A History of Modern Psychology

423 Pages·1981·10.983 MB·English

by  Duane Schultz (Auth.)

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DUANE SCHULTZ
University of South Florida
ACADEMIC PRESS
New York/London/Toronto/Sydney/San Francisco
A Subsidiary ofHarcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers
Cover Photo by Glen Heller
Copyright © 1981, by Academic Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any
information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Academic Press, Inc.
Ill Fifth Avenue,
New York, New York 10003
United Kingdom Edition published by
Academic Press, Inc. (London) Ltd.
24/28 Oval Road, London NW1 7DX
ISBN: 0-12-633060-3
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 80-616
Printed in the United States of America
To My Parents
IFAC
This new edition retains the same overall format, scope, and focus as the
earlier ones. Three premises continue to underlie and characterize its
approach. First, our discussion of the history of psychology concentrates on
the last century of development in the field. It does not attempt to cover
earlier philosophical thought, except where such thought relates directly to
the establishment of psychology as a separate discipline, as is the case with
the British empiricists, for example. In short, the book is a history of
modern psychology, not of psychology and all the work in philosophy that
preceded it.
The second premise is defined by one of the most striking and consistent
characteristics of the century-old history of modern psychology: the contin
uous development and decline of different systematic positions or schools
of thought. A definite continuity of development can be seen from each of
these schools of thought to the one that subsequently replaced it. This
orderly and meaningful developmental pattern is, I believe, the most useful
framework within which to understand the history of psychology.
Our discussion will demonstrate how each system grew out of or revolted
against the existing order, and how each, in turn, inspired a new point of
view that opposed and eventually replaced, or at least supplemented, the
older system. Outstanding figures in the history of psychology are discussed
within the context of the systematic position they helped to formulate,
advance, or destroy.
Each systematic position is discussed in terms of three stages or levels of
development: (1) historical antecedents or precursors, (2) formal founding
and development, and (3) later influence. Contemporary influences on the
various systems are discussed to demonstrate the continuity of development
from the old to the new, i.e., how psychology as we know it today evolved
from these earlier positions. The discussion of each school concludes with
criticisms and contributions of the position, so that the student can see the
weaknesses of each system as well as its importance in psychology's later
development.
The third premise is concerned with the determining influence of the
Zeitgeist on each school of thought. The development and decline of each
systematic position are discussed in terms of the general intellectual and
xiii
Preface
social climate of the era or region in which it occurred. Using this approach,
the student is able to understand that changes in psychological thinking
were influenced and augmented by broader changes in our attitudes toward
ourselves and the world around us.
The style of writing and level of difficulty of this text are intended
expressly for the undergraduate student's initial exposure to the history of
the discipline. I want to tell the continuing story of psychology's develop
ment and progress, rather than to provide a catalogue of dates, names,
theories, and events. I have tried to present the history of psychology here
as I do in the classroom.
Having the opportunity to revise the book has been a stimulating,
enjoyable, and rewarding task. Aside from the chance to correct errors,
eliminate sexist language, and rephrase difficult concepts, a revision allows
the time to incorporate the results of new scholarly work in the field and to
reflect feedback from the instructors and students who have used the second
edition. Changes range from the insertion of a clarifying word to the
addition of new sections and the rewriting of chapters.
Chapter 1 has been substantially rewritten to incorporate the following
material: the role of history in understanding the diversity and divisiveness
of contemporary psychology; the similarity between the history of psy
chology and the case history of a patient, showing how both attempt to
understand the present by examining the influences from the past; the
similarity between the evolution of a discipline and the evolution of a living
species, showing that both have to be responsive to the environment or
context in which they function; and the relevance of Kuhn's work, showing
that psychology is still in the preparadigmatic stage characterized by
competing schools of thought.
Chapter 15 has also been rewritten to focus on more recent developments
in the two major forces in contemporary psychology—behaviorism and
psychoanalysis—and the evolution of the third force, humanistic psychol
ogy. Included are discussions of the cognitive revolution and the work of
Bandura; the neo-Freudian theories of Allport, Murray, and Erikson; and
the humanistic approaches of Maslow and Rogers. The impact of the "new"
physics on the cognitive revolution and humanistic psychology are covered,
and these developments are treated in historical perspective as outgrowths
of earlier points of view.
Other changes for the third edition include new material on the influence
of mechanism on Descartes's thinking; the impact of astronomy on the new
psychology; the changes Titchener began to make in his system toward the
end of his life; the influence of Darwin in broadening the methodology of
psychology; the influence of mentalism and introspection by analogy on
the work of the early animal psychologists; the work of Spencer and its
importance for American psychology; behavior modification; the impact of
field physics on Gestalt psychology; the historical antecedents of Freudian
psychoanalysis; and the scientific credibility of psychoanalysis.
xiv
Preface
The four original source articles—by Titchener, Carr, Wertheimer, and
Watson—have been retained. User reaction to these materials has been
favorable. These statements by psychology's important figures seem to be
of value to the student by presenting a position in the proponent's own
words and illustrating what the psychology student of the day was reading.
An instructor's handbook for the history of psychology, prepared by Ludy
T. Benjamin, Jr., includes reference sources, teaching activities, lists of
audiovisual materials, and test questions.
I am grateful to the many instructors and students who have written to
me over the years with valuable suggestions and comments. The book has
also benefited from the rigorous and scholarly evaluation of Ludy Benjamin,
Albert M. Prestrude, and Michael Wertheimer. At Academic Press, my
editor, James D. Anker, has provided continuing encouragement and as
sistance. My greatest debt remains to my wife, Sydney Ellen, for her expert
research, cogent criticisms, enthusiasm, and patient handling of the myriad
details that miraculously turned a messy sheaf of handwritten pages into a
finished book.
D. S.
xv
Preface
The application of the experimental method to the problem of mind is the
great outstanding event in the history of the study of the mind, an event
to which no other is comparable.
E.G. Boring
1
THE STUDY OF
THE HISTORY
OF
PSYCHOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
Of all the scholarly disciplines in existence today, psychology is probably
the oldest. Interest in the topic can be traced to the earliest inquiring minds.
We have been forever fascinated by our own behavior, and ruminations on
human nature and conduct fill many philosophical and theological volumes.
As early as the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. Plato, Aristotle, and other
Greek scholars were grappling with many of the same problems that concern
psychologists today—memory, learning, motivation, perception, dreaming,
and irrational behavior. The same kinds of questions now being asked
about human nature were asked centuries ago, which shows a vital conti
nuity between the present and the past.
It would appear that since psychology began in antiquity, our study must
also begin there, but there is another point to consider. Although psychol
ogy is one of the older disciplines, it is also one of the newer! This is an
interesting paradox, one that was described succinctly by the psychologist
Hermann Ebbinghaus, who wrote, "Psychology has a long past, but only a
short history." The intellectual precursors of psychology are ancient indeed,
but the modern tradition and form of psychology are little more than 100
years old. The centennial of the birth of modern psychology was celebrated
in 1979.
The distinction between modern psychology and its antecedents has less
to do with the kinds of questions asked about human nature than with the
methods used to seek the answers. It is the approach taken, the techniques
employed, that distinguish the older philosophy from modern psychology
and denote the emergence of the latter as a separate discipline.
Until the last quarter of the nineteenth century philosophers attempted to
study human nature through speculation, intuition, and generalization
based on their own limited experience. A major transformation occurred
when they began to apply the tools and methods of science to questions
about human nature, methods that had already proved successful in the
1
Introduction
natural sciences. Only when researchers turned to carefully controlled
observation and experimentation as the means for studying the human
mind, did psychology begin to attain some degree of independence from its
philosophical antecedents.
To break with philosophy, the new psychology needed to develop a more
precise and objective way of dealing with its subject matter. Thus, much of
the history of psychology after its separation from philosophy is an account
of the continual refinement of its tools, techniques, and methods of study
to achieve increased precision and objectivity in both its answers and its
questions.
If we are to understand the complex issues that define and divide
psychology today, the proper starting point for the history of the field is
that time when it became a truly independent discipline, with unique
methods of inquiry and theoretical rationales. We cannot deny that early
scholars speculated on problems concerning the nature of the human
species. Certainly they did. But their influence on the development of
psychology as a separate and primarily experimental science is limited.
Psychology is a product of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, because
only in the last 100 years or so have psychologists defined its subject matter
and established its foundation, confirming its independence from philoso
phy. The early philosophers concerned themselves with problems that are
still of general interest, but they approached these problems in a manner
vastly different from that of today's psychologists. They were not psychol
ogists by the contemporary definition of the term, and we will discuss their
ideas only as they relate directly to the establishment of modern psychology.
Psychology became an experimental science at a time when European
thought was imbued with positivism, empiricism, and materialism (see
Chapter 2). While the nineteenth-century philosophers were clearing the
way for an experimental attack on the functioning of the mind, another
group of scholars was independently approaching some of the same prob
lems from a different direction. Nineteenth-century physiologists were
making great strides toward understanding the bodily mechanisms under
lying mental processes. The methods of study of the physiologists differed
markedly from those of the philosophers, but the eventual union of these
disparate disciplines produced a field of study in which, at least in the
formative years, an attempt was made to preserve the conflicting traditions
and beliefs of both. Fortunately, the new psychology quickly succeeded in
attaining an identity and stature of its own.
The idea that the methods of science could be applied to mental phenom
ena is inherited from both the philosophical ideas and the physiological
techniques of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, an exciting era that
becomes the starting point for our discussion of the history of modern
psychology.
2
The Study of the History of
Psychology
OVERVIEW OF THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
MODERN
PSYCHOLOGY
The first sign of a distinct field of inquiry known as psychology was the
adoption, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, of the scientific
method as the means for attempting to solve its problems. During that
period there were several formal indications that psychology was beginning
to flourish. In 18791 in Leipzig, Germany, Wilhelm Wundt established what
is generally considered to be the first psychological laboratory in the world.
Wundt also established the journal Philosophische Studien, in 1881, which is
considered to be the first journal of psychology to contain experimental
reports. In 1888 the University of Pennsylvania appointed James McKeen
Cattell professor of psychology, the first professorship in psychology in the
world. Before that time psychologists had received appointments in depart
ments of philosophy. With Cattell's appointment, psychology received
formal recognition in academic circles as an independent discipline. In 1887
G. Stanley Hall established the American Journal of Psychology, the first
American psychology journal.
Between 1880 and 1895 dramatic and sweeping changes took place in
psychology in the United States. During that time, 24 psychological labo
ratories and three psychology journals were established. In 1892 the first
scientific organization of psychologists, the American Psychological Asso
ciation, was founded.
In 1908 psychology was defined by William McDougall as the "science of
behavior," apparently for the first time. Thus, by the early part of the
twentieth century American psychology had succeeded in gaining its in
dependence from philosophy, developing laboratories in which to apply the
methods of science, establishing its own scientific organization, and giving
itself a formal definition as a science—the science of behavior.
The new discipline had been launched and grew rapidly, particularly in
the United States, which quickly assumed a position of dominance in the
psychological world, a position it still holds. Today more than half the
1 There is some dispute as to whether 1875 or 1879 was the founding year for the first
experimental laboratory. Boring (1965) noted that Wundt was given space for experimental
demonstrations in 1875, but it was not until 1879 that the space was used for independent
research. R. I. Watson (1978) accorded the honor to 1875, while other sources (Chaplin &
Krawiec, 1979; Flügel & West, 1964; Miller & Buckhout, 1973; Murphy & Kovach, 1972; Peters,
1965) agreed on 1879. In 1979 the American Psychological Association held the centennial
celebration of the establishment of Wundfs laboratory. James McKeen Cattell (1928), who
studied under Wundt, noted that the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the laboratory was
celebrated in Leipzig in 1926. Boring, Watson, and others noted that 1875 also saw William
James equipping a small laboratory at Harvard. The significance of the event, however, is far
more important than the precise date when it occurred.
3
Overview of the Development of
Modern Psychology