Chapter 4:
Psychology in
the Laboratory
Psychology: Social, Economic, and
Cultural Contexts of the 19th Century
Contexts
Resources and
infrastructure
Social climate
Academic
tradition
Main Features
• Rapid industrialization and urbanization of society
• Sustained technological progress
• Massive migration and development of new forms of
communication
• Initiation of mass public education
Mastery values coexisting with the values of idealism
(associated with religious beliefs and practices) and
romanticism (a social climate embracing individuality
and passion)
Secularization of social sciences and life sciences
Increasing investments in research and education
Experimental
science
Mental
philosophy
Psychology as a subject of studies developed in the 19th
century within at least two fields. One was experimental
science, including physics, biology, physiology, or medicine. The
other was so-called mental philosophy.
Psychology: science and popular beliefs
A fashion, a trend, and a faith—spiritualism was
a belief that the living could correspond with
the deceased through special channels of
communication.
Clairvoyance or clear seeing, stood for
the supposed extrasensory power of an
individual, that is, the power to see or
feel objects or events that could not be
perceived by the senses or measured
objectively.
Psychology: science and popular beliefs
Phrenology (or cranioscopy) A theory connecting the size and shape
of the brain with human behavior and the individual’s personality. Gall
divided the brain into two large groups and 37 zones representing
emotional characteristics (such as desire to live, reverence, or imitation)
and intellectual characteristics (such as order, calculation, and
comparison).
Phrenology turned into a popular movement, with dozens of
phrenology societies formed in Europe and the United States.
In the 19th century, phrenology became a big business:
people were willing to pay money to get evaluated.
Studying Psychology at Wellesley College. Source: Calkins, 1892
Course: Psychology including Experimental Psychology
Period and subject
First month.
Brain physiology.
Second month.
Sensation.
Second month.
Emotion.
Third month.
Space perception
Last week.
Reaction time.
Final examination.
Main activities
The class work included recitations, informal lectures, some written
work, and the dissection by each student of a lamb's brain.
About seventy experiments were performed by the students on
sensations of contact, pressure, temperature, taste, hearing, and sight.
The theory of sensation and perception was discussed.
The study of the emotions and the will was accompanied by no
experimental work. Students were required to read and discuss their
reading materials in class and keep written records of their dreams.
Lectures were offered on the three chief theories, the Empiricist, the
Nativist-Kantian, and the Nativist-Sensational.
Students were engaged in reaction time experiments. This work should
properly have been scattered through the year but had been postponed
due to a delay in procuring the experimental equipment.
An essay was required. The immediate topic of the paper was to be
decided after the study and not before. Topics: "Association," "Attention,"
"Memory," "Imagination," "The Psychology of Language," " The
Psychology of Childhood," "The Psychology of Blindness," "Aphasia,"
"Animal Psychology”. No topics in abnormal psychology were originally
included, but several students especially interested in the subject could
write on "Hypnotism," "Dreams," or "Illusions."
Some Discoveries of the 19th Century
Physiology that Impacted Psychology
Studies of the
speed of nervous
impulses
Theories of the eye
convergence, binocular
vision, color blindness
The new method of
staining individual nerves
and cell structures
The membrane
theory of nerve
conduction
Studies of dark
and light
adaptation
Studies of reflexes
of the brain and
the spinal cord
The all-or-none
principle of nerve
conduction
Identification of the
visual and speech
centers in the brain
Identification of
several motor
areas in the brain
Early Measurements in Psychology
The existence of remarkably consistent differences
in measurement between any two observers had
been established in several experiments and was
labeled as personal equation.
The beginning of experimental studies of the
reaction time. The main finding of these studies was
that personal psychological characteristics such as
attention or anticipation could significantly affect
reaction time and behavior in general.
Early Measurements in Psychology
Psychophysics, according to Gustav T. Fechner (1801–1887)
was an exact science of the functional relations of dependency
between body and mind.
In 1850, Fechner suggested a possibility
that
subjective
estimations
of
measurements such as weight or length
may develop in an arithmetic series in
response to a geometric series of
physical changes. He found the
supporting evidence in experiments on
weights, brightness, tactile perception,
and visual differences.
Early Measurements in Psychology
Fechner’s law states that the magnitude of a
subjective sensation increases
proportional to the logarithm of the stimulus
intensity:
S = k log I
where S = subjective experience, I = physical
intensity, k is a constant
Gustav Fechner was physicist,
philosopher, writer, poet, and
scientist who wanted us to
enjoy the beauty of his
carefully crafted experiments
Fechner’s
main
work,
Elements of Psychophysics,
was published in 1860.
Early Measurements in Psychology
Findings
Brief Descriptions
The time required to memorize an average nonsense syllable
increases sharply as the number of syllables increases.
The learning
curve
Learning trials Distributing learning trials over time is more effective in memorizing
nonsense syllables than massing practice into a single session.
Practicing
Continuing to practice material after the learning criterion has been
reached enhances retention. A small amount of initial practice, far
below that required for retention, can lead to savings at relearning.
Early and late items in a list are more likely to be recalled than
Primacy and
recency effects middle items.
Contrary to the prevailing philosophical position, Ebbinghaus
Associations
observed that items exceeding this span, namely those separated
from each other by more than the limit of five intervening syllables,
could nonetheless become directly associated.
First Psychological Laboratories
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) was
founder of the first psychological
laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
Thirty-three American and scores
of students from other countries
worked on their doctoral degrees
under Wundt’s supervision.
First Psychological Laboratories
Wilhelm Wundt’s Academic Accomplishments
A new research program for psychology
that became a model to follow. According
to this method, the researcher had to
carefully observe his own experience as a
response to a physical stimulus. Wundt’s
method involved evaluations of quality,
intensity, and duration of such experiences.
First Psychological Laboratories
Wilhelm Wundt’s Academic Accomplishments
The first psychological laboratory on the
university campus in Leipzig. No one
before Wundt was capable of undertaking
a project of similar scale and significance.
His lab (founded in 1879) and the Institute
for Experimental Psychology (founded in
1894) in Leipzig became a precedent for
others to look at, admire, and repeat.
First Psychological Laboratories
Wilhelm Wundt’s Academic Accomplishments
The academic study of scientific psychology in Europe.
In 1874 he wrote Principles of Physiological Psychology. He
created a doctoral program in experimental psychology. In
1879, Wundt assisted his first graduate student at “pure”
psychological research. Many prominent psychologists of
the early 20th century have been his graduate students or
worked in his laboratory. In 1881, he started the journal
Philosophische Studien (Studies in Philosophy), which
became an early academic publication for psychology
research. In 1883, he taught the first course titled
experimental psychology.
First Psychological Laboratories
In the United States, psychologists found a favorable environment.
A combination of public financial support, tuition, and private
donations created an infrastructure with available resources for
experimental research and training of future psychologists. Two
great psychologists, Stanley Hall and James Cattell, were among
the first returning American students who, after studying with
Wundt, brought back their experiences and aspirations.
The first laboratory of psychology was organized by
G. Stanley Hall at the Johns Hopkins University in
Maryland early in 1883.
James Cattell formally opened a psychology
lab in 1887 at the University of Pennsylvania.
Wilhelm Wundt’s Views
Method:
Experimental
Introspection
Apperception: selective
and constructive process
of attention
Sensations
Feelings
Psychology: an
experimental
science of
experience
Wilhelm Wundt’s Views
Physiological
Psychology:
The study of experiences
functionally related to
physiological processes.
“Second
Psychology”:
The psychological study of
experiences that are
incarnated in the brain and
the nervous system and
appear in the form of
myths, fairy tales, and
beliefs.
Wilhelm Wundt’s Legacy
Physiological
Psychology
Theory
Limited
Influence
“Second
Psychology”
Creation of the
Laboratory
Practice
Education and Training
of Psychologists
Lasting
Influence
William Titchener (1867-1927)
The nature of psychological
phenomena is in mental elements,
those elementary “bricks” from
which the larger mental structures
are created. The problem was to
identify how these complex
structures were formed.
Sensations as mental elements
have four basic characteristics:
quality, intensity, duration, and
clearness
The task of the psychologist
is to describe these
elements and learn how
they interconnect. In the
process of introspection, a
scientist should not use
common labels, such as, “I
see the table and it is
brown.” Instead, the
scientist should describe the
elements of his or her
conscious experience.
Birth of the American Psychological Association
In December 1892 at the University of
Pennsylvania, the first annual meeting of the
American Psychological Association took place,
representing 31 original members (18 had attended
the first meeting). The composition of the
association was diverse and included psychiatrists,
philosophers, experimental psychologists, and
experts in education (called pedagogists). They
were all men. The average age of the members was
35, with the most mature 54 years old.