Psychology : themes and variations

676 Pages·1995·34.606 MB·English

by  Wayne Weiten

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1
C H A P T E R
From Speculation to Science:
How Psychology Developed
A New Science Is Born: The Contributions
of Wundt and Hall

The Battle of the “Schools” Begins: Structuralism
Versus Functionalism
The Evolution
Freud Brings the Unconscious into the Picture
Watson Alters Psychology’s Course as Behaviorism
Makes Its Debut
Skinner Questions Free Will as Behaviorism Flourishes
of Psychology The Humanists Revolt
Psychology Comes of Age as a Profession
Psychology Returns to Its Roots: Renewed Interest
in Cognition and Physiology
Psychology Broadens Its Horizons: Increased Interest
in Cultural Diversity
Psychology Adapts: The Emergence of Evolutionary
Psychology
Psychology Moves in a Positive Direction
Illustrated Overview of
Psychology’s History
Psychology Today:Vigorous and Diversified
Research Areas in Psychology
Professional Specialties in Psychology
Seven Unifying Themes
Themes Related to Psychology as a Field of Study
Themes Related to Psychology’s Subject Matter
PERSONAL APPLICATION • Improving
Academic Performance
Developing Sound Study Habits
Improving Your Reading
Getting More Out of Lectures
Improving Test-Taking Strategies
CRITICAL THINKING APPLICATION • Developing
Critical Thinking Skills:An Introduction
The Need to Teach Critical Thinking
An Example
Recap
Practice Test
Corbis
Caroline Schiff/zefa/
©
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3306_W_Weiten_Ch01 1/4/06 8:03 AM Page 1
What is psychology? Your initial answer to regulated by the brain, whether chimpanzees can use
this question is likely to bear little resem- language to communicate, and a multitude of other
blance to the picture of psychology that topics I’d never thought to wonder about. The sec-
will emerge as you work your way through this book. ond thing I didn’t expect was that I would be so com-

I know that when I ambled into my introductory pletely seduced by the subject. Before long I changed
psychology course more than 30 years ago, I had no majors and embarked on a career in psychology—a
idea what psychology involved. I was a pre-law/po- decision I have never regretted.
litical science major fulfilling a general education re- Why has psychology continued to fascinate me?
quirement with what I thought would be my one and One reason is thatpsychology is practical.It offers a
only psychology course. I encountered two things I vast store of information about issues that concern
didn’t expect. The first was to learn that psychology everyone. These issues range from broad social ques-
is about a great many things besides abnormal behav- tions, such as how to reduce the incidence of mental
ior and ways to win friends and influence people. I was illness, to highly personal questions, such as how to
surprised to discover that psychology is also about improve your self-control. In a sense, psychology is
how people are able to perceive color, how hunger is about you and me. It’s about life in our modern world.
© 2005 AP/Wide World Photos © Tom Rosenthal/SuperStock
World Photos
Wide World Photos © 2005 AP/Wide
AP/ Modern psychology ranges widely in its investigations, looking
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range and diversity of psychology’s subject matter are enormous.
The Evolution of Psychology 1
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3306_W_Weiten_Ch01 1/4/06 8:03 AM Page 2
The practical side of psychology will be apparent ogists look at all the seasons of human life, from de-
throughout this text, especially in the end-of-chapter velopment in the womb to the emotional stages that
Personal Applications. These Applications focus on people go through in the process of dying. Psycholo-
everyday problems, such as coping more effectively gists study observable behaviors such as eating, fight-
with stress, improving memory, enhancing perfor- ing, and mating. But they also dig beneath the surface
mance in school, and dealing with sleep difficulties. to investigate how hormones affect emotions and
Another element of psychology’s appeal for me is how the brain registers pain. They probe the behav-
that it represents a powerful way of thinking. We are all ior of any number of species, from humans to house
exposed to claims about psychological issues. For in- cats, from monkeys to moths. This rich diversity is,
stance, we hear assertions that men and women have for me, perhaps psychology’s most appealing aspect.
different abilities or that violence on television has a Mental illness, rats running in mazes, the physi-
harmful effect on children. As a science, psychology ology of hunger, the mysteries of love, creativity, and
demands that researchers ask precise questions about prejudice—what ties all these subjects together in a
such issues and that they test their ideas through sys- single discipline? How did psychology come to be so
tematic observation. Psychology’s commitment to diverse? Why is it so different from what most people
testing ideas encourages a healthy brand of critical expect? If psychology is a social science, why do psy-
thinking. In the long run, this means that psychol- chologists study subjects such as brain chemistry and
ogy provides a way of building knowledge that is rel- the physiological basis of vision? To answer these
atively accurate and dependable. questions, we begin our introduction to psychology
Of course, psychological research cannot discover by retracing its development. By seeing how psychol-
an answer for every interesting question about the ogy grew and changed, you will discover why it has
mind and behavior. You won’t find the meaning of the shape it does today.
life or the secret of happiness in this text. But you After our journey into psychology’s past, we will
will find an approach to investigating questions that examine a formal definition of psychology. We’ll also
has proven to be fruitful. The more you learn about look at psychology as it is today—a sprawling, multi-
psychology as a way of thinking, the better able you faceted science and profession. To help keep psychol-
will be to evaluate the psychological assertions you ogy’s diversity in perspective, the chapter concludes
encounter in daily life. with a discussion of seven unifying themes that will
There is still another reason for my fascination serve as connecting threads in the chapters to come.
with psychology. As you proceed through this text, Finally, in the chapter’s Personal Application we’ll
you will find that psychologists study an enormous di- review research that gives insights on how to be an
versity of subjects, from acrophobia (fear of heights) effective student, and in the Critical Thinking Appli-
to zoophobia (fear of animals), from problem solving cation we’ll discuss how critical thinking skills can
in apes to the symbolic language of dreams. Psychol- be enhanced.
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PREVIEW QUESTIONS Psychology’s story is one of people groping toward a scholars. By that time it had acquired its literal mean-
better understanding of themselves. As psychology ing, “the study of the mind.”
What were Wundt’s
and Hall’s key ideas and has evolved, its focus, methods, and explanatory Of course, people have always wondered about
accomplishments? models have changed. In this section we’ll look at the mysteries of the mind. In that sense, psychology
What were the chief how psychology has developed from philosophical is as old as the human race. But it was only a little
tenets of structuralism
speculations about the mind into a modern science. over 125 years ago that psychology emerged as a sci-
and functionalism?
An Illustrated Overview of the highlights of psychol- entific discipline.
What did Freud have to
say about the uncon- ogy’s history can be found on pages 16–17.
scious and sexuality, The term psychology comes from two Greek words,
and why were his ideas A New Science Is Born:
psyche, meaning the soul, and logos, referring to the
sHoo cwo ndtidro Fvreerusidaila?n the- study of a subject. These two Greek roots were first The Contributions Psyk Trek
of Wundt and Hall 11aa
ory affect the main- put together to define a topic of study in the 16th
stream of psychology?
century, when psyche was used to refer to the soul,
spirit, or mind, as distinguished from the body (Bor- Psychology’s intellectual parents were the disciplines
ing, 1966). Not until the early 18th century did the of philosophy and physiology. By the 1870s a small
term psychology gain more than rare usage among number of scholars in both fields were actively ex-
2 C H A P T E R 1
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ploring questions about the mind. How are bodily of the new science? According to Wundt, psychol-
sensations turned into a mental awareness of the ogy’s primary focus was consciousness—the awareness
outside world? Are people’s perceptions of the world of immediate experience. Thus, psychology became the
accurate reflections of reality? How do mind and scientific study of conscious experience. This orientation
body interact? The philosophers and physiologists kept psychology focused on the mind and mental
who were interested in the mind viewed such ques- processes. But it demanded that the methods psychol-
tions as fascinating issues withintheir respective fields. ogists used to investigate the mind be as scientific as
It was a German professor, Wilhelm Wundt (1832– those of chemists or physicists.
1920), who eventually changed this view. Wundt Wundt was a tireless, dedicated scholar who gen-
mounted a campaign to make psychology an inde- erated an estimated 54,000 pages of books and arti-
pendent discipline rather than a stepchild of philos- cles in his career (Bringmann & Balk, 1992). Studies WILHELMWUNDT
1832–1920
ophy or physiology. in his laboratory focused on attention, memory, sen-
“Physiology informs us
The time and place were right for Wundt’s appeal. sory processes, and reaction-time experiments that
about those life phenom-
German universities were in a healthy period of ex- provided estimates of the duration of various mental ena that we perceive by
pansion, so resources were available for new disci- processes (Fuchs & Milar, 2003). Outstanding young our external senses. In
psychology, the person
plines. Furthermore, the intellectual climate favored scholars, including many Americans, came to Leipzig
looks upon himself as from
the scientific approach that Wundt advocated. Hence, to study under Wundt. Many of Wundt’s students
within and tries to explain
his proposals were well received by the academic then fanned out across Germany and America, estab- the interrelations of those
community. In 1879 Wundt succeeded in establish- lishing the research laboratories that formed the processes that this internal
observation discloses.”
ing the first formal laboratory for research in psy- basis for the new, independent science of psychol-
chology at the University of Leipzig. In deference to ogy. Indeed, it was in North America that Wundt’s
this landmark event, historians have christened 1879 new science grew by leaps and bounds. Between 1883
as psychology’s “date of birth.” Soon afterward, in and 1893, some 23 new psychological research labo-
1881, Wundt established the first journal devoted to ratories sprang up in the United States and Canada,
publishing research on psychology. All in all, Wundt’s at the schools shown in Figure 1.1(Benjamin, 2000).
campaign was so successful that today he is widely Many of the laboratories were started by Wundt’s stu-
characterized as the founder of psychology. dents, or by his students’ students.
Wundt’s conception of psychology was influen- G. Stanley Hall (1846–1924), who studied briefly
tial for decades. Borrowing from his training in phys- with Wundt, was a particularly important contribu-
iology, Wundt (1874) declared that the new psychol- tor to the rapid growth of psychology in America.
ogy should be a science modeled after fields such as Toward the end of the 19th century, Hall reeled off a
physics and chemistry. What was the subject matter series of “firsts” for American psychology. To begin
Figure 1.1
Early research laborato-
Cornell University 1891 ries in North America.
University of
Toronto 1890 Clark University 1889 This map highlights the
Harvard University 1892 location and year of found-
ing for the first 23 psycho-
University of Wisconsin 1888 Wellesley College 1891
logical research labs estab-
SUtnainveforsrdity University of Iowa 1890 Brown University 1892 lished in North American
1893 University University Yale University 1892 colleges and universities.
of Nebraska of Michigan Columbia University 1890 As the color coding shows,
1889 1890 Princeton University 1893 a great many of these labs
Uofn lilvlienrosiisty Indiana Trenton State College 1892 were founded by the stu-
University 1887 dents of Wilhelm Wundt,
1892 University of Pennsylvania 1887
University University G. Stanley Hall, and William
of Kansas of Chicago Johns Hopkins University 1883 James. (Based on Benjamin,
1889 1893 Catholic University 1891 2000)
Randolph Macon
Women’s College 1893
Founded by students of William James
Founded by students of G. Stanley Hall
Founded by students of Wilhelm Wundt
Founded by others
The Evolution of Psychology 3
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sharp. Such diversity in thought is natural and often
stimulates enlightening debate. In psychology, the
first two major schools of thought, structuralism and
functionalism, were entangled in the field’s first great
intellectual battle.
Structuralism emerged through the leadership of
Edward Titchener, an Englishman who emigrated to
the United States in 1892 and taught for decades at
Cornell University. Although Titchener earned his
degree in Wundt’s Leipzig laboratory and expressed
Image Not Available great admiration for Wundt’s work, he brought his
own version of Wundt’s psychology to America (Hil-
gard, 1987; Thorne & Henley, 1997). Structuralism
was based on the notion that the task of psychol-
ogy is to analyze consciousness into its basic ele-
ments and investigate how these elements are re-
lated.Just as physicists were studying how matter is
made up of basic particles, the structuralists wanted
to identify and examine the fundamental compo-
nents of conscious experience, such as sensations,
feelings, and images.
Although the structuralists explored many ques-
The establishment of the first with, he established America’s first research labora- tions, most of their work concerned sensation and
research laboratory in psy- perception in vision, hearing, and touch. To exam-
tory in psychology at Johns Hopkins University in
chology by Wilhelm Wundt
ine the contents of consciousness, the structuralists
(far right) marked the birth 1883. Four years later he launched America’s first
of psychology as a modern psychology journal. Furthermore, in 1892 he was the depended on the method of introspection, or the
science. careful, systematic self-observation of one’s own
driving force behind the establishment of the Ameri-
conscious experience.As practiced by the structural-
can Psychological Association (APA) and was elected
ists, introspection required training to make the sub-
its first president. Today the APA is the world’s largest
ject—the person being studied—more objective and
organization devoted to the advancement of psy-
more aware. Once trained, subjects were typically ex-
chology, with over 155,000 members and affiliates.
posed to auditory tones, optical illusions, and visual
Hall never envisioned such a vast membership when
stimuli under carefully controlled and systematically
he and 26 others set up their new organization.
varied conditions and were asked to analyze what
Exactly why Americans took to psychology so
they experienced.
quickly is hard to say. Perhaps it was because Amer-
Web Link 1.1 The functionalists took a different view of psy-
ica’s relatively young universities were more open to
chology’s task. Functionalism was based on the be-
new disciplines than the older, more tradition-bound
Mind and Body:
lief that psychology should investigate the function
René Descartes to universities in Europe. In any case, although psychol-
William James ogy was born in Germany, it blossomed into adoles- or purpose of consciousness, rather than its struc-
Designed originally to cel- ture.The chief impetus for the emergence of function-
cence in America. Like many adolescents, however,
ebrate psychology’s first
alism was the work of William James (1842–1910), a
century as an independent the young science was about to enter a period of tur-
discipline, this online exhi- bulence and turmoil. brilliant American scholar (and brother of novelist
bition traces three histori- Henry James). James’s formal training was in medi-
cal themes: the mind–body
cine. However, he did not find medicine to be intel-
problem posed in the The Battle of the “Schools”
17th century by philoso- lectually challenging and felt he was too sickly to
prihsee ro Rf eenxpé eDriemsceanrttaels ,p tshye- BVeergsiunss :FSutnrcutcitounraalliissmm Psyk Trek11aa pursue a medical practice (Ross, 1991), so, when an
opportunity arose in 1872, he joined the faculty of
chology, and the begin-
nings of psychology in Harvard University to pursue a less arduous career in
America. Note: The URLs While reading about how psychology became a sci- academia. Medicine’s loss proved to be psychology’s
(addresses) for the Web
ence, you might have imagined that psychologists gain, as James quickly became an intellectual giant
Links can be found on
the website for this text became a unified group of scholars who busily added in the field. James’s landmark book, Principles of Psy-
(http://psychology new discoveries to an uncontested store of “facts.” In chology(1890), became standard reading for genera-
.wadsworth.com/weiten_
reality, no science works that way. Competing schools tions of psychologists and is perhaps the most influ-
themes7e), or you can
of thought exist in most scientific disciplines. Some- ential text in the history of psychology (Weiten &
find them using a search
engine such as Google. times the disagreements among these schools are Wight, 1992).
4 C H A P T E R 1
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James’s thinking illustrates how psychology, like in that flow. James wanted to understand the flow it-
any field, is deeply embedded in a network of cul- self, which he called the “stream of consciousness.”
tural and intellectual influences. James had been im- Whereas structuralists naturally gravitated to the
pressed with Charles Darwin’s (1859, 1871) concept laboratory, functionalists were more interested in
of natural selection. According to the principle of nat- how people adapt their behavior to the demands of
ural select ion, heritable characteristics that provide the real world around them. This practical slant led
a survival or reproductive advantage are more them to introduce new subjects into psychology. In-
likely than alternative characteristics to be passed stead of focusing on sensation and perception, func-
on to subsequent generations and thus come to be tionalists such as James McKeen Cattell and John
“selected” over time.This cornerstone notion of Dar- Dewey began to investigate mental testing, patterns
win’s evolutionary theory suggested that the typical of development in children, the effectiveness of edu- WILLIAMJAMES
1842–1910
characteristics of a species must serve some purpose. cational practices, and behavioral differences be-
“It is just this free water of
Applying this idea to humans, James (1890) noted tween the sexes. These new topics may have played
consciousness that psychol-
that consciousness obviously is an important char- a role in attracting the first women into the field of ogists resolutely overlook.”
acteristic of our species. Hence, he contended that psychology (see Figure 1.2).
psychology should investigate the functions rather The impassioned advocates of structuralism and
than the structure of consciousness. functionalism saw themselves as fighting for high
James also argued that the structuralists’ approach stakes: the definition and future direction of the new
missed the real nature of conscious experience. Con- science of psychology. Their war of ideas continued
sciousness, he argued, consists of a continuous flow energetically for many years. Who won? Most histo-
of thoughts. In analyzing consciousness into its “ele- rians give the edge to functionalism. Although both
ments,” the structuralists were looking at static points schools of thought gradually faded away, functional-
Figure 1.2
Mary Whiton Calkins Margaret Floy Washburn Leta Stetter Hollingworth Women pioneers in the
(1863–1930) (1871–1939) (1886–1939) history of psychology.
Women have long made
major contributions to the
development of psychology
(Milar, 2000; Russo & Den-
mark, 1987), and today
nearly half of all psycholo-
gists are female. As in other
fields, however, women have
often been overlooked in
histories of psychology
(Furumoto & Scarborough,
1986). The three psycholo-
gists profiled here demon-
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first dozen psychology laboratories in ogy. She wrote an influential book, mental retardation, and gifted chil- Akron, ffroormm iditas bbleeg binarnriinegrs— tod pesupristue-
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The Evolution of Psychology 5
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ism fostered the development of two important de- seemingly meaningless slips of the tongue (such as
scendants—behaviorism and applied psychology— “I decided to take a summer school curse”) often ap-
that we will discuss momentarily. peared to reveal a person’s true feelings. He also noted
that his patients’ dreams often seemed to express im-
Finretou dth Ber iPnigcst utrhee Unconscious 11Psaayk,,Tr11ek00aa panordt aontth feere loinbgses rtvhaetyio wnesr et ougneatwhearr,e Forfe. uKdn ietvtienngt tuhaelslye
concluded that psychological disturbances are largely
caused by personal conflicts existing at an uncon-
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian physi-
scious level. More generally, his psychoanalytic the-
cian who early in his career dreamed of achieving
ory attempts to explain personality, motivation,
fame by making an important discovery. His deter-
SIGMUNDFREUD and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious
1856–1939 mination was such that in medical school he dis-
determinants of behavior.
“The unconscious is the sected 400 male eels to prove for the first time that
Freud’s concept of the unconscious was not en-
true psychical reality; in its they had testes. His work with eels did not make him
innermost nature it is as tirely new (Rieber, 1998). However, it was a major de-
famous, but his subsequent work with people did.
much unknown to us as parture from the prevailing belief that people are
the reality of the external Indeed, his theories made him one of the most con-
fully aware of the forces affecting their behavior. In
world.” troversial intellectual figures of modern times.
arguing that behavior is governed by unconscious
Freud’s (1900, 1933) approach to psychology grew
forces, Freud made the disconcerting suggestion that
out of his efforts to treat mental disorders. In his med-
people are not masters of their own minds. Other
ical practice, Freud treated people troubled by psycho-
aspects of Freud’s theory also stirred up debate. For
logical problems such as irrational fears, obsessions,
instance, he proposed that behavior is greatly influ-
and anxieties with an innovative procedure he called
enced by how people cope with their sexual urges.
psychoanalysis (described in detail in Chapter 15).
At a time when people were far less comfortable dis-
Decades of experience probing into his patients’ lives
cussing sexual issues than they are today, even sci-
provided much of the inspiration for Freud’s theory.
entists were offended and scandalized by Freud’s em-
He also gathered material by looking inward and ex-
phasis on sex. Small wonder, then, that Freud was
amining his own anxieties, conflicts, and desires.
soon engulfed in controversy.
His work with patients and his own self-exploration
In part because of its controversial nature, Freud’s
persuaded Freud of the existence of what he called
theory was slow to gain influence. However, his ap-
the unconscious. According to Freud, the unconscious
proach gradually won acceptance within medicine,
contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are
attracting prominent followers such as Carl Jung and
well below the surface of conscious awareness but
Alfred Adler. Important public recognition from psy-
that nonetheless exert great influence on behavior.
chology came in 1909, when G. Stanley Hall invited
Freud based his concept of the unconscious on a va-
Freud to give a series of lectures at Clark University in
riety of observations. For instance, he noticed that
Massachusetts (see the photo at left).
By 1920 psychoanalytic theory was widely known
around the world, but it continued to meet with con-
siderable resistance in psychology (Fancher, 2000).
Most psychologists contemptuously viewed psycho-
analytic theory as unscientific speculation that would
eventually fade away (Hornstein, 1992). However,
they turned out to be wrong. Psychoanalytic ideas
steadily gained credence in the culture at large, in-
fluencing thought in medicine, the arts, and litera-
Image Not Available
ture (Rieber, 1998). According to Hornstein (1992),
by the 1940s, “Psychoanalysis was becoming so pop-
ular that it threatened to eclipse psychology entirely”
(p. 258). Thus, the widespread popular acceptance of
psychoanalytic theory essentially forced psycholo-
gists to apply their scientific methods to the topics
Freud had studied: personality, motivation, and ab-
normal behavior. As they turned to these topics,
many of them saw merit in some of Freud’s notions
A portrait taken at the famous Clark University psychology conference, September 1909. Pictured are
(Rosenzweig, 1985). Although psychoanalytic the-
Freud, G. Stanley Hall, and four of Freud’s students and associates. Seated, left to right: Freud, Hall,
and Carl Jung; standing: Abraham Brill, Ernest Jones, and Sandor Ferenczi. ory continued to generate heated debate, it survived
6 C H A P T E R 1
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to become an influential theoretical perspective.
Watson Alters Psychology’s PREVIEW QUESTIONS
Today, many psychoanalytic concepts have filtered
into the mainstream of psychology (Westen, 1998). CMoaukresse Iatss DBeehbauvtiorism Ps11ykaaTr,,ek55bb Wunhdaetr lwyiansg t hbee hmavaiionr iisdmea?
How did the emergence
of behaviorism influ-
REV IEW OF KEY POINTS One reason that psychoanalysis struggled to gain ac- ence the evolution of
ceptance within psychology was that it conflicted in psychology?
Psychology’s intellectual parents were 19th-century philos- What basic principle of
many basic ways with the tenets of behaviorism, a
ophy and physiology, disciplines that shared an interest behavior did Skinner
in the mysteries of the mind. new school of thought that gradually became domi- emphasize?
Psychology became an independent discipline when nant within psychology between 1913 and the late What did Skinner do to
Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological research 1920s. Founded by John B. Watson (1878–1958), be- stir up controversy?
laboratory in 1879 at Leipzig, Germany. He defined psy- haviorism is a theoretical orientation based on the What was the impetus
chology as the scientific study of consciousness. for the emergence of
premise that scientific psychology should study
The new discipline grew rapidly in North America in the humanism?
late 19th century, as illustrated by G. Stanley Hall’s career. only observable behavior.It is important to under-
Hall established America’s first research lab in psychology stand what a radical change this definition repre-
and founded the American Psychological Association.
sents. Watson (1913, 1919) proposed that psycholo-
The structuralists, led by Edward Titchener, believed that
gists abandon the study of consciousness altogether and
psychology should use introspection to analyze conscious-
ness into its basic elements. focus exclusively on behaviors that they could ob-
The functionalists, inspired by the ideas of William James, serve directly. In essence, he was trying to redefine
believed that psychology should focus on the purpose and
what scientific psychology should be about.
adaptive functions of consciousness. Functionalism paved
the way for behaviorism and applied psychology. Why did Watson argue for such a fundamental
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian physician who invented shift in direction? Because to him, the power of the
psychoanalysis. His psychoanalytic theory emphasized the scientific method rested on the idea of verifiability. In
unconscious determinants of behavior and the importance
principle, scientific claims can always be verified (or
of sexuality.
disproved) by anyone who is able and willing to
Freud’s ideas were controversial, and they met with resis-
tance in academic psychology. However, as more psycholo- make the required observations. However, this power
gists developed an interest in personality, motivation, and depends on studying things that can be observed ob-
abnormal behavior, psychoanalytic concepts were incorpo-
jectively. Otherwise, the advantage of using the sci-
rated into mainstream psychology.
entific approach—replacing vague speculation and
personal opinion with reliable, exact knowledge—is
lost. For Watson, men-
tal processes were not a
concept check 1.1
proper subject for sci-
entific study because
Understanding the Implications of Major Theories:
they are ultimately pri-
Wundt,James,and Freud
vate events. After all,
Check your understanding of the implications of some of the major theories reviewed no one can see or touch
in this chapter by indicating who is likely to have made each of the statements another’s thoughts.
quoted below. Choose from the following theorists: (a) Wilhelm Wundt, (b) William
Consequently, if psy-
James, and (c) Sigmund Freud. You’ll find the answers in Appendix A in the back
chology was to be a sci-
of the book.
ence, it would have to
_______ 1. “He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no give up consciousness
mortal can keep a secret. If the lips are silent, he chatters with his finger-
as its subject matter and
tips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore. And thus the task of mak-
become instead the sci-
ing conscious the most hidden recesses of the mind is one which it is
ence of behavior.
quite possible to accomplish.”
Behavior refers to
_______ 2. “The book which I present to the public is an attempt to mark out a new
any overt (observable)
domain of science. . . . The new discipline rests upon anatomical and
response or activity by
physiological foundations. . . . The experimental treatment of psycho-
an organism. Watson
logical problems must be pronounced from every point of view to be in
its first beginnings.” asserted that psycholo-
gists could study any- JOHNB. WATSON
_______ 3. “Consciousness, then, does not appear to itself chopped up in bits. Such
thing that people do or 1878–1958
words as ‘chain’ or ‘train’ do not describe it fitly. . . . It is nothing jointed;
say—shopping, playing “The time seems to have
it flows. A ‘river’ or ‘stream’ are the metaphors by which it is most naturally come when psychology
described.” chess, eating, compli- must discard all references
menting a friend—but to consciousness.”
The Evolution of Psychology 7
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3306_W_Weiten_Ch01 1/4/06 8:03 AM Page 8
they could not study scientifically the thoughts, wishes, vestigate, so Pavlov’s discovery paved the way for
Web Link 1.2 and feelings that might accompany these observable their work. The behaviorists eventually came to view
behaviors. Obviously, psychology’s shift away from psychology’s mission as an attempt to relate overt
History & Philosophy
of Psychology Web the study of consciousness was fundamentally in- behaviors (responses) to observable events in the en-
Resources compatible with psychoanalytic theory. Given that vironment (stimuli). Because the behaviorists inves-
Professor Christopher
many psychologists were becoming uncomfortable tigated stimulus-response relationships, the behav-
Green of York University in
Canada has assembled a with the study of conscious experience, you can imag- ioral approach is often referred to as stimulus-response
wide range of web-based ine how they felt about trying to study unconscious (S-R) psychology.
materials relating to psy-
mental processes. By the 1920s Watson had become Behaviorism’s stimulus-response approach con-
chology’s theoretical and
historical past, including a an outspoken critic of Freud’s views (Rilling, 2000). tributed to the rise of animal research in psychology.
collection of sites focused Proponents of behaviorism and psychoanalysis en- Having deleted consciousness from their scope of con-
on specific individuals.
gaged in many heated theoretical debates in the en- cern, behaviorists no longer needed to study human
Pages devoted to key fig-
ures mentioned in this suing decades. subjects who could report on their mental processes.
chapter (such as Mary Watson’s radical reorientation of psychology did Many psychologists thought that animals would
Whiton Calkins, William
not end with his redefinition of its subject matter. make better research subjects anyway. One key reason
James, B. F. Skinner, and
He also staked out a rather extreme position on one was that experimental research is often more produc-
Margaret Floy Washburn)
can be accessed here. of psychology’s oldest and most fundamental ques- tive if experimenters can exert considerable control
tions: the issue of nature versus nurture. This age-old over their subjects. Otherwise, too many complicat-
debate is concerned with whether behavior is deter- ing factors enter into the picture and contaminate the
mined mainly by genetic inheritance (“nature”) or experiment. Obviously, a researcher can have much
by environment and experience (“nurture”). To over- more control over a laboratory rat or pigeon than over
simplify, the question is this: Is a great concert pi- a human subject, who arrives at a lab with years of un-
anist or a master criminal born, or made? Watson ar- controlled experience and who will probably insist on
gued that each is made, not born. In other words, he going home at night. Thus, the discipline that had
downplayed the importance of heredity, maintain- begun its life a few decades earlier as the study of the
ing that behavior is governed primarily by the envi- mind now found itself heavily involved in the study
ronment. Indeed, he boldly claimed: of simple responses made by laboratory animals.
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own
special world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to Skinner Questions Free Will Psyk Trek
as Behaviorism Flourishes 11aa,,1100bb
take any one at random and train him to become any
type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist,
merchant-chief, and yes, even beggar-man and thief, re- The advocates of behaviorism and psychoanalysis tan-
gardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, gled frequently during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.
vocations and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my As psychoanalytic thought slowly gained a foothold
facts and I admit it, but sohave the advocates of the con- within psychology, many psychologists softened their
trary and they have been doing it for many thousands of stance on the acceptability of studying internal men-
years. (1924, p. 82) tal events. However, this movement toward the con-
sideration of internal states was vigorously opposed
For obvious reasons, Watson’s tongue-in-cheek by B. F. Skinner (1904–1990), a behaviorist whose
challenge was never put to a test. Although this widely work became highly influential in the 1950s. Skinner
cited quote overstated and oversimplified Watson’s set out to be a writer, but he gave up his dream after
views on the nature-nurture issue (Todd & Morris, a few unproductive years. “I had,” he wrote later,
1992), his writings contributed to the strong envi- “nothing important to say” (1967, p. 395). However,
ronmental slant that became associated with behav- he had many important things to say about psychol-
iorism (Horowitz, 1992). ogy, and he went on to become one of the most in-
The gradual emergence of behaviorism was partly fluential of all American psychologists.
attributable to an important discovery made around In response to the softening that had occurred in
the turn of the century by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian phys- the behaviorist position, Skinner (1953) championed
B. F. SKINNER iologist. As you’ll learn in Chapter 6, Pavlov (1906) a return to Watson’s strict focus on observable behav-
1904–1990
showed that dogs could be trained to salivate in re- ior. Skinner did not deny the existence of internal
“I submit that what we call
sponse to an auditory stimulus such as a tone. This mental events. However, he insisted that they could
the behavior of the human
organism is no more free deceptively simple demonstration provided insight not be studied scientifically. Moreover, there was no
than its digestion.” into how stimulus-response bonds are formed. Such need to study them. According to Skinner, if the stim-
bonds were exactly what behaviorists wanted to in- ulus of food is followed by the response of eating, we
8 C H A P T E R 1
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3306_W_Weiten_Ch01 1/4/06 8:03 AM Page 9
they should study. Skinner spelled out the full impli-
cations of his findings in his book Beyond Freedom Web Link 1.3
and Dignity (1971). There he asserted that all behavior
Museum of the History
is fully governed by external stimuli. In other words, of Psychological
your behavior is determined in predictable ways by Instrumentation
You can examine instru-
lawful principles, just as the flight of an arrow is gov-
ments and complex appa-
erned by the laws of physics. Thus, if you believe that ratus used by psychologi-
your actions are the result of conscious decisions, cal researchers in the
discipline’s early decades
you’re wrong. According to Skinner, people are con-
in this “cybermuseum”
trolled by their environment, not by themselves. In maintained at Montclair
short, Skinner arrived at the conclusion that free will State University.
Image Not Available is an illusion.
As you can readily imagine, such a disconcerting
view of human nature was not universally acclaimed.
Like Freud, Skinner was the target of harsh criticism.
Much of this criticism stemmed from misinterpreta-
tions of his ideas that were disseminated in the pop-
ular press (Rutherford, 2000). For example, his analy-
sis of free will was often misconstrued as an attack on
the concept of a free society—which it was not—and
he was often mistakenly condemned for advocating
an undemocratic “scientific police state” (Dinsmoor,
1992). Despite all the controversy, however, behav-
B. F. Skinner created considerable controversy when he asserted iorism flourished as the dominant school of thought
that free will is an illusion. in psychology during the 1950s and 1960s (Gilgen,
1982). And when 93 psychology department chair-
can fully describe what is happening without making persons were surveyed in 1990 about the field’s most
any guesses about whether the animal is experienc- important contributors (Estes, Coston, & Fournet,
ing hunger. Like Watson, Skinner also emphasized 1990), Skinner was ranked at the top of the list (see
how environmental factors mold behavior. Although Figure 1.3).
he repeatedly acknowledged that an organism’s be-
havior is influenced by its biological endowment, he Psyk Trek
The Humanists Revolt 11aa,,1100cc
argued that psychology could understand and pre-
dict behavior adequately without resorting to physi-
ological explanations (Delprato & Midgley, 1992). By the 1950s, behaviorism and psychoanalytic theory
The fundamental principle of behavior docu- had become the most influential schools of thought
mented by Skinner is deceptively simple: Organisms
tend to repeat responses that lead to positive outcomes, Figure 1.3
and they tend not to repeat responses that lead to neutral Important figures in the history of psychology. In a
or negative outcomes. Despite its simplicity, this prin- 1990 survey, 93 chairpersons of psychology departments ranked
psychology’s most important contributors (Estes, Coston, &
ciple turns out to be quite powerful. Working primar-
Fournet, 1990, as cited in Korn et al., 1991). As you can see,
ily with laboratory rats and pigeons, Skinner showed B. F. Skinner edged out Sigmund Freud for the top ranking.
that he could exert remarkable control over the be- Although these ratings of scholarly eminence are open to con-
siderable debate, the data should give you some idea of the
havior of animals by manipulating the outcomes of
relative impact of various figures in the history of psychology.
their responses. He was even able to train animals to
perform unnatural behaviors. For example, he once
Rank Individual Rank Points
trained some pigeons to play Ping-Pong! Skinner’s
1 B. F. Skinner 508
followers eventually showed that the principles un-
2 Sigmund Freud 459
covered in their animal research could be applied to 3 William James 372
complex human behaviors as well. Behavioral prin- 4 Jean Piaget 237
5 G. Stanley Hall 216
ciples are now widely used in factories, schools, pris-
6 Wilhelm Wundt 203
ons, mental hospitals, and a variety of other settings 7 Carl Rogers 192
(see Chapter 6). 8 John B. Watson 188
9 Ivan Pavlov 152
Skinner’s ideas had repercussions that went far be-
10 E. L. Thorndike 124
yond the debate among psychologists about what
The Evolution of Psychology 9
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Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license