practical approach to life. Like Pythagoreanism, Confucianism involves the whole person. It is not a religion but a political and philosophical approach to every part of life. Confucius’ focus was not on the supernatural. He emphasized ethics, morality, and family values such as duty, kindness and faithfulness. To a corrupt feudal China, Confucius brought a message of honor. His five virtues (kindness, decorum, wisdom, faithfulness and honesty) were in direct opposition to the intrigue and decadence of his time.

 

Darwin, Charles (1809-1882)

In response to Alfred Wallace’s proposed publication, Darwin published his notes and theory of evolution, causing a major shift in intellectual thought. At the age of 22, just out of college and trying to avoid becoming an ordained minister, Charles Robert Darwin served as an unpaid naturalist on an around the world expedition. After his trip and his father’s death, Darwin retired into the life of a country gentleman. Then, a young naturalist, Alfred Russell Wallace, proposed a theory of natural selection and sent a copy to Darwin. Darwin then wrote his own version, and both were published in 1858. In what could be called the Wallace-Darwin theory of evolution, generational changes in a species are due to their ability to adapt to the environment. Before Darwin, the world was thought of a series of catastrophes. The last great catastrophic event (Noah’s flood) had wiped out all animals except those on the ark. Darwin’s speculation that related organisms come from common ancestors brought into question the immutability of species and, by extension, the special creation of humans.Darwin’s theory of evolution replaced Lamarck’s contention that the effects of practice could be seen in one’s offspring. Instead, one’s survival was attributed to the ability to react to environmental changes.

 

Democritus (460-370 BC)

According to Democritus, nature is composed of tiny particles which are in constant motion. He called these particles atoms and classified them in terms of their size, shape, and angularity. Taste was the result of small, angular winding atoms. Sight was the result of atoms flying through the air, hitting the eye, and making a copy of the original object. Thinking was caused by the fastest, smallest atoms. For Democritus, there is no soul or will; life is reducible to patterns of atomic matter.

Descartes, Rene (1596-1650)

Sometimes called the father of modern psychology, Rene Descartes was born in La Haye, France. Although he came from a wealthy family, he was in poor health for most of his life. Descartes believed that God created the universe, set it in motion, and left it alone. He held that since God was not involved in the day to day operations of the universe, it is possible to study the universe and its laws without making theological statements. Descartes maintained that animals were basically machines but man has a soul. For Descartes, the soul was more interconnected with the body than for St. Thomas or St. Augustine. He reasoned that the soul and the mind had to meet somewhere, and assumed the meeting occurred in the pineal gland (it has no duplicate gland). The eyes send gasses through the nerves (hollow tubes) to the pineal gland, and make an impression on it; that’s why he said the eyes are the “mirror of the soul.” These gasses which were thought to be distilled from blood were called animal spirits (in the same way that drinks which contain distilled alcohol are called distilled spirits).

Dewey, John (1859-1952)

Like James, Dewey emphasized the individibility of sensations and the practical functioning of the mind. Born in Burlington, Vermon, Dewey taught high school before receiving his Ph.D. in philosophy from Johns Hopkins (1884). An educational reformer at heart, Dewey’s psychology, like that of William James, emphasized practical functions of the mind. He held that a psychological act can’t be broken into elemental parts. Learning not to touch a hot flame is an entire adaptive function, and is not reducible to its component parts.

 

Ebbinghaus, Hermann (1850-1909)

A contemporary of Wundt, Ebbinghaus experimentally studied and described learning, forgetting, overlearning, and savings. His work is widely used and cited by cognitive psychologists today. Ebbinghaus read Fechner’s book (Elements of Psychophysics), which inspired him to study for the mind works. Unaware that Wundt proclaimed it was impossible to study higher mental processes experimentally, Ebbinghaus did so. In 1878, at his home in Berlin, Ebbinghaus performed the first experimental work on memory. Although he was the first person to publish an article on measuring the intelligence of school children (Binet and Simon used his sentence completion task in their intelligence test), Ebbinghuas is best known for his thorough study of memory and forgetting. After creating a list of words to study (each one of a separate card), Ebbinghaus attempted to learn the entire list. Items on each list were kept in order, but since the relationship between the words was arbitrary the lists are said to have been “nonsense” words. Some lists were relearned in order to measure the “savings” on each trial. Ebbinghaus’ famous “retention curve” was a plot of savings as a function of time. Ebbinghaus showed experimentally what people have suspected all along. Forgetting occurs rapidly in the first few hours after learning but it levels out. The best strategy for limiting the decline in recall is to “overlearn” the material (continue studying it after the list can be recalled without error).

 

Epicurus (341-270 BC)

He encouraged the search for happiness, and the avoidance pain. Although pleasure was goal of the Epicurean life, it turns out that intellectual pleasure was more valued that sensual pleasure. Epicureanism is more the search for serenity (absence of fear) than for the carnal pleasures of Cyrenaicism. Seeking tranquillity through self control, Epicureans sought to balance pain and pleasure. For example, friendship was thought to be better than love because it has less pain, even though it has less pleasure. Epicurus did not directly oppose the worship of the gods, but he did not believe the soul exists without the body. The universe is infinite and eternal but each person only gets one life. With no life after death, Epicureans clearly emphasized a materialistic, intellectual hedonism which highlighted the importance of enjoying the present.

Erikson, Erik (1902-)

Erikson’s theory of personality development proposed eight developmental stages. The first 5 stages are comparable to Freud’s, including infancy (oral), muscular (anal), locomotor (genital), latency, and adolescence. In Erikson’s sixth stage, the young adult struggles with intimacy and the development of love. As an adult, the seventh stage which extends from the mid-twenties to age 65, people focus on caring for their children and being productive in their careers. Maturity, the eighth stage, included the development of wisdom and a struggle to turn the fear of death into integrated self. Erikson emphasized the impact of society on the ego, the continuity of the present and the past, and the importance of personal identity (an inner sense of uniqueness) and identity confusion. Erikson’s theory of personality development proposed eight stages. In his later years, Erikson studied the Sioux Indians (S Dakota) and the Yurok salmon fishermen of northern California. He found the Sioux to be trusting and generous, while the Yurok were miserly and suspicious. According to Erikson, the difference in behavior was the result of their cultures.

 

Fechner, Gustav Theodore (1801-1887)

A student of Weber, Fechner wrote Weber’s idea in the form of a formula, and called it Weber’s law. He revised Weber’s law (showing it was logarithmic), and continued Weber’s work on jnd (just noticeable difference), applying it to weight, temperature, etc. He also studied afterimages and color vision. His description of the “pleasure principle” influenced Freud years later. And he solved one of life “insoluble” questions. Although philosophers had struggled to determine how the mind and body interrelate, Fechner proposed an elegant solution to the problem. On October 22, 1850, Fechner had a sudden burst of insight. He saw a quantitative relationship between stimulus (the mind) and sensation (the body). Sensation is dependent on stimulation but they increase at different rates. An increase in sensation requires a geometrical increase in stimulation.

 

Flourens, Pierre (1784-1867)

Perfecting the technique of extripation on pigeons, Flourens showed that each part of the nervous system had its own function and acted as a unit.

Freud, Sigmund

Trained as medical researcher and neurologist, Freud “fathered” the first clinical branch of psychology. His psychoanalytic approach is the forerunner of all other forms of counseling and psycho-therapy. Freud emphasized the pleasure principle

 

Fritsch, Gustav (1838-1927) & Hitzig, Edward (1838-1907)

Working in their own laboratory, two German physicians, Gustav Fritsch (1838-1927) and Edward Hitzig (1838-1907), discovered the motor cortex of the brain. Specifically, they found that electrical stimulation of particular areas resulted in muscle movement. If they stimulated a particular spot on the left side of a dog’s brain, its right leg would move.

 

Fromm, Erich (1900-1980)

Fromm maintained that people are lonely, and seeking social contact. Basically a social animal, the greater independence one achieves, the greater loneliness is experienced. To counteract loneliness, people use myths, religions, and totalitarianism to bind themselves to each other. For Fromm, there are only two solutions to the problem: join with others in a spirit of love, or conform to society. He proposed five basic needs: relatedness (creating relationships), transcendence, rootedness (putting down roots), identity (uniqueness), and orientation (a consistent frame of reference). According to Fromm, personality is composed of temperment (inherited. unchangeable characteristics) and character (which is learned). Individual character is developed within one’s environment and social character is a result of reaction to society.

 

Galen (131-200 AD)

Born in Pergamum (Asia Minor) and educated in Alexandria, Galen became well known as a physician and writer. A Greek subject to the Roman Empire, he studied healing (medicine) in Smyna, traveled widely, and finally moved to Rome at the age of 32. Although Galen believed that the liver was responsible for blood flow, his knowledge of anatomy and physiology was so authoritative that it actually discouraged others from questioning his findings for nearly 1400 years. Using dissection and experimentation, Galen showed that the speech is controlled by the brain, and that arteries carry blood (in contrast to the previous view that arteries carried air). He distinguished between sensory and motor nerves, and held that the mind was located in the brain. Galen also believed that people are basically cheerful (full of blood) but they can get out of balance.

 

Gall, Franz Joseph (1758-1828)

Although best known for suggesting that there is a relationship between personality and head bumps, Gall was among the first comparative anatomists. He comparison of brains, his emphasis of the localization of brain function, and his thorough anatomical observations are often overlooked in favor of his popularization of phrenology. Popular with the general population, phrenology assumed that mental functioning could be determined by observing the variation in skull structure. It assumed that a given skill was correlated with a particular part of the brain. And the better one became at that skill, the more that brain portion would enlarge (eventually forcing the skull to expand as well). Expanded portions (bumps) of the skull, then, were used to diagnosis skills and abilities. The contour of the skull and face also was thought to reflect one’s honesty, integrity and future potential. So popular was this pseudo-scientific view that a journal on phrenology was published from 1823-1911.

 

Galton, Francis (1822-1911)

Galton believed that intelligence was a single faculty and that it was inheritable. He created many tasks to measure intelligence, and developed procedures for analyzing the data such as co-relation and percentile rank. Galton applied the evolutionary views of his cousin (Charles Darwin) to the mind. In his book (Hereditary Genius, 1869), Galton attempted to show that greatness (in law, medicine, etc.) was a function of family heredity, not environment. It was survival of the intellectually fittest. Galton developed a number of tests to measure intellectual giftedness. For him, intelligence was measured by sensory capacities (allowing the best adaptation to the environment). In his London laboratory, people paid to have their reflexes tested, their height (standing and sitting) measured, and their strength and reaction time recorded. To analyze his large collection of data, Galton developed methods of rank order, grouping by percentile rank, and co-relation (by looking at scatterplots).

 

Galvani, Luigi (1737-1798)

Born and educated in Bolgna, Italy, Galvani is less known as a professor of anatomy than for his conclusion that animal tissue is capable of generating electricity. Using an electrically-charged scalpel, he accidentally touched the probe to the leg of a frog, causing it to twitch. Galvani did not conclude that tissue conducts electricity but that animals actually generate it themselves.

Gassendi, Pierre (1592-1655)

Noted as a priest, mathematician and philosopher, Gassendi countered Descartes’ deductive, dualistic approach with an inductive, monistic philosophy. Noting that lower animals movements are explained without resorting to a mind, Gassendi saw no need to ascribe a mind to humans. The brain was a sufficient source of control for him. In contrast to Descartes, who based his existence on thinking (“I think, therefore I am”), Gassendi held that movement was evidence of existence. Basically a materialist, Gassendi dismissed Descartes’ rationalism, and helped renew interest in materialism and Epicurean philosophy.

 

Gorgius

Born in Sicily, Gorgias is credited with introducing cadence in prose and using everyday examples and locations in arguments. Best known as the title character of a dialogue by Plato, Gorgias answers “what is reality?” by suggesting that nothing exits. Or if it exists it can’t be known or communicated. Ironically, Gorgias made a living by teaching rhetoric (how to communicate effectively).

Guthrie, Edwin R (1886-1959)

Like Watson, Guthrie focused on observable behavior. Unlike Watson, Guthrie held that learning was a one-shot process of association. In contrast to classical conditioning, Guthrie’s associationism followed Aristotle’s concept of contiguity. Basically, Guthrie held that people tend to do what they did in a similar situation in the past. That is, the situation provides cues about how to behave. Unlike Thorndike, Guthrie did not hypothesize a law of effect. It was simply a matter of contiguity. When a stimulus situation reoccurs, it tends to be followed by the same movement which followed it before. Guthrie’s one shot learning did not preclude improvement. He maintained that practice doesn’t improve performance because of repetition but because new S-R associations are being made. Although any single movement is learned in one trial, there is an infinite number of stimulus combinations possible. Each minute “movement” is learned one at a time but there are so many combinations to learn that one gets better at basketball. A movement is a collection or pattern of motor responses. Movement produces stimuli (proprioceptive stimuli) in the muscles and tendons which help produce the next movement. An “act” is a collection of movements. Well-established movements and acts are called habits. For Guthrie, each S-R connection is created at full strength and remains in full force until it is replaced by new learning. Habit strength is determined by the number of stimuli which can produce a response. To increase the strength of a habit (hanging up a coat), the proper cues must be associated with that response. According to Guthrie’s theory, the best way to teach children to hang up their coats when coming in from play is not to make them do it after they forget. Instead, they should practice the whole sequence by going back outside, coming in, and hanging up their coats. For Guthrie, the more stimuli which can be associated with a response the stronger the habit becomes. A director should not add more rehearsals to improve performance but more dress rehearsals. There are four ways to break connections: sidetracking, fatigue, threshold, and incompatible response. In sidetracking, the person avoids the cues which produce the unwanted response (give up smoking while on vacation). The fatigue method presents a stimulus so often that response is impossible (ride a horse until it can’t buck). The threshold method presents the stimulus in increasing increments (don’t throw into the pool; get use to the water gradually). In the third method, an incompatible response is substituted (can’t chew gum and smoke at the same time).

 

Hall, Marshall (1790-1856)

The Scottish physician, Marshall Hall, differentiated between reflexes and learned behavior. He showed that voluntary, conscious movements were controlled by the higher brain stem and that involuntary, unconscious movements were controlled by the lower brain stem.

 

Hartley, David (1705-1757)

Hartley studied at Cambridge and was prepared to follow his father’s footsteps (minister) but his interest in biology led him to seek a medical degree. He is considered to be one of the first physiological psychologists. In 1749, Hartley published a combination of psychological and theological insights entitled Observations on Man, His Frame, His Duty and His Expectations. Like Newton, Hartley dismissed Descartes’ contention that nerves are hollow. He maintained that sensations cause vibrations in the nerves which in turn cause vibrations in the brain. These vibratuncles result in ideas (faint vibrations) and memory (reactivating the original vibrations).

 

Helmholtz, Hermann (von) (1821-1894)

The leading scientist of his time, Hermmann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz measured the speed of a nerve impulse (a task previously thought to be impossible), revived Thomas Young’s theory of color vision, and showed that the ear’s basilar membrane vibrates sympathetically to stimulation. A student of Johannes Muller, Helmholtz also invented the ophthalmoscope (an instrument used to look into the eye and examine the retina).

 

Herbart, Johann (1776-1841)

Frail and precocious as a child, Herbart received his early training from his mother. Although initially impressed with Kant’s writings, Herbart’s views more closely aligned with Leibnitz. Not a nativist, Herbart maintained that psychology could never be an experimental science, but the mind could be described in mathematical and quantified terms. Herbart didn’t propose laws of association because he believed that ideas have energy of their own. This internal psychic energy of ideas attracted similar ideas and repelled opposing ideas. Consequently, Herbart’s psychology is referred to as “psychic mechanics.” Herbart emphasized the interaction of ideas. His psychic dynamics followed Leibnitz’s monads. In addition, Herbart held that compatible ideas formed a cluster in consciousness. This apperceptive mass is the result of similar ideas being drawn toward each other into the conscious mind. For him, ideas could be at varying levels of consciousness, but they are attracted toward each other into a conscious mass.

 

Hering, Ewald (1834-1918)

A student of Weber and Gustav Fechner, Hering achieved early fame for discovering the Hering-Breuer reflex. Hering and Breuer showed that there are receptors in the lungs which help cause respiration. His studies on space perception were also exceedingly thorough. About mid-career, Hering challenged the dominant theory of color vision and the authority of its author, Hermann von Helmholtz. Hering maintained that the Young-Helmholtz model didn’t account well for color blindness or for afterimages of opposite colors. He proposed three retinal receptors, each using both catabolic and anabolic processes. Hering explanation was reasonable and his research well done, but the immense prestige of Helmholtz and the force of personalities allowed the discussion to degenerate into personal confrontation, not scientific debate. Similarly, when Hering challenged Fechner’s law by proposing an alternative explanation, Fechner’s response was very personal. Although Hering wasn’t afraid to take on the intellectual giants of his time, he was no match for their popularity.

 

Heidegger, Martin (1889-1976)

Born in Messkirch, Germany, Heidegger stressed existential phenomenology. He maintained that people must accept that death in inevitable and that it is followed by nothingness. For Heidegger the contemplation of death was worse than the real thing. Heidegger was an active supporter of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. In light of the horrors of the Holocaust, Heidegger’s questioning of what it is to be and his warnings of the dangers of nihilism (being deprived of meaning) seem extremely odd.

 

Hippocrates (460-370 BC)

One of the great doctors of his time, Hippocrates prescribed remedies for illnesses which were thought to be caused by an unbalance of four basic elements (earth, air, water, and fire). The goal of medicine was to keep the body’s corresponding humors in balance. For Hippocrates and his followers, life is reducible to 4 elements: earth, air, fire and water. In the body, each of these elements is associated with a bodily fluid (humor). When applied to temperaments, each element has a corresponding personality type. Earth can be seen as phlegm in the body and corresponds to a phlegmatic temperament, which is slow as earth. Air (blood) produces a sanguine (cheerful) temperament. Fire causes yellow bile and a choletic, fiery temperament, but water gives the melancholic sadness of black bile. Although Hippocrates wrote little of the works which bear his name, he emphasized the importance of clinical observation, and the physical (not spiritual) causes of diseases.

Hobbes, Thomas (1588-1679)

Sometimes called the founder of British empiricism, Hobbes was born in Maimesburg, England. A rich uncle paid for his Oxford education but Hobbes’ interest in philosophy didn’t begin until he turned 40 (and read Euclid’s Elements). After visiting Galileo in 1635, Hobbes was convinced that the universe is composed only of matter and motion. For him, man is a machine whose mental activity was reducible to the motion of atoms in the brain. Hobbes was a physical monist who maintained that mental activity was the function of the brain, and that free will, spirit and mind were illusions. Although Hobbes was friends with Francis Bacon (and served as his secretary for a short time), he rejected Bacon’s inductive reasoning in favor of his other friends (Galileo and Descartes) deductive methods. Hobbes reintroduced Plato’s and Aristotle’s concept of association of ideas. He held that ideas tend to follow each other, like cars on a train. These “trains of thought” are often unguided and rambling but they become orderly when two ideas are similar.

 

Holt, Edwin B (1873-1946)

In contrast to Watson sequencing of conditioned bonds, Holt proposed learning is a “specific response relationship.” For Watson, each step is tied to the previous one; for Holt, walking was a molar event. Indeed, he held that most behavior is purposive and meaningful.

 

Horney, Karen (1885-)

Born in Hamburg, Germany on September 18, 1885, Horney did not study directly with Freud but was greatly influenced by his work. She received her MD from the University of Berlin in 1913, and moved to the US in 1932. Horney’s writings do not form a systematic theory of psychology but show how Freud’s concepts were manipulated and expanded by his followers. Horney’s concept of basic anxiety embraces Freudian thought but extends its interpretive usefulness. For Horney, basic anxiety is feeling helpless and is a product of culturalization. Basic anxiety produces a drive for safety (security). Horney emphasized needs, including the need for affection, approval, power, ambition and perfection. She divided these needs into 3 types of personality: toward people, against people, and away from people.

 

Hull, Clark Leonard (1884-1952)

In his late teens, an outbreak of typhoid fever took the lives of several of Hull’s classmates, and (according to Hull) damaged his memory. At the age of 24, Hull contracted polio, which precipitated his change from mining engineer to psychologist. Hull was skilled at inventing equipment his needed to perform an experiment. For a study on the effect of tobacco on performance, he designed a system for delivering heated air (tobacco and tobacco filled) to the subjects so they would not know which experimental treatment they were receiving. Similarly, Hull constructed a machine to calculate inter-item correlations for a series of studies he performed on aptitude testing. Not surprisingly, Hull believed that people are basically machines. His complex theory of learning is a combination of Newton’s deductive method, Pavlov’s classical conditioning, and Euclidean geometry. For Hull, experimental observations were validity checks on the internal postulates he had previously deduced. Hull’s Hypothetico-Deductive Theory includes habit strength (the tendency to respond), evenly spaced trials, and reinforcement. Using inferred state and intervening variables, Hull described learning as an interactive system of probabilities. Too complex for many and too theoretical for others, Hull was a pioneer in using animal research to generalize to human behavior. Despite his poor eyesight and poor health, Hull set a standard of experimental excellent and theoretical integrity which still serves as a model today.

 

Humboldt, Alexander (von) (1769-1859)

The issue of animal electricity was resolved by German naturalist Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich von Humboldt. He concluded that Galvani’s animal electricity and Volta’s bimetallic electricity were related phenomenon. Animals do produce electricity (e.g., nerve conduction) but that does not rule out the production of electricity using metallic materials. Humbolt is also known for his exploration of Latin America, including Venezuela, Columbia, the Andes Mountains of Ecuador, and the Orinoco and Amazon river systems.

 

Hume, David (1711-1776)

Born and educated in Eddinburgh, Scotland, Hume studied law and business but never received a degree. As was true of his life, Hume maintained that all knowledge comes from experience. Like Berkeley, Hume noted that we cannot experience the physical world directly. You can’t prove that a table exists after you leave a room. However, for Hume, not all perceptions are equal. He distinguished between impressions (strong perceptions) and ideas (caused by weak perceptions. Hume also proposed 3 laws of association: contiguity, resemblance, and causality. Like Locke and Berkeley, Hume noted that events which happen together in time and space associated together. Another factor impacting association is resemblance (similarity). To these, Hume added a third factor: causality (the ability to associate a wound with the pain that follows).

 

Hunter, Walter S (1889-1953)

Another innovation was presented by Walter S. Hunter (1889-1953). He designed an apparatus with allowed the study of memory in animals. Hunter’s delayed reaction device restrained the animal from immediately responding. Later, the animal’s memory is allowed to show what it has learned by making a choice.

 

James, William (1842-1910)

As a philosopher, psychologist and writer, James helped shift the focus from the search for mental structures and elements to the experimental study of mental functions. His concepts of self, stream of consciousness, pragmatism, and emotion are still cited today. Best known for his philosophy of pragmatism , James helped redirect psychology into greater concern with higher mental functioning. A predecessor of functionalism , James was less concerned with the mental structures of the mind than with the functions it performs. His book (Principles of Psychology, 1890) had a tremendous impact of the philosophy and direction of psychology. James shorter version of Principles, popularly known as “Jimmy,” was a great commercial success. Chronologically between Wundt and Titchener, James was more of a mind-body dualist (Wundt was a parallelist, and Titchener a physical monist). Influenced by Darwin, James maintained that behavior is adaptable, and that in order to survive psychologically people must be conscious of and adjust to their psychological and emotional environment. For James, consciousness is not a static picture but more like a flow of a river or stream. It is personal, ever changing, and has no breaks or cracks in it. James also held that consciousness is selective (we don’t attend to everything) and that it is object oriented (does not deal with itself). Although not a systematic theory, James envisioned a personal self. Although James discussed habit, instinct, memory, and reason, his theory of emotion has endured the longest. Before James, emotion was described as being the cause of action (I see the bear, I feel fear, I run). James maintained that emotion was a result of action (I see the bear, I run, I feel fear). Formally known as the James-Lange theory of emotion (after Danish physiologist C.G. Lange), it represented a major shift in thinking about emotion.

Jesus

The birth of a new religion is always a major event in world history. Jesus was a Jew, as were most of his followers, but Christianity soon spread to surrounding cultures. Persecuted by Roman Emperors (including Nero, Domitian, Hadrian, etc.,), it was never very large until Diocletian (AD 303) endorsed it. Then it grew so rapidly that by 395 AD, its was Rome’s state religion, and now is the most widely distributed religion in the world. Although there no agreement on all theological issues, Christians in general belief that people possess an eternal spirit which operates independently of the laws of nature. They believe that Jesus Christ is of central importance, and that he is God (or at least closely associated with God). Jesus’ teachings on love, brotherhood, and helping others are so key concepts.

Jung, Carl Gustav (1875-1961)

Jung accepted Freud’s insistence on a dynamic psychology of psychic energy and internal motivation. Like Freud, he was deterministic but unlike Freud, Jung incorporated aims, goals, and decisions into his model. Although he distinguished between the conscious and the unconscious, Jung’s unconscious included instincts, cultural knowledge and a basic life urge. Like Freud, Jung believed in the importance of the unconscious mind, but he subdivided it into the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. According to Jung, emotionally charged collections of private attitudes are called complexes. In contrast, archetypes are universal thought forms (e.g., hero, mother, wise old man, etc.) are called archetypes. The most important of these archetypes are formed into systems (i.e., self). For Jung, the self involved striving for unity and wholeness, and was symbolized by a mandala, pearl, diamond, circle, or any object with central point. Jung proposed 8 personality types, a combination of two personality orientations (extroversion and introversion) and four psychological functions (thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting). Since the self is multifaceted, it shows different sides at different times. Sometimes the self presents its public personality (persona). At other times it reveals its ability to understand the opposite sex (anima and anius), or its darker (shadow) self.

 

Kant, Immanuel (1724-1804)

Born on April 22, 1724, Kant never traveled more than 40 miles from Konigsberg, Prussia. He didn’t need to; students from all over Europe came to him. His nativistic approach combined Leibnitz rationalism with Hume’s skepticism. Kant was a student at the University of Konigsberg, and then taught there until he was 73 years old. He resigned, not because he was too old, but because he would not change. Kant was asked not include his views on religion in his class lectures; he refused. His refusal may have been a matter of principle, but Kant resisted change of any kind. So punctual was he on his daily walk that people set their watches to him. Kant had followed the work of Leibnitz, but became known for his reaction against Hume. Hume held that causation is the habit of the mind; it does not come from experience. Kant countered that causation must come from somewhere, and suggested the mind has a priori categories of thought. While Hume maintained that nothing can be known entirely, Kant held that some things are certain. Kant believed these categories to be innate and universal. He believed that people come prepackaged with free will. We have an innate understanding of right and wrong. We know what we should do, but we choose whether or not we follow that rule. When in doubt about how to act, Kant recommends that we act as if our action was an example of a universal truth. Moral judgment for Kant is a categorical imperative.

 

Kierkegaard, Soren Aabye (1813-1855)

Born in Copenhagen, Kierkegaard was raised in a restrictive religious environment. His father was a Lutheran who interpreted his religion through guilt and gloom. Reacting to his father’s narrow-mindedness, Kierkegaard rebelled during his college years but returned to studying theology after his father died. Two years after his father died, Kierkegaard made a major shift in his life. He decided not to become a minister, and abruptly called off his year long engagement to a local girl. Living off his father’s inheritance, he devoted himself to the ministry of writing. He wrote 20 books in the next 14 years. In contrast to Hegel’s systematic and rational view of life, Kierkegaard focused on the ambiguity and sheer excitement of an unpredictable existence. He saw that philosophy can be used as an excuse for not taking personal responsibility. According to Kierkegaard, life is full of riddles. Although people desire the infinite truths of life, they are occupied with its trivialities. We are fragile finite beings but we want to live forever. It is only when we submit to the will of God that we find ultimate freedom. For Kierkegaard, we find our meaning because of these mysteries, not in spite of them.

 

Koffka, Kurt (1887-1941)

A student of Stumpf, Koffka assisted Wertheimer with his experiments, and advocated Gestalt psychology. Born and educated in Berlin, Koffka escaped the Nazi regime, moved to America, and taught at Smith College (Kohler taught at Swathmore).

 

Kohler, Wolfgang (1887-1967)

Born in Estonia and educated in Berlin, Kohler is best known for his insight experiments with apes. During WWI, Kohler was director of an anthropoid station on Tenerife (in the Cannery Islands). He was either there to study chimpanzees or as a spy to study Allied shipping; both interpretations are possible. Although his children report he had a secret radio they were not to talk about, Kohler preferred to discuss his observations of Sultan (an ape). According to Kohler’s observations, many animals are able to solve problems by insight. Chimpanzees could solve a string problem (how to get a banana tied to the end of a string), and Sultan was able to join two sticks together to get his food. In Kohler’s later work, he trained chickens to peck at the darker of two discs. After acquiring the skill, they were able to select the darker disk even when the amount of grayness changed. When the original dark disc was paired with an even darker disc, the chickens were still able to choose the darker one.

 

Kulpe, Oswald (1867-1915)

A student of Wundt, Kulpe is best known for “imageless thought.” In contrast to many of Wundt’s students (who believed that though without sensations or images was impossible), Kulpe maintained that thinking need not have images present. Emphasizing higher mental processes, Kulpe and his colleagues at Wurzburg (sometimes they are called the Wurzburg School) looked less at sensations and more at thinking.

 

La Mettrie, Julien (de) (1709-1751)

Born on December 25, La Mettrie was encouraged to become a priest but turned to medicine instead. Quick-witted and quick-tempered, La Mettrie wrote pointed and often satirical articles on medicine and its practice. During the war between France and Austria (1742), La Mettrie caught a high fever. During his recovery, he considered the relationship between the mind and body, and concluded that they are more fully intertwined that Descartes had proposed. Indeed, La Mettrie’s solution was to disavow any spiritual aspect of the mind. Like Hobbes, La Mettrie was a physical monist: all that exists is matter. Matter could be rearranged, which explained humans as being more complex animals, but there is no qualitative difference between them.

 

Lashley, Karl (1890-1958)

A student of Watson at Johns Hopkins, Lashley more physiologist than psychologist. Best known for his doctrine of “mass action,” Lashley showed that the “brain fields” proposed by Gestalt psychology did not exist. Kohler had held that the brain functions by electrical fields; Lashley short-circuited the “field” by putting silver foil on the cortex and yet the behavior still occurred. In another animal study, Lashley showed that when brain portions are damaged (i.e., surgically removed), rats don’t lose the ability to make light-dark discriminations. Although limited in scope, other parts of the brain take over functions when the brain is incapacitated. Similarly, when cats and monkeys were taught to escape, and portions of the cortex are removed (“extirpation“), the animals could not initially perform the task but were able to relearn it. Technically called “equipotentiality,” Lashley maintained that each part of the brain was equally important.

 

Leibnitz, Gottfried (1646-1716)

A proponent of parallelism (the mind and body are separate and independent), Leibnitz is best known as a mathematician. Born in Leipzig, Germany, Leibnitz misunderstood or mistranslated Loche’s philosophy; consequently his views, partly in reaction to what he thought Loche said, emphasize an active mind. In philosophy, Leibnitz is credited for introducing the idea of the unconscious mind and for proposing atom-like entities he called monads. Using the latest technological advances of his day (the microscope), Leibnitz concluded that life was present in everything. This observation didn’t coincide with Leibnitz view of God, so he proposed an elaborate theory which reconciled his two beliefs. According to Leibnitz, the universe was established by God with a preset harmony. This harmony is composed of indestructible points of life force. Each point of force (monad) is self-contained, living and conscious. Monads, however, vary in intelligence and consciousness. Like atoms, there is an infinite supply; unlike atoms, monads are alive. Indeed, everything is alive, even inanimate objects. There is variety in size, style and number but everything is composed of monads. According to Leibnitz, humans are made up of the most intelligent monads, most of which are highly conscious. Less conscious monads produce “petite perceptions” (less conscious states). Although monads helped explain some phenomena, Liebnitz believed that the mind and body were parallel, independent systems. For him, the brain (composed of physiological material) could produce anything immaterial (such as ideas), so they must be correlated but separate.

 

Lewin, Kurt (1890-1947)

Like Koffka, Lewin studied with Stumpf. Although part of the general Gestalt movement, Lewin is best known for his field theory. Using geometry’s terms and Gestalt ideas, he held that people live in a psychological life space. According to Lewin, life space can be subdivided into regions. The boundaries between these regions can vary in firmness-weakness and nearness-remoteness. The topology of the fields is different for each individual but vectors of psychic force can describe an individual’s wants and fears. For Lewin, there are levels of reality. Each person seeks to resolve the disequilibrium (tension) between their inner self and the outside environment. It is possible to move from region to region (locomotion) along pathways in those regions (hodos). But when a goal is obstructed (a barrier), positive valences grow stronger (we want what we can’t have). Needs give rise to tension which are a particular valence (positive or negative attraction). When two positive valences are present, the person experiences an approach-approach conflict (i.e., must choose between two equally attractive alternatives). When the valences are negative, the result is an avoidance-avoidance conflict (i.e., two equally unattractive alternatives. Naturally, the most difficult conflict is when we want and don’t the same thing (an approach-avoidance conflict).

 

Little Albert

In their 1920 article, Watson & Raynor show that fear can be classically conditioned. Their subject was a small child, named Albert B (affectionately called Little Albert).

Locke, John (1632-1704)

Educated at Oxford, Locke is best known for his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which was 17 years in the making. Locke disputed Descartes’ emphasis on innate ideas. It was commonly held in Locke’s time that morality was instilled in people by God. That is, people are born with knowing right from wrong. In contrast, Locke proposed that the mind is as a blank slate (tabula rasa) and that ideas come from experience. Borrowing from his teacher Robert Boyle, Locke differentiated between primary and secondary qualities. Qualities are idea producers. Primary qualities are inseparable from the object, and generate in us ideas of solidity, shape, and movement. Secondary qualities (such as color and taste) do not correspond to the physical world but are psychological in nature. Locke was adualist (mind and body exist separately), an empiricist (emphasized experience, and an associationist. He held that if the blind could be made to see, they would not be able to visually identify a cube because they had only experienced it by touch. They would need to learn to associate the shape with touch.

 

Loeb, Jacques (1859-1924)

The German biologist Jacques Loeb (1859-1924) believed that behavior was the result of biological and chemical processes. Best known for inspiring his student (John Watson), Loeb proposed that animals are similar to plants; both react selectively to chemical and environment input.

 

Maimonides

Nine years after the birth of Averroes, Cordoba was again blessed; this time with the birth of the Jewish philosopher Maimonides.Maimonides studied astronomy, logic, and mathematics, and was the royal physician to the sultan of Egypt. But he is best known as a philosopher and theologian. Not only did he become the chief rabbi of Cairo, Maimonides wrote the Mishneh Torah, and the Thirteen Articles of Faith, bringing him the nickname of the “Second Moses.” So famous was he that his formal name (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon) was simplified to Rambam (an acrostic formed from his initials). Maimonides was the most influential Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages; his impact would be comparable to St. Augustine. He wrestled with the nature of good and evil, what it means to have free will, and whether or not Judaism and Aristotle’s philosophy were compatible.

Mani

Mani was the founder of Manichaeism, a major contender to Christianity until the Middle Ages. Based on two visions he had (at age 12 and 24), Mani declared himself a prophet, traveled to India, and then returned to Persia to preach. He viewed life as a dualistic struggle between two worlds. The spiritual world was light, good, and God; the material world was dark, evil, and Satan. Like the aristocrats and the peasants, there were two classes of people: the elect and auditors. The auditors went on weekly fasts, gave themselves to good works and hoped to be reborn as the elect. The elect sought a life devoid of the material and carnal desires. They ate no meat, drank no wine, and remained celibate. They were above doing work; they were spiritual leaders.

Marbe, Karl (1869-1951)

A colleague of Kulpe, Marbe conducted imageless thought studies, and introduced the concept of a mental set . Essentially, people acquire a rule of how to solve problems and apply that rule even after the circumstances have changed and the rule is no longer valid.

Maslow, Abraham (1908-1970)

Best known for his optimistic view of human nature and his hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, self-actualization is a process, not an all-or-none phenomena. This process develops through five levels: physiological, safety, love & belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Arranged in a hierarchy, development can not proceed to the next level until those needs are met. Self esteem, for example, can’t be increased until one’s physiological and safety needs have been met. Maslow believed that people are inherently good and that the process to self actualization is inevitable (if society nurtures it). People have a built in capacity for love which is shaped by society. Although each person is a unique individual, it is possible to distinguish between D and B motives. D motives are the result of deficiencies which must be met. In contrast, B motives are the result of growth needs, and seek to fulfill one’s inner potential.

 

May, Rollo (1909-)

Born in Ada, Ohio, May introduced Heidegger’s existentialism to America. While he recovered from tuberculosis (just prior to receiving his Ph.D.), May read Kierkegaard and Freud, and ultimately wrote his dissertation of their views on anxiety. Differentiating between normal and neurotic anxiety, May maintained that normal anxiety can help you grow. Emphasizing man’s capacity to “will” (actively choosing the best of possibilities), May maintained that we must choose to love. Love is composed of sex, eros (the need to unite with others), phila (brotherly love), and agape (love for all mankind).

 

McDougall, William (1871-1938)

Born in Lancashire, England, McDougall was a major opponent of Watson’s behaviorism. Trained as a medical doctor, his interest in psychology was sparked by William James. McDougall’s basically animistic philosophy (there is a bit of soul in everything) was is stark contrast to Watson’s mechanistic approach. According to McDougall, behavior is not simply a response to a stimuli but is goal seeking and purposive. Calling his approach “hormic psychology,” McDougall viewed behavior as being spontaneous, persistent, and goal directed. McDougall opposed the use of introspection for studying mental processes. He held that behavior is instinctive and composed of cognitive, conative, and affective aspects. Cognition includes the perception and recognition of a stimulus. The predisposition to goal seeking action is the conative process. The affective aspect of behavior is what occurs between cognition and goal attainment. It is the “emotional core” of the individual. For McDougall, a person’s emotional core was stable and unimpacted by learning. Learning can change perception (i.e., different stimuli can be used) and/or it can change action (i.e., improved performance) but a person’s emotional core remains untouched. Behavior was the result of individual and groups of instincts. If two or more instincts become attached to the same object, the tendency toward action is called a “sentiment.” McDougall proposed that group behavior also was the result of instinctive behavior. Socialization is not a single instinct but is composed of instinct combinations. According to McDougall, emotions become stronger in groups. Coining the term “group mind,” McDougall applied his model of individual motivation to group process. Group action and emotion are essentially the same as for individuals but more intense.

 

Mead, George Herbert (1863-1931)

A good example of the humanistic movement, Mead emphasized self-awareness as a function of psychological evolution. He argued that self evolves out of object awareness. Although there is no self at birth, it develops through a socialization process. Language is critical to this process because interaction with the environment creates self awareness. Mead’s theory reflected his personal experience. He was born in a small town in Massachusetts, received his education at Oberlin and Harvard, and became a major influence at the U of Chicago. His self-awareness no doubt grew as he experienced more of his environment. Even Mead’s career was a social product. He never published a book but his articles and students continued to preach Mead’s humanistic views. For Mead, problem solving should be rational and useful. We develop different selves for different audiences, but the self is a product of those experiences, not a process we undertake.

 

Mill, James (1773-1836)

According to Mill, the vividness and frequency of associations between sensations glues simple sensations into complex ideas. Mill’s “mental mechanics” accentuated the composite nature of ideas. The concept of a window, for example, is made of smaller ideas (glass, wood, etc.). For Mill, the mind is predictable and passive. He was a enthusiastic follower of utilitarianism. As proposed by Mill’s friend Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), personal and governmental decisions should be based on the usefulness (utilitarianism) of the outcome. Essentially a hedonistic view of the world, utilitarianists sought to maximize personal and corporate pleasure. Right and wrong were replaced with pleasure and pain. Mill’s greatest contribution was not in generating new insights but in providing a thorough summary of associationism. In 1829, he published Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind (revised by his son, John Stuart Mill, in 1869).

 

Mill, John Stuart (1806-1873)

Although psychology was more of a hobby than a vocation for James Mill, his son, JS Mill was a major proponent of the systematic study of human nature. Like his father, JS was an elementalist. Like his father, JS Mill accepted contiguity as a law of association, but also believed that similarity and intensity were important. Unlike his father, JS held that the mind is active, and that the process of thinking was more like “mental chemistry” than mental mechanics. According the JS, ideas can fuse together, creating something new out of simple sensory elements.

 

Mohammed

Born in Meca around 570 AD, Mohammed (literally, “the sword”) founded a new religion, Islam (surrender to God). In a revelation he received at age 30, Mohammed was selected as a prophet of God. In 622, he was forced to flee to Medina, but by 711, Islam was the accepted religion of Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and Purisa, and had crossed into Iberia, Spain. A great tribal leader, Mohammed unified various factions into an effective force. When Mecca wanted Mohammed extradited, Medina refused. When Mecca pressed the matter, Mohammed’s army cut off Mecca’s supply lines. Even when the Melina was besieged by 10,000 troops from Mecca, Mohammed’s outnumbered army wouldn’t surrender. After peace was established, Mohammed made annual pilgrimages to Mecca. Like Confucius, Mohammed presented an integrated view of life. Spiritual, social, political and economic parts of life are all intertwined. Faith requires good works, political power allows social reform.

Morgan, C Lloyd (1852-1936)

Morgan took sort of a semi-experimental approach but is best known for his “cannon.” Morgan’s cannon is that higher level inferences should not be made if a lower level inference can explain the behavior. That is, scientific explanations should use the difficult explanations only when needed.

 

Muller, Johannes (1801-1858)

In contrast the thinking of his day, Muller held that each nerve leads to one sensation only. The message nerves carry is not determined by the stimulation (visual, auditory or tactile) but by the brain. If the eye is stimulated by touch (pressure), electricity or by light waves, the result is a visual sensation.

Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich (1849-1936)

A Nobel prize winning physiologist, Pavlov is best remembered for his description of classical conditioning. A believer in the primacy of physiology, Pavlov thought psychology to be a fad. As far as he was concerned, psychological problems were physiologically based but currently unexplained. Pavlov’s classical description notes that the presence of an unconditioned stimulus (food) produces an unconditioned response (saliva of a given amount; varying somewhat between trials and between dogs). After sufficient pairings of the food with another, previously unused stimulus (e.g., light), the conditioned stimulus (light) could bring about a response (conditioned response). The conditioned response was weaker than the unconditioned response (i.e., less saliva) and forgettable (if repeated too often without food being presented). Pavlov called the conditioned response “psychic secretion,” and explained it as being the result of higher cortical involvement. For Pavlov, reinforcement was in terms of reiteration. One reinforced behavior as in reinforcing steel (added more of it). Pavlov believed that mental functioning was completely neurological. He proposed a “dynamic stereotype,” a neurological mapping of the environment.

 

Piaget, Jean (1896-1980)

Born and raised in Neuchatel, Switzerland, Piaget was always interested in biology and zoology. After earning his Ph.D. in biology, he became interested in psychology, particularly in how cognition develops. While working for Binet at the Sorbonne, Piaget noticed that children don’t solve problems like adults do. Children are not miniature adults but have their own distinctive style of thinking which develops in stages. Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete and abstract. The sensorimotor stage occupies the first two years of a child’s life. In this stage, children acquire motor control, and learn to interact with objects and accommodate to the world. In the preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7, children acquire language. Their thinking is egocentric and contradict themselves but are not bothered by it. They can name objects, think intuitively, and argue their point of view. They cannot argue from someone else’s point of view, and believe that tall and thin containers hold more than short, fat ones). In the concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 12), children can manipulate numbers, develop rules for classifying objects, and acquire conservation (e.g., know that shape is not the same as quantity). In the formal operational stage of development (ages 12 to adult), children acquire abstract thinking, can discuss hypothetical situations, and perform systematic searches for solutions.

 

Plato (427-347 BC)

Differentiating between perfect ideas and imperfect matter, Plato introduced a dualistic view of the world. Ideas are separate from matter and exist in their own world. What we see are imperfect representations of those perfect forms. For Plato, knowledge is reminiscent (existing in the soul before birth), and the psyche is the source of thinking and moral actions. Plato was a dualist, in the sense that he separated ideas (which were good) from matter (which was at worse evil and at best imperfect). In his 35 dialogues, Plato describes the search for wisdom. Ultimately, he concludes that the essence of people (the psyche) are made of three parts: the rational, the will and the appetites. Education raised people from lowly appetites to the use of will and ultimately to the highest human achievement – philosophy. Naturally, Plato suggests that society should be composed of three classes: the philosopher-kings, the military and the merchants. Plato’s Academy (school) offered courses in astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and political science.

Plotinus (205-270)

Although not a Christian, Plotinus neo-Platoian approach presented the soul as an eternal, immaterial entity which thinks, perceives, and is separate from the body. Considered the founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus didn’t just revive Plato’s ideas; he revamped them. In addition to the dualistic views of Plato, Plotinus added many principles from Pythagorus. He held that people perceive the material world through their senses and the spiritual world through their intellect. Pure Intelligence (nous) emanate from the Absolute Being and can be detected only by our souls. Unlike Plato, he believed that the soul and body were completely separate. Although he lived in Rome, Plotinus was not a Christian; his views were more akin to Hellenistic Judaism.

Protagorus

Like Gargias, Protagorus taught grammar and rhetoric. So skilled was he as persuasive speech that he called himself a Sophist (expert craftsman) and gave lessons for a fee (unlike the philosophers of the time). Although Sophists instituted the first educational system, they were criticized for being money oriented. If info-mercials had been available at the time, Protagorus would have had one on persuasive speech. He would have told the audience that truth is not absolute; it is a matter of opinion. And opinions can be changed with persuasive speech, if you know how; and for a fee Protagorus (like “spin doctors” of today) would teach you how. Not only was Protagorus criticized for distorting philosophy into a business, his ideas were considered dangerous. If “man is the measure of all things,” no rules could be uniformly applied. Such radical teaching was thought to be subversive, and Protagoras was forced into exile. He drowned enroute to Sicily.

Pyrrho of Elis (360-270)

He was the leader of the Skeptics. Traveling as part of Alexander’s entourage to Persia and India, Pyrrho discovered that all of the truths he firmly held were not accepted everywhere. Travel is such an eye-opening experience because you not only see places, you meet people with different backgrounds, cultures and values. It is not uncommon to re-evaluate your assumptions about life the first time you meet a person from a different culture who is nice, reasonable, thoughtful, and yet has an entirely different view of life. Having found truth in other cultures, Pyrrho maintained that we should withhold judgment of other people and their beliefs. Truth is not absolute, and, indeed, cannot be known. Consequently, we examine our lives and maintain a spiritual attitude of tranquillity, calm and freedom from passion. Because this process of examination (skeptesthai) involves the questioning of assumptions, skepticism has come to represent the questioning of reality.

Pythagaras

Believing that the ultimate explanation of everything could be found in numbers, Pythagaras introduced several major concepts, including the Pythagorean theorem (the sides of a right triangle are mathematically related to the hypotenuse) and his assertion that the world is not flat but a sphere. Although best known for his mathematics of square triangles (the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides), Pythagoras viewed mathematics as part of a religious, political and philosophical approach to life. Pythagoreanism believes in the harmony of the universe, the ultimate principle of proportion, and the orderliness of thought. According to this view, the best way to understand the mysteries of life is through obedience, self-examination, and simplicity of food and dress. The Pythagoreans believed that planets, including the earth, were not flat but were spheres rotating around a common fire. They also believed in the transmigration of souls, so it was not unusual that Pythagoras said he could remember all of his previous lives, including having been a warrior in the Trojan War.

 

Reid, Thomas (1710-1796)

Like Hartley, Thomas Reid was the son of a minister. Although Reid’s uncle was a personal friend of Newton, Reid was not an empiricist. Reid’s rationalism was a reaction against Hume and a defense of commonsense thinking. Hume questioned reality because it is experienced only through our senses; Reid pointed out that real people know and deal with reality all the time. Clearly the mind knows more than its own processes, and actively organizes sensations. Reid’s “faculty psychology” included six intellectual powers: perception, judgment, memory, conception, moral taste and will. People have the ability (faculty) to actively interact with the world around them. This interaction is direct, and requiers no specialized philosophy; it’s simply naive realism.

 

Rogers, Carl Ramsom (1902-1988)

Rogers established a therapy where the therapist is relatively weak. Originally called “nondirective” therapy, the client was given no direction at all. The choice of topic was purely that of the client. Later, Rogers modified his approach, and called it “client centered.” Stressing the client-therapist relationship and the importance of “unconditional regard” (total acceptance), Rogers provided a warm, friendly (home-like?) environment.

 

Romanes, George John (1848-1894)

George John Romanes (1848-1894) collected anecdotal material on the importance of animals. A friend of Charles Darwin, Romanes collected animal stories and attributed human characteristics to animals (anthropomorphism).

 

Sartre, Jean-Paul (1905-1980)

Born in Paris, Sartre’s philosophy is an unsystematic collection of plays and novels. Focusing attention of the meaning of existence, he concludes that there is no reason people should exist. But since they do exist, they should freely make their own decisions. Although Sartre stressed that decisions should be personal, unaided by religion, morality or society, he was active in the French Resistance during WWII. He believed that people should rebel against authority, and yet in his later years, Sartre moved from existentialism to social communism

 

Skinner, Burrhus Frederic (1904-1990)

Best known for his model of learning, Skinner emphasized the importance of what happens after a response. Not S-R, but S-R-C (stimulus-response-consequence), Skinner expanded Thorndike’s law of effect to an entire system of reinforcement. Conceding that there are too many stimuli to categorize, Skinner focused on the response and its consequence. Positive reinforcers increase behavior strength; positive punishment decreases behavior temporarily (as long as the punisher is present). Only extinction (the continued absence of a reward) decreases behavior permanently (e.g., if they stop paying you, you don’t go to work). Negative reinforcement (the removal of something bad) increases the likelihood of behavior and negative punishment (the removal of something good) temporarily decreases it. Basing his findings on animal research (mostly rats and pigeons), Skinner identified five schedules of reinforcement: continuous reinforcement, fixed interval (FI), fixed ratio (FR), variable interval (VI) and variable ratio (VR). Continuous reinforcement is used to shape (refine) a behavior. Every time the subject performs the desired behavior, it is rewarded. Continuous reinforcement leads to quick learning and (after the reinforcement is stopped) quick descent. In an attempt to apply his research to practical problems, Skinner adapted his operant conditioning chamber (he hated the popular title of “Skinner box“) to child rearing. His “Baby Tender” crib was an air conditioned glass box which he used for his own daughter for two and a half years. Although commercially available, it was not a popular success. Skinner’s also originated programmed instruction. Using a teaching machine (or books with small quizzes which lead to different material), small bits of information are presented in an ordered sequence. Each frame or bit of information must be learned before one is allowed to proceed to the next section. Proceeding to the next section is thought to be rewarding.

 

Small, Willard S

The fourth person to impact animal research was Willard .S. Small. In 1901, he invented the animal maze. It became the first practical way to systematically test animal responses, and has been widely used to study physiological and psychological issues (including motivation, learning, and memory).

 

Socrates (469-399 BC)

Primarily known through Plato’s writings, Socrates is sometimes called the first social scientist because of his interest in ethics, economics, and aesthetics. He believed that thought came from the psyche (the spirit or soul of the individual). Tall, dark and handsome would not have described Socrates well. Short, dark and unattractive would have been closer. But his sharp mind, witty sense of humor, and unequaled speaking ability made him very popular. He preferred talking to writing, and spent much of his life in the marketplace of Athens. Socrates was more concerned with the nature of man than with the composition of matter. In 399 BC, Socrates was charged with interfering with the gods (a crime punishable by death). His continued reference to an inner voice was interpreted as demonic possession, and his teaching was thought to undermine the morals of Athen’s youth. Found guilty by a small majority, Socrates countered with an alternative sentence (as was customary). Instead of suggesting a serious alternative, however, Socrates offered to pay a small fine. They jury was not amused, and with increased majority sentenced him to die by lethal dosage of hemlock.

Solon

Solon asked how government could be more responsive to ordinary people. About the time King Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Solon introduced democracy to Athens. Using a four-tier hierarchical structure based on wealth, each class of citizen had certain responsibilities as well as privileges. Solon’s system of democracy was not perfect or overly popular. It was too radical for the wealthy and not radical enough for the poor. But it was an attempt to bring about change in the fundamental way people are governed.

 

Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903)

Born in working class Derby, England, Spencer was a working man. With no formal schooling, at age 17 he got a job on the railroad. Then, when he turned 28, he set off for London to become a journalist. After a stint as an assistant editor for The Economist, Spencer became a success working the freelance market. Spencer liked the idea of evolution. Basing his ideas on Lamarck, then on Darwin, he proposed evolution is an on-going process of differentiation. Life grows in complexity, and learning occurs by contiguity. For Spencer, when associations occur often enough, they can be passed on to the following generation. Like Bain, Spencer was a hedonist. They believed that pleasure increased the frequency of behavior. Known as the Spencer-Bain principle, it says that the probability of a given behavior occurring increases if it is followed by pleasure, and decreases if that behavior is followed by pain. In 1852, Spencer coined his best known phrase “survival of the fittest.” It was term Darwin later used himself.

 

Spinoza, Baruch (1632-1677)

In contrast to Descartes’ separation of God, mind and matter, Baruch (Benedict in Latin) Spinoza proposed an integrated view. Not three separate entities; three aspects of one substance. Although raised in the predominantly Christian city of Amsterdam, and contrary to the teaching of his parents who were Portuguese Jews, Spinoza was basically a pantheist (God does not exist as a separate entity but is in everything). He believed that mind and body can’t be separated because matter and soul are the same thing but viewed from different points of view. Spinoza’s double-aspectism (mind-body are two sides of the same coin) was in contrast to the dualism of Descartes and others. Dualists held that the material mind and spiritual mind were independent but had to meet somewhere. Spinoza’s monism eliminated the conflict by reducing mind and matter to the same substance.

 

Stewart, Douglad (1753-1828)

Like Reid, Douglad Stewart was a Scottish common sense rationalist. In 1892, Stewart wrote Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind which included sections on perception, memory, imagination, language and thinking. It was still used as a text at Yale in 1824.

Stoics

Since the universe is orderly, good and outside of our control, the Stoics asserted that we should be content with what happens. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) was a stoic.

Stumpf, Carl (1848-1936)

Influenced by Brentano’s act psychology, Stumpf was Wundt’s major rival. Although he restricted his work to space perception and audition, Stumpf’s laboratory at the University of Berlin was a serious competitor to Wundt’s lab at the University of Leipzig. Like Wundt, Stumpf used introspection as his primary method of investigation. Unlike Wundt, Stumpf didn’t require his assistants to be trained introspectionists. When researching the psychology of music, for example, Stumpf preferred trained musicians over trained introspectionists. In a series of articles, Wundt and Stumpf argued the matter. Although it began as a theoretical discussion, it deteriorated into a personal, bitter dispute. The dispute may have been a continuation of their battle for a prestigious job (when Stumpf was selected over Wundt to follow Helmholtz at the University of Berlin).

 

Sullivan, Harry Stack (1892-1949)

Sullivan proposed a seven-stage developmental process. According to Sullivan, people are surrounded by interpersonal fields, and must be understood within that context. Known for his interpersonal theory of human relationships, Sullivan used the concept of dynamism. Other complex dynamisms which are composed of feelings, attitudes and self images are called personifications. Personifications people hold in common are called stereotypes. According to Sullivan, there are three modes of experience: protaxic (flowing sensations), parataxic (the development of superstitions and relationships), and syntaxic (the use of words and numbers). There also are two sources of tension: needs and anxiety. Needs are biological necessities, and anxiety is the result of real or imagined threats. The process of meeting one’s needs is described in Sullivan’s theory of personality development, which has seven stages, each one allowing the development of greater personal relationships.

 

Terman, Lewis Madison (1877-1956)

Born on a farm in central Indiana (12th of 14 kids), Terman began his education in a 1-room school and ended with a Ph.D. from Clark University. Suffering from tuberculosis, he took became a school principal in San Bernadino, California (for its warm climate) and taught at a local teacher’s college (which later became UCLA). In 1910, Terman accepted a position at Stanford, where he stayed until 1942. It was at Stanford that Terman learned of Binet and Simon’s intelligence test. Finding the scoring uneven, Terman revised and Americanized the test. In the 1916 revision, known as Stanford-Binet, Terman coined the term “intelligence ratio,” and suggested it be multiplied by 100 for the “IQ.” To popularize the view of gifted-is-good, Terman helped establish a TV game show (Quiz Kids) to show how good looking, well mannered and friendly intelligent children were. Fortunately, the revelation that the show was rigged didn’t occur until after Terman’s death.

 

Thales (about 600 BC)

Sometimes called the earliest scientist, Thales predicted eclipses of the sun (possibly by accident, possibly by observation). He maintained that the cosmos could be reduced to water; no doubt based on its necessity for life.  About the same time as Solon, Thales of Miletus was encouraging a scientific approach to nature. It’s not clear whether his prediction was based on astronomy and geometry or by dumb luck, but Thales is said to have predicted the eclipse of the sun which occurred on May 28, 585 BC. Thales had a very simple world view. He believed that everything comes from water and eventually returns to that fundamental state.

 

Thorndike, Edward Lee (1874-1949)

A student of William James, Thorndike proposed that S-R bonds are stamped in and remain in effect until stamped out by a new connection. He studied  the puzzle-solving abilities of cats and dogs in puzzle-boxes. Thorndike’s contention was that learning is the process of creating S-R connections (“bonds“). According to him, learning is not insight but trial and error attempts to find the correct response. Once the correct response is discovered it is “stamped in.” In contrast to the belief that a human mind should be trained (with good literature, etc.), Thorndike proposed three laws of learning: readiness, exercise and effect. In place of the trained mind approach to education, Thorndike advocated the “transfer of training.” According to his theory, learning new tasks is related to how similar they are to previously learned tasks. That is, transfer depends on how many identical elements are held in common. Similarly, Thorndike’s definition of intelligence is the amount of transfer capacity. He identified three types of intelligence: abstract, social and mechanical. There is no general mental ability as far as Thorndike was concerned.

 

Titchener, Edward B (1867-1927)

Born in Chichester, England (with a well known family name and no money), Titchener attended college (Malvern College and then Oxford) on scholarships. He studied in Wundt’s lab, then moved to Cornell where he stayed for the rest of his life. Titchener proposed that there are 3 elements of consciousness: sensations, images and affections. He rejected Wundt’s tridimensional theory of emotion in favor of a single dimension of pleasure-unpleasure. For Titchener, the basic elements of experience included quality (its distinguishing characteristics), intensity (amount), and duration (length of sensation). In addition, he held that a sensation could be judged on its clearness. Titchener proposed that there are 3 general stages of attention: involuntary (e.g., sudden noise), secondary (direct, voluntary attention to an object), and derived (i.e., a habit is formed by the repetition of a stimulus).

 

Tolman, Edward Chance (1886-1959)

Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Tolman received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from MIT. Impressed by James writings, Tolman changed to psychology (earning his Ph.D. at Harvard). Best known for introducing the term “intervening variables,” he also was a pioneer investigate of cognitive maps. Although he had no systematic theory, Tolman called himself a purposeful behaviorist. He held that behavior is purposeful, goal directed, and molar (not reducible to instincts or reflexes).

 

Volta, Alessandro (1745-1827)

In 1801, Napoleon honored the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta’s work on electricity by making him a count. A professor of physics, Volta built the first electrophorus and the first electric battery. He experimented with igniting gasses using an electric spark, and with animal electricity. In contrast to Galvani, Volta did not believe in animal electricity. He maintained that the flow of electricity was between two metals Galvani had placed on either side of the frog’s leg. The frog was simply a detector (a conductor) of the electricity.

 

Watson, John Broadus (1878-1958)

Born in Greenville, S Carolina, Watson was a student of both Angell and Loeb but was greatly influenced by the writings of Pavlov. Applying the principles of classical conditioning to all learning, Watson became the focal point of behaviorism. From white rats in mazes to “Little Albert,” Watson emphasized S-R conditioning. Ignoring high mental processes altogether, Watson explained all behavior in terms of stimulus-response. Although he initially allowed for three innate emotions (fear, rage and love), Watson generally denied the influence of heredity on behavior. He initially maintained that some instincts are present, changed to their appearing only in infants, and finally rejected instincts completely. Watson’s emphasis on S-R connections has not lasted as long as his insistence on observable behavior. Describing the mind as a mystery box, Watson directed psychology’s attention away from speculative theories to experimental observations. In an attempt to apply behaviorism to practical problems, Watson proposed “experimental ethics,” a classical conditioning rehabilitation program for inmates. Assuming that personality was nothing more than a collection of habits, Watson’s program aimed to change habitual antisocial behaviors. In 1920, Watson achieved fame of a different sort. Sued by his wife for divorce (he had been having an affair with his lab assistant, Rosalie Raynor), Watson was forced to resign from Johns Hopkins. He turned to commercial advertising and pioneered the area of marketing research.

 

Watt, Henry (1879-1935)

A student of Kulpe, Watt performed word association experiments, and proposed that the key to solving these problems is in the instructions of the task.

Weber, Ernest H (1795-1878)

As a pioneer of experimental psychophysics, Weber noted that the skin registers changes in temperature, not constant readings. Similarly, he showed that if 2 pin points are placed close enough together, they are perceived as one pin prick. Weber had subjects hold weights in each hand and report whether they were identical or different. He found that people could not detect a change in weight until there was a 1:40 ratio. Weber’s jnd (just noticeable difference) was the first reliable law of psychophysics.

 

Weiss, Albert P (1879-1931)

Born in Germany but raised in America, Weiss attempted to explain behavior in terms of atoms, electrons and protons. His emphasis on physiological processes and an organism’s interaction with the environment helped establish bisocial behaviorism.

Wertheimer, Max (1880-1943)

Born in Prague, Wertheimer studied law and philosophy at the University of Prague, and psychology under Stumpf and Kulpe. Best known for his explanation of the “phi phenomenon” (e.g., the apparent motion made by flashing lights in sequence), Wertheimer was a founder of Gestalt psychology. In 1910, on a train ride from Vienna to Germany, Wertheimer noted that it’s possible to perceive motion when none exists. Wertheimer followed up his informal exploration with formal experiments using a tachistoscope. He found that when two flashes of an image are 200 milliseconds apart they are perceived as separate images, and at 30 milliseconds the images appeared simultaneous. Gestalt principles of perceptual organization include proximity, similarity, continuity, and pragnanz (literally, good form). Using visual illusions, Gestalt psychologists were able to show that the perceptual models of the day were inadequate. Extending that view, they proposed that people perceive and think in nonlinear ways, actively influence perception, and use insight as well as trial and error learning.

 

Woodworth, Robert Sessons (1869-1962)

In contrast to the behaviorist’s S-R (stimulus-response) model, Woodworth’s “dynamic psychology” insisted that the organism plays an important part in the process (S-O-R). Although interested in cause-effect relationships, Woodworth noted that consciousness and other aspects of the individual were important for an understanding of how and why people behave as they do. For Woodworth, any model of behavior must include mechanism (how things are done) and drive (why things are done).  During WWI, Woodworth applied his ideas to the development of the Personal Data Sheet. Essentially the first large scale personality inventory, the PDS was used to predict the emotional stability of soldiers in combat.

 

Wundt, Wilhelm (1832-1920)

As a child, Wundt was shy, awkward, and alone. A seemingly incurable daydreamer, he didn’t do well in school (including flunking a year of high school). Yet Wundt became one of the most prolific and productive scientists of his century. Others (Weber, Fechner, Fritsch & Hitzig) had conducted psychological experiments, but Wundt’s program was composed of interlocking studies, held together by his theory of volition. Wundt’s intent was to create a new science. He approached the matter from two perspectives. First he established an experimental psychology. Then, he developed a non-experimental psychology (what today would be called social psychology or cultural anthropology). Although Wundt clearly intended to integrate the two branches, his followers emphasized the experimental branch and ignored Wundt’s more global theoretical work. Wundt used introspection, reaction-time, and word association experiments to investigate simple mental processes. And historical analysis and naturalistic observation for the study of higher mental processes. Wundt and his students also did some of the earliest research on word association. They measured the amount of time between word presentation and the first word that came to mind. Their findings are remarkably similar to the work done by cognitive psychologists 50 years later. Similarly, long before Piaget published his observations of children, Wundt observed and recorded the words and actions of his daughter. Wundt introduced a tri-dimensional theory of emotion. According to Wundt, subjective feelings can be described on three dimensions: excitement-calm; pleasure-displeasure; and tension-relaxation. Sensations and/or feelings can be clustered together, and are called compounds . When feelings cause action, it is called volition or will. For Wundt, the process was that of creative synthesis . and the resulting sum of all the compounds is called the apperceptive mass.

Yerkes, Robert Mearns (1876-1956)

Best known for his work with apes, Robert Mearns Yerkes (1876-1956) was the premier psychobiologist of his time. Prior to founding Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology, he taught at Harvard and the University of Minnesota. Yerkes also was responsible for testing army draftees in WWI and the creation of Army Alpha and Beta tests.

Zeno (333-262 BC)

Founded the Stoic movement  Zeno of Citium (Cyprus), founded a philosophy which not only impacted the Greeks but became highly influential in the Roman Empire. This Zeno taught philosophy from the painted public porch (stoa poikile), so his followers became known as stoics. Like Plato, Stoicism holds 4 virtues as central: wisdom, courage, justice and temperance. In opposition to the Epicurean focus on pleasure, the Stoics emphasized Self-control, duty, and the equality of all people. The Stoics held that there is one universal spirit (Logos) who created an orderly, deterministic universe and then left it on it own. Our souls are a reflection of that universal divine reason but we must deal with the reality of our physical circumstances. Indeed, we must “accept all things in a spirit of content.”

Copyright 2010 Ken Tangen
www.kentangen.com

 

 

 

TANGEN”S GLOSSARY

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a priori

A Medieval Latin phrase;:â (from) + priorì (former); from theory, not experience; used by Kant.

act

A behavior. For Guthrie, an act is a collection of movements. Brentano’s “act psychology” rejected the mind as a passive recepient of sensations; emphasized the importance of mental acts. Carr described behavior as an adaptive act (adjusting to needs).

affect

The emotional part of personality.

agape

The Greek word for meaningful, spiritual love (as in love of God or country).

aim

For Freud, instincts are trying to fill a need aim); behavior is directional.

anal stage

For Freud, this is a normal stage of development at age 2 1/2. If fixated at this stage, a person is either explusive (has no verbal control) or retentive (won’t let anything out).

anima

Jung maintains that there is a feminine side of men (anima) and a masculine side of women (anius). It is our bisexual ability to understand the opposite sex.

animal maze

A box with dividers in it, used to study animal behavior; invested in 1901 by Willard S. Small.

anthropomorphism

Attributing human characteristics (e.g., motivation, thinking, etc.) to animals.

anxiety

A feeling of uncertainty and uneasiness. For Freud, anxiety is the result of conflict between the id and the superego.

aphasia

The loss of speech and the ability to comprehend it, due to brain injury or disease. From the Greek “aphatos:” speechless.

apperception

Active perception; conscious thought. For Herbart, apperception is a readiness for new perceptual experience. For Wundt, it is an act of volition.

apperceptive mass

According to Herbart, ideas could be at varying levels of consciousness, but actively conscious ideas are attracted to each other and form a mass of perceived ideas. For Wundt, the apperceptive mass is the totality of all perception compounds and components.

apprehension

The ability to think and use memory; seizing or capturing perceptions or knowledge. The “span of apprehension” is the number of items one is able to hold in memory at one time, and was studied by James McKeen Cattell.

archetypes

A prototype, pattern or stamp from which influence later items; quintessence. For Jung, universal thought forms, including the concepts of Mother, hero, devil, magic, God, and wise old man.

Army Alpha; Army Beta

The first large scale tests of ability; used by the US Army in WWI to assign people to duties.

associated reflex

Similar to Pavlov’s conditioned reflex, coined by Vladimire M Bechterev.

association

The hypothetical bond between stimulus and response. Although the term was used as an explanation of learning by Aristotle, Wundt and Watson, there is no agreement on its precise definition or its relative importance.

atoms

The smallest building block of a system; irreducible, indestructible; from the Greek “atomos” (not to cut).

attention

To heed, focus thought or concentrate. According to Titchener there are 3 general stages of attention: involuntary (response to sudden noise), secondary (voluntary attention), and derived (habituation).

B motives

Maslow’s term for growth needs (not biologically imperative).

barriers

For Lewin, barriers are obstructed goals.

basic anxiety

Horney’s term for the feeling helpless caused by culturalization. Basic anxiety produces a drive for safety (security).

becoming

For existentialists, personal growth is a continuous process of becoming, not become.

beliefs

Beliefs are personal opinions which we accept as being true. A belief can be shared by an entire group or be the sole possession of one person. As opinions, beliefs often are untestable statements of faith.

Bell-Magendie law

Nerves are one-way transmitters of information.

bonds

The hypothetical connection between stimulus and response, variously defined by associationists, behaviorists and others.

boundaries

For Lewin, the separation of life space into regions is marked by boundaries which vary in strength.

brain

The biological structure at the end of the spinal cord, and the hypothesized source of mental activity.

Broca’s area

The speech center of the brain, discovered by Paul Broca.

castration anxiety

According to Freud, young boys fear being castrated by their fathers for having sexual thoughts. Boys avoid this conflict by indentifying with their fathers and trying to be like them.

catastrophism

The belief that Earth was formed by sudden, violent changes. From the Greek “katastrophe:” ruin, turn over.

categorical imperative

An absolute moral law. Kant suggests that we have an innate (categorical) understanding of what we should do (imperative). He notes: “Act as if the maxim from which you act were to become through your will a universal law.”

causality

The principle of cause and effect; the reason things occur. One of Hume’s 3 laws of association.

character

The totality of one’s moral and emotional components; personality.

choleric

During the Hellenic Period, Hippocrates described personality by relating it to bodily fluids. A choleric personality was one with a fiery temper, the result of too much yellow bile.

Christianity

The religion founded on the teachings of Jesus.

classical conditioning

According to Pavlov, learning is a function of preceding an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus. Subsequent presentation of the conditioned stimulus will produce a similar response given to the unconditioned response.

client-centered therapy

Developed by Carl Rogers, the first popular American psychotherapy.

cognitive

An adjective describing thinking, will or intellect; as opposed to conative (emotional).

collective unconscious

This is the most important of the unconscious for Jung. Filled with the transpersonal, ancestral past, the collective unconscious is shared by all mankind. It is part of the prehuman nature and the foundation for one’s personality structure. Although Jung is unclear on how it is passed down, the collective unconscious contains the predispositions of loving one’s mother, knowing God exists, and the fear of snakes. Racial memories are not inherited, but somehow brain traces (predispositions to act in selective way) are passed along.

common sense

In current usage, good judgment. As used by Aristotle, the sense which coordinates the other senses (smell, sight, etc.).

compensation

According to Adler, much of life is spent offsetting one’s feelings of inferiority.

complex

A composite of elements; an intricate, interwoven pattern. For Jung, personality segments are composed of varying clusters of emotions and attitudes. Forming around a nucleus of emotionally charge energy, ideas attract similarly charged ideas. The type of complex (e.g., inferiority complex, mother complex, power complex, etc.) can be identified by using word association tests.

compounds

Mixtures. For Wundt, compounds are clusters of sensations. They are connected by association, much as in John Stuart Mill’s mental chemistry. According to Wundt, an idea is a compound of one sensation and one feeling; emotions are composed of multiple feelings.

conative

According to McDougall, it is the goal seeking, desiring aspect of personality.

concrete operations

According to Piaget, the ability to perform abstract thinking (formal operations) is preceded by a stage of reasoning (ages 7-12) which is limited to classifying objects, manipulating numbers; conservation is acquired during this period but those at this stage of development are unable to discuss hypothetical situations.

conditioned response

According to Pavlov, the response to a stimulus which has been previously paired with a stimulus which evokes a response; the conditioned response is similar to the unconditioned response but is lower in magnitude.

conditioned stimulus

According to Pavlov, when a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus which evokes a response, the previously neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) evokes a similar but weaker response.

conflict

A fight or battle between opposing forces, needs or desires. For Freud, conflict can be unconscious. For Lewin (and later, Dollard and Miller’s studies), approach-approach conflicts are between two desireable choices; approach-avoidance conflicts are the result of an option which is both desireable and undesireable; avoidance-avoidance is the choice between to undesireable states.

conscience

From Latin “conscient:” con (joint, with), scire (know); to be aware of. To be aware of moral laws. For Freud, the conscience is the part of the superego which tells the ego what not to do.

conscious

Being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and choices.

conservation

For Piaget, conservation is the ability to judge quantity regardless of shape (e.g., narrow tall glass holds same as short wide glass).

constructs

Used as theoretical building blocks to form theories, constructs are ideas. By systematically arranging ideas, a complex pattern of concepts can be developed. This pattern (theory), though often untestable, relates observable and abstract elements together in interesting ways.

contiguity

A series of adjacent elements; connected by time, placement or relationship. One of Aristotle’s laws of association (similarity, contiguity and opposites). One of Hume’s 3 laws of association (contiguity, resemblance and causality).

continuity

A Gestalt principle used to organize perceptions (things close to each other); for Erickson, the continuity of past, present and future is an important consideration.

correlation

A necessary but not sufficent component of cause-effect. Originally proposed by Galton as co-relation and displayed in a scatterplot; later Pearson, Spearman and others developed statistical computations for describing monotonic and linear relationship. Values can range from +1 to -1. The sign indicates direction (+ = both variable moving same direction); magnitude indicates strngth of relationship.

cosmology

The study of the universe (cosmos).

creative synthesis

For Wundt, the mind is an active process which creates new ideas by combining older ones.

CVC

Short for consonant-vowel-consonant; nonesense words used to test memory by Ebbinghaus.

D motives

According to Maslow, D motives represent deficiencies which must be met before other needs.

Dasein

According to Rollo May, Dasein is the need to be in the world.

death instincts

According to Freud, death is the goal of life; return to stability.

deductive

Reasoning from general rules to specific instances. This method was favored by Descartes, Galileo, and Hobbes.

defense mechanisms

A group of mostly unconscious acts designed to fend off anxiety, according to Freud.

derived attention

According to Titchener, the habit of attending to a stimulus produces derived attention. In contrast to voluntary attention, derived attention requires less mental effort.

discrimination

In behaviorism, the ability to detect differences between stimuli.

displacement

The healthiest of Freud’s defense mechanisms; kick dog, not boss.

drive

The forward push needs have on behavior; psychic energy.

dualism

The use of two principles which are thought to be irreducible (e.g., good, bad; mind, matter). In particular, mind and body. Descartes and Locke were dualists.

duration

A length of time; persistence.

dynamic psychology

According to Woodworth, psychology should be S-O-R (stimulus, organism, response) to account for the dynamic interaction of people and their environment.

dynamic stereotype

Pavlov coined the term to describe mental functioning: it is neurologically stable (stereotyped) but responsive to the environment (dynamic).

dynamism

From the Greek “dunamis:” power. Using universal forces or processes to explain the universe. For Sullivan, a dynamism is a unit of interpersonal relationship. It includes any overt behavior or covert mental experience, and is basically a habitual way of acting. According to Sullivan there is a fear dynamism, lust hynamism, intimate dynamism, etc. See Sullivan’s 7-stages of Development .

ego

The ego is Freud’s second personality component. It is mostly conscious, interacts with the real world, and mediates between the id and the superego.

ego ideal

The ego ideal is the part of the superego which tells the ego what it should do.

eigenwelt

One of Binswanger’s three modes of existence; one’s own world.

electrophorus

An instrument or apparatus invented by the Italian physicist Assenandro Volta to produce a charge of static electricity.

Elextra complex

Freud’s name for the Oedipus complex for girls (i.e., discover they have no penis, acquire penis envy).

emotional core

According to McDougall, the center of a personality is stable and unlearned.

empiricism

The belief that knowledge comes from experience. In science, the use of empirical methods (testing ideas by trying them out).

equipotentiality

According to Lashley, each part of the brain is equally important.

eros

From Greek mythology, the god of love (sexual love). For Rollo May, the need to unite with others.

evolution

The development from one stage to another. The belief that life is becoming more complex.

experimental ethics

Watson’s term for a rehab program for prison inmates.

experimental neurosis

According to Pavlov, requiring too fine of distinction caused his dogs to bark and be unmanageable.

explusive

One type of response to being fixated at the anal stage of development, according to Freud.

extinction

The reduction and elimination of a behavior as a natural consequence of removing its reinforcer.

extripation

The systematic surgical removal of portions of the brain. Used to determine the function of specific brain parts (e.g., what can’t the animal do if a particular part of the brain is removed).

fatigue

According to Guthrie, one way to break bonds of association is to present a stimuolus so often that response is impossible.

feedback

According to Thorndike, learning is best as practice with feedback (knowledge of effect).

field theory

Lewin’s description of interpersonal relationship.

fixation

Attachment or preoccupation with a particular stage of psychosexual development.

fixed interval

Reinforcement given at set periods of time (e.g., every 3 minutes).

fixed ratio

Reinforcement given as consequence of set number of responses (e.g., every 10th lever push).

forgetting

Failure to recall previously learned information; first experimentally investigated by Ebbinghaus.

form

A characteristic of an object; its essence. To arrange in a pattern; a prototype.

formal operations

The last of Piaget’s four stages of development. At age 12 and beyond, the use of hypothetical cases and systematic solution searches are achieved.

frame

A small bit of information in Skinner’s programmed learning approach; in Gestalt theory, a point of view (frame of reference).

functionalism

Inspired by William James, this “school” of psychology emphasized mental processes and functions. In contrast to the Structuralists (like Titchener), the mind was not considered to be composed of static elements of consciousness. The mind was capable of adjusting to the environment. The functionalists used introspection but did not require trained professionals and did not limit themselves to the technique.

genital stage

Freud’s last period of psychosexual development; from puberty on.

Gestalt psychology

A loose collection of theorists, mostly following the work of Max Wertheimer.

ground of existence

According to Binswanger, we are free to choose within our “ground of existence” but limited by our “thrownness.”

group mind

According to McDougall, emotions become stronger in groups; the combination of individual instincts.

habit

For Hull, the tendency to respond. For Guthrie, well established movements. For Watson, personality

hedonism

The pursuit of happiness, pleasure. The belief that pleasure equals goodness.

Hellenic Period (600-322 BC)

The emphasis during this time period was on the observable world. Extending up until Aristotle, the concern was in answering cosmological questions (e.g., what is the universe?).

Hellenistic Period

After the death of Alexander the Great and Aristotle, Greek philosophy spread to other parts of world, eventually carried everywhere by the Roman conquests in 30 BC.

here and now

According to Binswanger, people should focus on the present, not the past or the future.

heuristic function

Theories should lead to new discoveries. This theory-as-guide (heuristic) approach is speculative and selective. At each stage of discovery, diverse solutions are tried and the best of the available methods is selected. A heuristic theory emphasizes learning by discovery.

hodos

For Lewin, the regions of interpersonal space.

hormic psychology

Founded by William McDougall, the emphasis is on purposive behavior. Based on the Greek word “horme'” (urge), hormic psychology was a response to Watson’s behaviorism.

human reflexology

Bechterev description of psychology; behavior is completely explainable within a S-R (stimulus-response) format.

humors

The belief that personality is related to a balance of bodily fluids (blood, bile, etc.).

hypotheses

Tentative by nature, hypotheses are statements of fact which can be empirically tested. A hypothesis is presumed to be true for the purpose of an investigation. It is a conditional statement used for a limited period of time.

Hypothetico-Deductive Theory

Hull’s complex theory of learning, habit strength and intervening variables.

id

According to Freud, the id is one of three parts of the personality. Developing first, the id is unconscious and seeks immediate gratification.

ideas

Although people think, there is little agreement on how or why they do so. Although some thoughts, ideas and concepts may be innate, most are thought to be the result of mental activity. Innate ideas, if they exist, are build-in ways to percieve and act.

identification

For Freud, the function of the ego is to match the internal need with an external object.

identity

One of Fromm’s basic needs (uniqueness).

imageless thought

Thoughts were considered to be miniature images of external objects. Thought without images was a radical change in philosophy.

impulse

The initiating force; need seeking; burst of energy (nerve impulse).

impressions

Just as pressure can leave a visible mark on objects (e.g., pencil on paper, chisel on stone), mental experience leaves an impression. Similar to memory but suggesting an emotional imprint.

incompatible responses

Guthrie’s method for breaking association bonds by substituting a more desireable response for an undesireable response (e.g., chewing gum instead of smoking).

individual differences

Psychology typically describes and bases its theories on group tendencies. Individual differences (i.e., characteristics and patterns of ability) are of great interest to psychology but are thought to be too complex and outside psychology’s emphasis.

inductive

Reasion from specifics to general principles. This method of reasoning was favored by Francis Bacon.

inferiority

Adler’s term for feelings of inadequacy.

insight

The sudden discovery of a concept or truth.

instincts

Unlearned, innate patterns of response.

intelligence

Although intelligence is conceptualized as the ability to acquire and use knowledge, it is most often operationally defined in terms of test scores. Galton described it an a single entity, inheritted biologically, and measured by reaction time tests. For Binet, intelligence was a cluster of abilities influenced by environment. The intelligence ratio (coined by Lewis Terman) or intelligence quotientwas originally proposed as the ratio of mental age to chronological age. Subsequently, the intelligence quotient (IQ, also coined by Terman) has been derived by comparing individual performance to group norms. Debate still rages on the nature of intelligence (general ability or a cluster of specialized faculties), and the relative importance of heredity and environmnet. Thorndike proposed 3 types of intelligence: abstract, social, and mechanical. For Thorndike, Abstract intelligence (also called abstract reasoning) is the ability to manipulate words and concepts. For Piaget, abstract thinking is the ability to discuss hypothetical situations and the systematic solution of problems.

intensity

Borrowed from physics, intensity is the amount of a force (electricity, heat, sound).

interpersonal fields

Borrowed from physics, fields are regions of space or force. According to Sullivan, a field of interpersonal relations surrounds each individual.

introspection

In theology and philosophy, the term is used a self contemplation. As used by early experimental psychologists, introspection was the observation (usually by trained individuals) on the internal processes and structures impacted by the presentation of a perceptual stimulus.

involuntary attention

The unplanned concentration of mental focus; usually the result of a sudden stimulus presentation (e.g., loud noise).

irradition

For Pavlov, the spread of effect to other parts of the brain; stimulus generalization.

Islam

The religion based on the life and teachings of Mohammed.

isomorphism

Similarity of forms or structures; for Wertheimer, apparent motion occurs in the brain but appears to be external.

James-Lange theory of emotion

Initially formulated by C.G. Lange (a Danish physiologist) and revised and popularized by William James, this theory maintains that emotion is a result of action (I see the bear, I run, I feel fear).

Jimmy

The popular name for William James’ shortened version of Principles of Psychology.

jnd

The just noticeable difference (jnd) is that point at which an individual can detect changes in pressure, weight or temperature.

latency

A period of dormancy.

laws

Well established relationships or rules whose truth are beyond doubt (e.g., gravity, entropy, etc.). Artistotle proposed three laws of suggestion: contiguity, resemeblans, and contrast. Hume proposed 3 laws of association: contiguity, resemblance, and causality. Thorndike proposed three laws of learning: readiness, exercise and effect. The Law of Readiness says subject must be able to perform task (e.g. cat must be hungry). According to the Law of Exercise practice strengthens bonds, Disuse weakens them. The Law of Effect says consequences of a behavior strength (or weaken) the S-R bonds.

life instincts

According to Freud, the strongest life instinct is sex.

life space

For Lewin, how you perceive the world; the totality of existence.

Little Albert

The child Watson classically conditioned to fear animal (stuffed and real).

locomotion

For Lewin, the movement from region to region.

loneliness

According to Fromm, the deepest fear of people is loneliness.

masculine protest

Originally presented as a description of how men who feel unmanly and inferior strive to be strong and powerful. Later, Adler used it to describe the anger of women forced to play feminine roles.

mass action

Lashley showed that the brain works as a coordinated whole, the “brain fields” of the Gestaltists do not exist.

matter

According to the ancient Greek philosophers, matter is the formlessness which creates form and substance. In physics, matter can take the form of solid, liquid and gas.

materialism

It is either the excessive emphasis on things (often to the detriment of relationships with others), or it is the philosophy that matter is reality (thoughts, concepts, and emotions must be defined in terms of physical processes).

memory

The input (encoding), storage and retrieval (recall) of facts and concepts.

mental chemistry

John Stuart Mill proposed that the mind is more active than a mechanical explanation would allow but less active than free will. For John Stuart Mill, the development of the mind is like chemical processes.

mental mechanics

James Mill conceived of the mind as the passive result of mental mechanics.

mental orthopedics

Alfred Binet advised the use of mental exercises to help form and reform the mind.

mental set

A term introduced by Karl Marbe. When prior experience affects subject’s current judgments, they are said to be responding with a mental set. Having generated a rule to solve prior problems, they continue to use the rule on current problems.

mental tests

The term was coined by James McKeen Cattell to describe the perceptual and mental measurements he and Galton used.

melancholic

During the Hellenic Period, Hippocrates described personality by relating it to bodily fluids. A melancholic personality was one with a sad temperament, the result of too much black bile.

metaphysics

The study and philosophy of reality and its components.

Middle Ages

As the population grew and became more prosperous, the social classes of feudal western Europe (clergy, aristocracy, and peasants) brought about a new social class (skilled craftsmen).and the establishment of universities.

mind

The source of one’s conscious thoughts, memories, will and emotions, currently believed to reside in the brain.

mitwelt

One on Binswanger’s 3 modes of existence; with world.

models

Models are theories or parts of theories which have been converted into measurable variables. Modeling is the process of converting constructs to variables for empirical testing.

monad

According to Leibnitz, this is the smallest particle of reality.

monism

The philosophy that a single system can explain everything (mind, matter, will, etc.).

moral anxiety

One of Freud’s 3 types of anxiety; overactive superego (punish self for minor infractions).

Morgan’s cannon

C. Lloyd Morgan’s scientific rule of thumb (cannon): use the simplest explanation available.

motion

Hobbes maintained reality is matter and motion (change).

movement

One of Locke’s primary qualities; for Guthrie, a collection of behavioral responses.

nativism

Either that the mind has innate ideas or that it forms ideas independent of its environment.

natural selection

An explanation of evolutionary change; survival is selection by nature (having the necessary characteristics to survive in a changed environment).

needs

Anything necessary for biological or psychological survival. Maslow proposed a need hierarchy (from biological needs to self-actualization).

negative punishment

Punishing by removing something good (take away car keys).

negative reinforcement

Rewarding by removing something bad (cancel debt).

nihlism

According to Heidegger, being deprived of meaning.

nondirective therapy

Roger’s client-centered therapy was originally called “nondirective therapy”.

nonsense words

For Ebbinghaus, words which have no contextual meaning (a list of unrelated items).

object

An actual item in the real world.

object substitution

Since the image the id creates is unconscious, the ego searches reality to find an object which can substitute for the id’s image.

Oedipus complex

According to Freud, boys (by the age of 5 years old) have sexual desire for their mothers, fear castration from their fathers, and resolve the conflict by becoming more like their fathers. This process was named for the Greek play Oedipus Rex.

one-shot learning

According to Guthrie, indivicual movements are learning on the first pairing; learning appears to be gradual because there are so many possible combinations of S-R pairings.

ophthalmoscope

A tool used to measure and study the eye.

oral stage

According to Freud, the first stage of psycholosexual development (birth to 18 months). If fixated at this stage, gullible (swallow anything) or sarcastic (biting).

overlearning

For Ebbinghaus, continuing to study after a list has been learned error free.

parallelism

The belief that the mind and body are correlated but causally linked.

parataxic

One of Sullivan’s 3 modes of experience; the development of superstitions and relationships.

penis envy

According to Freud, the conflict a girl feels when she discovers she has no penis.

persona

According to Jung, the self can take the form of a mask, a public personality.

personal unconscious

personification

According to Sullivan, complex dynamisms composed of feelings, attitudes and self images.

phallic stage

According to Freud, the psychosexual stage at which the Oedipus complex occurs.

phi phenomenon

The apparent motion of lights when flashed sequentially (e.g., lights on theater marquees).

phila

Brotherly love.

phlegmatic

During the Hellenic Period, Hippocrates described personality by relating it to bodily fluids. A choleric personality was one with a slow temperament, the result of too much phlegm.

phrenology

The belief that variations in the skull indicate mental processes and personality characteristics.

pineal gland

Descartes thought to be the place where the soul resides, this gland id now thought to be one’s seasonal and daylight biological clock.

pleasure principle

The underlying rule the id uses is to find pleasure, immediately.

positive punishment

The giving of something bad.

positive reinforcement

The giving of something good.

postulates

Postulates are formal assertions of truth presented as a basis of argument. More narrow than a presupposition, postulates can be implied or stated as a premise.

pragnanz

Literally, good form; the Gestalt principle which states that perceptions tend to organized in best form (e.g., abstract figures are described in terms of concrete objects and shapes).

pragmatism

The term was coined by C.S. Peirce but popularized by William James. James’ lectures of the subject were published in 1907 (Pragmatism: A New Name for Old Ways of Thinking) and were widely read. For James, ideas should be testable. Untestable theories are meaningless, or at least useless. Truth must be testable. Consequently, an idea is true if it works.

pre-conscious

One of Freud’s 3 levels of consciousness (conscious, unconscious, pre-conscious); partly aware of one’sown processes.

preoperational

For Piaget, the stage at which children acquire language (ages 2-7).

primary process

The process by which the id makes an image of what it desires.

principles

When basic truths has some predictability, they are called principles. These elemental rules can describe a fixed social policy or a function of natural science.

programmed instruction

A method of instruction based on Skinner’s behaviorism; small instructional steps, each followed by immediate feedback.

projection

One of Freud’s defense mechanisms; attributing one’s characteristics to others (e.g., finding one’s faults in others).

proprioceptive stimuli

According to Guthrie, stimuli produced by muscle movement.

protaxic

According to Sullivan, flowing sensations.

proximity

A Gestalt principle of grouping by closeness in time or space.

psyche

The soul or spirit. In Latin, psýchê; in Greek psukhê.

psychic dynamics

The interaction of psychic forces, according to Herbart.

psychic secretions

Pavlov’s term for a conditioned response.

psychosexual stages of development

According to Freud, people develop in a series of fixed stages, each of which involves both sexual and psychological factors.

punishment

Anything which tends to reduce the frequency of behavior.

purposeful behaviorism

According to Tolman, behavior is purposeful, goal directed, and molar (not reducible to instincts or reflexes).

puzzle-box

Thorndike’s apparatus for studying problem solving in animals.

Pythagorean theorem

Proposed by Pythagorus (6th century BC), it is the mathematical rule that the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squared-sides.

quality

For Locke (as learned from Robert Boyle), quality is the producer of ideas. Locke differtiated between primary (essential perceptual components such as shape) and secondard qualities (less important elements such as taste). For Titchener, quality is the distinguishing characteristic of an experience.

rationalism

The philosophy of reason; the belief that truth comes from reason (not from empirical evidence or spiritual revelation).

rationalization

Added by Ernest Jones (a follower of Freud) as a defense mechanism; excuse for poor performance.

reaction formation

In this Freudian defense mechanism, the individual does the opposite of what they want to do.

reality anxiety

According to Freud, the concern which comes from real problems.

reality principle

The ego works on the reality principle; interacting with the objective world.

reason

The use of logic; a function of the mind.

recall

The retrieval part of memory.

recollection

Perception is the collect of sensations; memory is their re-collection.

reflex

In general, any automatic (involuntary) response. Alexander Bain was among the first to differentiate between voluntary and reflexive behavior. The Hering-Breuer reflex:shows that there are receptors in the lungs which automatically control respiration. Motor reflexes include muscle movements such as knee jerk, etc.

regions

For Lewin, areas of relationship; parts of self.

regression

Going back to something. In Freudian thought, regression to a previous psychosexual stage. In research, going back to a straight line drawn through the data points.

reinforcement

In education, reiteration of teachings. In Skinner’s model, anything which occurs after a behavior which tends to increase the likelihood of its reoccurring.

reminiscence

Memory; to recollect the past.

resemblance

Similarity. One of Hume’s 3 laws of association.

retention

The amount of facts memorized. Ebbinghaus provided the first experiemental description of a retention curve (the amount of recall over time).

retentive

For Freud, the tendency to not express emtions, particularly at the anal stage of development.

sanguine

During the Hellenic Period, Hippocrates described personality by relating it to bodily fluids. A sanquine personality was one with a cheerful temperament, the result of having enough blood.

savings

For Ebbinghaus, the number of time needed to relearn a list.

scalloped

The pattern of response usually seen in fixed interval schedules of reinforcement; little activity until just prior to approximate time reinforcement is available, followed by high levels of response until reinforcement is received.

schedules of reinforcement

For Skinner, patterns of response related to when reinforcement is given. Types include: continuous (reinforcement of every correct response), fixed interval (given for a correct response after a set period of time), fixed ratio (given for a correct response after a set number of correct responses), variable interval (given for a correct response after a varying period of time), and variable ratio (give for a correct response after a varying number of correct responses).

secondary process

According to Freud, the ego’s control of action is secondary to the id’s primary process of creating images it desires.

self

The essence of a person. William James differentiated between self as knower (internal knowledge) and self as known (the self other people know). Willaim James used Self as Knower and Self as Known to differentiate between the view we have of ourselves and the view others have of us.

self-actualization

According to Maslow, the highest level of personal development.

self-awareness

Being conscious of one’s desires, interests, and processes. George Herbert Mead emphasized self awareness as a function of psychological evolution.

self-reinforcement

The rewards one gives to one’s self; internal motivation.

sensorimotor

According to Piaget, the first two years of life are spent developing motor control. In this sensorimotor stage of development, thinking is limited to gaining control of the body and developing language.

sentiment

According to McDougall, this is the tendency toward action caused by two or more instincts being attached to the same object.

shadow

The darker side of nature. Instincts held over from lower forms. Past animal nature.

sidetracking

Avoiding stimulus cues which produce undesirable responses (e.g., staying away from the bad crowd; moving to start a new life).

skepticism

They maintained that sensory information couldn’t be trusted. They also mistrusted Plato’s concept of pure form.

Skinner box

A name given by others to Skinner’s experimental apparatus; a container which allows the subject free movement, limited correct response mechanisms (e.g., level), and systematic control of stimuli and schedules of reinforcement.

social interest

Adler’s theory of social interest was optimistic and nativistic. He held that people are innately disposed to be social and that they are tied to others through their occupations, general societal obligations, and love. As people grow, they become other directed.

S-O-R

Woodworth’s dynamic psychology emphasized the importance of the O (organism), as well as the stimulus and response.

soul/spirit

Used interchangably, the soul or spirit is eternal element of human life, composed of mind, will, emotion, etc.

specific response relationship

According to Holt, learning is a molar, purposive process where one learns an entire response relationship (e.g., walking), not just segments of the process.

Spencer-Bain principle

Behavior will increase if followed by pleasure, decrease if followed by pain.

spontaneous recovery

The tendency for responses to return to higher levels of frequency after fatigue even though no reinforcement is given.

spread of effect

For Pavlov, the tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response caused by adjacent neurons being impacted by the conditioning.

S-R

Stimulus-response.

stamped in

For Thorndike, problem solving is not insight but trial and error until the correct response is discovered; the impact of the positive consequence which follows that discovery (law of effect) makes a permanent relationship (stamps in) between problem and solution.

stamped out

For Thorndike, learning is permanent unless erased by negative consequences after the response.

stereotypes

For Sullivan, personifications people hold in common. For Pavlov (dynamic stereotyping), a neurological mapping of the environment.

stimulus generalization

The tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response.

stoicism

Since the universe is orderly, good and outside of our control, the Stoics asserted that we should be content with what happens. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) was a stoic.

stream of consciousness

William James conceived of consciousness as a constantly moving process, like a brook or stream.

structuralism

A school of psychology which looked for mental structures; primarily advanced by Titchener.

style of life

At various times, Adler used the term to describe individuality, style of creative, style of problem solving, and goal achieving behavior. He maintained that faulty life styles are the result of feeling inferior, being pampered as a child (causing the Oedipus complex), or by having been neglected.

subvocalized speech

For Watson, thinking is the behavior of talking to oneself at inaudiable (subvocalized) levels of sound.

superego

Growing out of the ego as a function of parental and societal pressure, the superego is the third component of Freud’s personality model.

syntaxic

One of Sullivan’s three modes of experiencing; use of words and numbers.

systems of psychology

Before WWII, psychology was divided into contrasting systems of thought. These orderly, systematic approaches have been replaced by more general, loosely organized movements.

tabula rasa

Blank slate; lack of innate ideas. Rasa (nothing, blank) and tablua or tableau (from the French word “tablel,” a table or an area readied for painting).

temperament

For Fromm, the inherited, unchangeable aspects of one’s personality.

tension

Pressure between forces. For Lewin, the disequilibrium between inner and outer realities. For Sullivan, psycholigcal tension is caused by needs or anxieties.

theory

More than a collection of facts, a theory is a systematically organized body assumptions, principles, rules and knowledge. Theories explain the pattern of relationships between observable events. Although they need not include formal propositions, theories summarize what is known and lay the base for future research

thought elements

According to Buhler, non-sensory thoughts and processes.

threshold

For Guthrie, the gradual increase of stimulus strength without producing unwanted responses (e.g., gradually entering a pool to conqueor fear of water).

thrownness

According to Binswanger, thrownness is the life circumstances we can not change.

topology

For Lewin, the pattern of interpersonal fields, different for each person.

transfer of training

For Thorndike, learning new tasks is related to how similar they are to previously learned tasks.

transformational grammar

According to Chomsky, language is an innate capacity, subject to rules of transformational-generative grammar (i.e., it is produced creatively, not as a result of Skinner’s operant conditioning).

trial and error learning

For Thorndike, learning is not insight, but a process of trying all alternatives until a sucessful response is found.

tridimentional theory of emotion

Wundt’s theory that emotion can be charaterized by 3 dimensions: excitement-calm; pleasure-displeasure; and tension-relaxation.

unconditional regard

According to Rogers, total acceptance; unconditional positive regard.

unconditioned response

The natural response to a stimulus before conditioning (e.g., salivating at food).

unconditioned stimulus

The natural stimulus which produces natural responses (e.g. sight or smell of food).

unconscious

Introduced by Leibnitz, levels of conscious awareness of one’s motives and actions became part of Freud’s theory of personality. According to Jung, personal unconscious is nearest to conscious, and contains repressed and forgotten memories.

universities

A unified body or community of teaching/learning; an institution which offers graduate degrees.

unwelt

One of Binswanger’s three modes of existence; around the world.

utilitarianism

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) proposed that decisions should not be based on right and wrong but on the usefulness (utilitarianism) of the outcome.

valence

For Lewin, indicators of one’s wants and desires.

variables

There are four main types of variables. Dependent variables depend on what a subject does. In contrast to a dependent variable (which is an outcome measure), independent variables are independent of the subjects. Independent variables are manipulated by the experimenter and often are hidden from the subject. Tolman introduced the intervening variable as a description of indirect influence. An intervening variable is caught in-between two other variables. State variables (a term introduced by Skinner) indicate initial, antecedent conditions before stimulation begins.

variable interval

One of Skinner’s schedules of reinforcement; given for a correct response after a varying period of time.

variable ratio

One of Skinner’s schedules of reinforcement; given for a correct response after a varying number of correct responses.

vectors

As used by LewBiosin, the impact of one’s wants and fears; vectors of psychic force.

vibratuncles

According to Hartley, nerves transmit vibrations to the brain. Faint ideas and impressions are the result of faint vibrations; strong stimuli produce strong vibrations. Memory is the reactivating the original vibrations.

volition

For Wundt, volition is the active process of the will. When ideas are added together, the result is not always the same. According to Wundt, the reason for the creative synthesis of ideas is the active participation of the mind. Wundt maintained that the mind is active but he was not a proponent of free will.

Weber’s law

Although the concept was initially proposed by Ernst Weber, the majority of the work was conducted by Gustav Fechner. Weber’s law (also called Fechner’s law) shows a logarithmic relationship between stimulus strength and sensation.

Weltanschaung

For Binswanger, the personal world each person develops.

will

The process of choosing; the part of the soul which makes deliberate decisions; a statement of intention.

 

Copyright 2010 Ken Tangen
www.kentangen.com

 

 

 

 

There are 10 things we are going to look at:

• Tangen’s Paths To Truth
•  Philosophy
• Experimental Physiology
  • France
  • Italy
• Germany
  • Wundt
  • Stumptf
  • Gestalt
  • Ebbinghaus
• Russia
  • Schn
  • Pavlov
• United States
  • Thorndike
  • Skinner
  • Rogers
• Japan
• France
• Waves & Schools of Psychology
• 10 Approaches
  • Comparative-Evolutionary Psychology
  • Dissections
  • Correlation
  • Ablation
  • Developmental Studies
  • Histology
  • Neurochemistry
  • Stereotaxic Surgery
  • Brain Wave Recording
  • Genetic Research

• ANOR
• Factorial ANOVA
• Multiple Regression
• Cluster Analysis
• Factor Analysis

Major Approaches

Other Topics

• Psychology as a Science
• Technology & Psych

entalism: BOO!

5 paths to truth: Tangen’s summary of methods people use to find truth. They include religion (revelation), wisdom (insight), philosophy (logic), science (systematic observation) and chance (dumb luck).

• Forces (waves) of psychology
  • psychoanalysis
  • behaviorism
  • humanism
• Behavior
  • everything you do
  • HAM
    • habit
    • act
    • movement
  • 4 quadrants
    • covert-learned
    • covert-unlearned
    • overt-learned
    • overt-unlearned

• Schools
  • structuralism
  • functionalism
  • behaviorism
  • humanism
  • S-O-R. Woodworth’s dynamic psychology emphasized the importance of the O (organism), as well as the stimulus and response.

• Evolution
  • artificial selection, sexual selection & natural selection
  • Lamarckian evolution
  • Darwinian evolution

• People You Should Know
  • Aristotle
  • Galen
  • Hippocrates
  • Gall
  • Flourens
• ISMs
  • monism
  • dualism
  • parallelism

religion (revelation), wisdom (insight), philosophy (logic), science (systematic observation) and chance (dumb luck).

• Forces (waves) of psychology
  • psychoanalysis
  • behaviorism
  • humanism
• Behavior
  • everything you do
  • HAM
    • habit
    • act
    • movement
  • 4 quadrants
    • covert-learned
    • covert-unlearned
    • overt-learned
    • overt-unlearned

• Schools
  • structuralism
  • functionalism
  • behaviorism
  • humanism
  • S-O-R. Woodworth’s dynamic psychology emphasized the importance of the O (organism), as well as the stimulus and response.

• Evolution
  • artificial selection, sexual selection & natural selection
  • Lamarckian evolution
  • Darwinian evolution

• People You Should Know
  • Aristotle
  • Galen
  • Hippocrates
  • Gall
  • Flourens
• ISMs
  • monism
  • dualism
  • parallelism

 

 

There are 10 things we are going to look at:

• Tangen’s Paths To Truth
•  Philosophy
  • England
  • etc.
• Experimental Physiology
  • France
  • Italy
• Germany
  • Wundt
  • Stumptf
  • Gestalt
  • Ebbinghaus
• Russia
  • Schn
  • Pavlov
• United States
  • Thorndike
  • Skinner
  • Rogers
• Japan
• France
• Waves & Schools of Psychology
• 10 Approaches
  • Comparative-Evolutionary Psychology
  • Dissections
  • Correlation
  • Ablation
  • Developmental Studies
  • Histology
  • Neurochemistry
  • Stereotaxic Surgery
  • Brain Wave Recording
  • Genetic Research

Other Topics

• Psychology as a Science
• Technology & Psych

Resources

• Here’s where to find more information on each theorist:
• • A-C
  • D-F
  • G-K
  • L-P
  • Q-S
  • T-Z
• Here are 500 terms you should know:
• • Glossary

 

 

 

Historically, mentalism was the belief that your mind could be read, your body controlled and your spirit captured. It was eventually displaced by science. Modern magicians who claim to be mentalists are building on our desire for simple solutions to complex problems. They are pretending science doesn’t exist. They are, in my opinion, unethical.

 

 

 

 

onors

What makes us unique.

Personality Outline

• 12 Personality
  • Personality – An Individual’s Unique Constellation of Consistent Behavioral Traits.
  • Personality Trait – Durable Disposition to Behave in a Particular Way in a Variety of Situations.
  • Factor Analysis – Raymond Cattell – Correlations Among many Variables are Analyzed to Identify Closely related Clusters of Variables.
  • 5-Factor Model of Personality Traits
  • Robert McCrae & Paul Costa
  • Extraversion – Outgoing, Sociable, Upbeat, Friendly, Assertive.
  • Neuroticism – Anxious, Hostile, Self-Conscious, Insecure, Vulnerable.
  • Openness to Experience – Curiosity, Flexibility, Imagitiveness, Artistic, Unconventional.
  • Agreeableness – Sympathetic, Trusting, Cooperative, Modest, Straightforward.
  • Conscientiousness – Diligent, Disciplined, Organized, Punctual, Dependable.
  • Psychodynamic Perspectives
  • Sigmund Freud
  • Psychodynamic Theories – All Diverse Theories descended from work of Sigmund Freud, which focus on Unconscious Mental Forces.
  • Structure of Personality
  • ID – Primitive, Instinctive Component of Personality that Operates according to Pleasure Principle.
  • Pleasure Principle – Which Demands Instant Gratification of its Urges.
  • Ego – Decision-Making Component of Personality that Operates according to Reality Principle.
  • Reality Principle – Seeks to Delay Gratification of the ID’s Urges until Appropriate Outlets and Situations can be Found.
  • SuperEgo – Moral Component of Personality that Incorporates Social Standards about what Represents Right and Wrong.
  • Levels of Awareness
  • Conscious – Whatever One is Aware of at a Particular Point in Time.
  • PreConscious – Material Just Beneath the Surface of Awareness that can be Easily Retrieved.
  • Unconscious – Thoughts, Memories, and Desires that are Well Below the Surface of Conscious Awareness but that Nonetheless Exert Great Influence on Behavior.
  • Freud Believes Conflicts in Aggression and Sexual Impulses in the ID, Ego, and SuperEgo determine Behavior.
  • Anxiety & Defense Mechanisms
  • Anxiety is Caused by Unconscious Conflicts between Ego, ID, and SuperEgo.
  • Defense Mechanisms – Largely Unconscious Reactions that Protect a Person from Unpleasant Emotions such as Anxiety and Guilt.
  • Rationalization – Creating False but Plausible Excuses to Justify Unacceptable Behavior.
  • Repression – Keeping Distressing Thoughts and Feelings Buried in the Unconscious.
  • Projection – Attributing one’s own Thoughts, Feelings, or Motives to Another.
  • Displacement – Diverting Emotional Feelings (Usually Anger) from their Original Source to a Substitute Target.
  • Reaction Formation – Behaving in a Way that is exactly the Opposite of one’s True Feelings.
  • Regression – Reversion to Immature Patterns of Behavior.
  • Identification – Bolstering Self-Esteem by Forming an Imaginary or Real Alliance with some Person or Group.
  • Psychosexual Stages
  • Psychosexual Stages – Developmental Periods with a Characteristic Sexual Focus that Leave their Mark on Adult Personality.
  • Fixation – Failure to Move Forward from One Stage to Another as Expected.
  • Oral Stage – 1st Year.
  • Anal Stage – 2nd Year
  • Phallic Stage – Age 4
  • Oedipal Complex – Children Manifest Erotically Tinged Desires for Their Opposite Sex Parent, Accompanied by Feelings of Hostility toward their Same-Sex Parent.
  • Latency & Genital Stages – Age 6 to Puberty.
  • Jung Analytical Psychology
  • Carl Jung
  • Personal Unconscious – Houses Material that is not Within one’s Conscious Awareness Because it has been Repressed or Forgotten.
  • Collective Unconscious – Storehouse of Latent Memory Traces Inherited from People’s Ancestral Past.
  • Archetypes – Emotionally Charged Images and Thought Forms that have Universal Meaning.
  • Introverts – Tend to be Preoccupied with the Internal World of their Own Thoughts, Feelings, and Experiences.
  • Extraverts – Tend to be Interested in the External World of People and Things.
  • Adler’s Individual Psychology
  • Alfred Adler
  • Striving for Superiority – A Universal Drive to Adapt, Improve Oneself, and Master Life’s Challenges.
  • Compensation – Efforts to Overcome Imagined or Real Inferiorities by Developing One’s Abilities.
  • Behavioral Perspectives
  • B.F. Skinner Ideas adapted to Personality
  • Behaviorism – Theoretical Orientation based on the Premise that Scientific Psychology should Study only Observable Behavior.
  • Claimed there Was no Free Will.
  • Personality is a Product of Conditioning.
  • Your Personality is Shaped over a Lifetime.
  • Bandera’s Social Cognitive Theory
  • Albert Bandera
  • Social Cognitive Theory – People are Shaped by their Environments, and People shape their Environments with Goals, etc.
  • Reciprocal Determinism – Internal Mental Events, External Environmental Events, and Overt Behavior all Influence one Another.
  • Observational Learning – When an Organism’s Responding is Influenced by the Observation of Others, who is called Models.
  • Model – A Person whose Behavior is Observed by Another.
  • Self-Efficacy – One’s Belief about One’s Ability to Perform Behaviors that Should Lead to Expected Outcomes.
  • Higher Self-Efficacy or Higher Self-Confidence leads to better Performance.
  • Michel & Person-Situation Controversy
  • Walter Michel
  • Behavior is Characterized by more Situational Specificity rather than Consistency.
  • Humanist Perspectives
  • Humanism – Theoretical Orientation that Emphasizes the Unique Qualities of Humans, Especially their Potential for Personal Growth.
  • Phenomenological Approach – One has to Appreciate Individuals’ Personal, Subjective Experiences to Truly Understand their Behavior.
  • Rogers’s Person Centered Theory
  • Carl Rogers
  • Self-Concept – Collection of Beliefs about one’s own Nature, Unique Qualities, and Typical Behavior.
  • Incongruence – Degree of Disparity between one’s Self-Concept and one’s Actual Experience.
  • Congruence is when Self-Concept is very similar to Actual Experience, and has less Anxiety.
  • Incongruence is when Self-Concept is very different from Actual Experience, and has More Anxiety.
  • Maslow’s Theory of Self-Actualization
  • Abraham Maslow
  • Hierarchy of Needs – A Systematic Arrangement of Needs, According to Priority, in which Basic Needs must be Met Before Less Basic Needs are Aroused.
  • Need for Self-Actualization – Need to Fulfill one’s Potential.
  • Highest Need in Maslow Hierarchal “Pyramid.”
  • Self-Actualizing Persons – People with Exceptionally Healthy Personalities, Marked by Continued Personal Growth.
  • Biological Perspective
  • Eysenck’s Theory
  • Hans Eysenck
  • “Personality is determined in Large Part by a Person’s Genes.”
  • Terror Management Theory
  • Theory to Explain why People need Self-Esteem.
  • Culture gives People a Sense of Order.
  • Self-Esteem works as an Anxiety Buffer.
  • When People consider their Own Death, they Become more defensive of their Culture.
  • Culture & Personality
  • Individualism – Involves putting Personal Goals ahead of Group Goals and Defining one’s Identity in Terms of Personal Attributes Rather than Group Membership.
  • Collectivism – Putting Group Goals before Individual Goals and Defying one’s Identity in Terms of the Groups one Belongs to.
  • The Big 5 Traits are Similar across Cultures.
  • Self-Enhancement – Focusing on Positive Feedback from Others, Exaggerating one’s Strength, and Seeing oneself as Above Average.
  • Western Cultures favor Individualism, Asian Cultures favor Collectivism.

Other Topics

Gestalt Theories

Major Approaches

Every major area of psychology has a view of personality. The oldest approach is trait or type theory. A trait is something you have; a type is something you are. Trait theory says you are open to new experiences, introverted, agreeable, etc. Traits vary by degree: a little bit moody or very moody. Type theory says you are in one category and not another. You are moody or agreeable. You are brave or courageous. Types are often the result of being born in the year a particular year (ox, rat, etc.) or season (Gemini, etc.). Although it is possible to have a dynamic trait or type theories, they tend to be very static. Once you are assessed or classified, you’re stuck: you are either a Type A or a Type B personality.

Psychodynamic approaches (Freud, Jung, etc.) focus on the construction of personality (id, ego and superego), and the interplay between these components. Test based on these theories tend to be projective (inkblots, drawings, etc.) or lend toward trait theory (thinking, sensing, withdrawing, etc.).

Other approaches include humanistic, biological, behaviorist and social learning theories. Humanists see personality as growing toward good. Biological theories maintain that personality is defined as physiological processes or the result of those processes. Behaviorists would say that personality is simply an enduring pattern of behavior. You are what you do. If you want to change your personality, simply change your behavior. And social learning theories combine elements of the other approaches with an emphasis on interacting with other people. Your personality is formed in the context of relationships with others.

 

There are 10 things we are going to look at:

• Trait Theory
  • Ancient
  •  Modern
    • Allport
    • Catell
• Freud, Sigmund
• Adler & Jung
• Neo-Freudians
  • Anna Freud
  • Erikson
  • Horney
  • Fromm
  • Klein
• Behaviorism
  • Pavlov
  • Skinner
• Social Learning
  • Bandura
  • Dollard & Miller
  • Rotter
• Humanism
  • Maslow
  • Rogers
• Existentialism
  • May
  • Frankl
• Cognitive
  • Beck
  • Ellis
• Your Theory
  • What To Include
  • An Example Theory
  • Tangen’s Theory Applied

 

 

The three major approaches to statistics are formulaic, calculation and conceptual. The first approach tries to teach you how one formula is derived from another. Although presented as logic, it often relies more on authority (take my word for it). The calculation approach gives you a cookbook, doesn’t require you to think, and expects you to dislike mathematics. For many, this is their only exposure to statistics, and usually results in students being more convinced about the stupidity of statistics than before they began. The third approach emphasizes the importance of assumptions, the selection of procedures, and the application of logic.

 

This is a great class to take after all the other classes. It reminds you of all the people and theories you’ve covered, and bookends General Psychology.

As its name suggests, both the history of psychology and its approaches (systems) are covered. The history of psychology includes a review of philosophy. An additional review of experimental physiology is also required because psychology is a combination of philosophy and experimental physiology. Psychology uses the research techniques of experimental physiology to answer the questions of philosophy.

In practical terms, History & Systems emphasizes two things: people and vocabulary. If you know the details of a theory (vocabulary) and who coined them, you can easily differentiate between theories. Shaping leads you to Skinner as much as object permanence leads you to Piaget, and superego leads you to Freud.

Other Topics

Animal Research

Seven people deserve mention in regard to the development of animal psychology. Together they show how positivism and belief that science is the answer to all questions became a pervasive force in psychology.

George John Romanes (1848-1894) collected anecdotal material on the importance of animals. A friend of Charles Darwin, Romanes collected animal stories and attributed human characteristics to animals (anthropomorphism).

C. Lloyd Morgan (1852-1936) took sort of a semi-experimental approach but is best known for his “cannon.” Morgan’s cannon is that higher level inferences should not be made if a lower level inference can explain the behavior. That is, scientific explanations should use the difficult explanations only when needed.

Best known for his work with apes, Robert Mearns Yerkes (1876-1956) was the premier psycho-biologist of his time. Prior to founding Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology, he taught at Harvard and the University of Minnesota. Yerkes also was responsible for testing army draftees in WWI and the creation of Army Alpha and Army Beta tests.

The fourth person to impact animal research was Willard .S. Small. In 1901, he invented the animal maze. It became the first practical way to systematically test animal responses, and has been widely used to study physiological and psychological issues (including motivation, learning, and memory).

Another innovation was presented by Walter S. Hunter (1889-1953). He designed an apparatus with allowed the study of memory in animals. Hunter’s delayed reaction device restrained the animal from immediately responding. Later, the animal’s memory is allowed to show what it has learned by making a choice.

Born in Germany but raised in America, Albert P. Weiss (1879-1931) attempted to explain behavior in terms of atoms, electrons and protons. His emphasis on physiological processes and an organism’s interaction with the environment helped establish bisocial behaviorism.

The German biologist Jacques Loeb (1859-1924) believed that behavior was the result of biological and chemical processes. Best known for inspiring his student (John Watson), Loeb proposed that animals are similar to plants; both react selectively to chemical and environment input.

Counseling Theories

What is counseling?

If psychology had two arms, one would be research and the other counseling. In its simplest form, research generates the knowledge and counseling applies it. But defining counseling is not easy. It is primarily talk therapy but what you talk about varies widely. So the who, what and where of counseling is quite broad.

Who goes to counseling?

Although counseling is provided for couples, families and groups, most commonly it is individuals who go to counseling. Sessions are typically on the hour and last for 45-50 minutes. During the break, the therapist (another name for counselor) writes notes on your session, and prepares for the next individual. The sessions are confidential but not secret: you might see your friend or neighbor in the waiting room or entering the building (non-secret) but the content of your discussion with the therapist is private. Confidentiality is guaranteed, except for issues of public safety, such as child abuse or harm to others.

More women go to counseling than men. But the age of clients range from children, teens, college students, adults and seniors. Most people go to counseling voluntarily but some are mandated by the court.

What kind of problems are addressed?

There is no set topic for counseling. You can choose any part of your life for discussion. Frequent topics include drug addiction, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, phobias, coping, grief, post-traumatic shock, and anything having to do with people. People go to pre-marital counseling to prepare for marriage, to marital counseling to succeed in marriage, and to post-marital counseling to recover from marriage.

Where is counseling done?

Psychological counseling occurs in hospitals, clinics, schools and private practice. In hospitals, group and individual counseling are offered to psychiatric patients in conjunction with drug therapy. Hospitals and clinics also often provide rehabilitation services for drug and alcohol addiction. Counseling in school, college and university settings includes psychological and educational issues. In private practice, most psychologists rent space in commercial office buildings. Often counselors will form a small group that shares a waiting room and office equipment.

Major Approaches

Psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud provided the first major approach to counseling. His emphasis on free association and the analysis of psychological defenses formed the basis of modern psychiatry. Following his lead, Alder, Jung and neoFreudians theorists modified and expanded psychodynamic therapy.

Behaviorism. In contrast to Freud’s internal psychic processes, the next approach to understanding human behavior was an external explanation. Pavlov’s classical conditioning is used to eliminate phobias using systematic desensitization. Skinner’s operant conditioning, another behavioral approach, uses rewards and token economies to modify behaviors.

Humanism. Carl Rogers revolutionized therapy by making it accessible to normal people. Instead of negative psychic forces or external influences, Rogers emphasized the humanness of the individual. According to his view, we are inherently good, not inherently evil. We strive to grow, to understand, and to acquire self-esteem. The goal of counseling should be to achieve the client’s goals. It should be client-centered.

Gestalt & Existentialism. These approaches emphasized personal responsibility, immediacy of experience (Perls) and the striving for meaning (Frankl). In contrast to psychodynamic explanations for past traumas, both Gestalt and existential theory focused on the here-and-now.

Cognitive. Founded by Aaron Beck and extended by Albert Ellis, cognitive therapy insists that our main problem is how we think about a situation. Automatic thoughts lead to emotional distress. To counter these internal reactions, we need to reality test our assumptions and think logically about our lives.