History and Systems of Psychology
Fall Semester 2009
EDPS 7080
Instructor:
Class:
Office Times:
Materials:
Robert D. Hill PhD, Professor, Educational Psychology
336 MBH, 581-5081 or 581-7148
EMAIL: bhill@ed.utah.edu
12:25 to 3:20pm, Tuesday, BUC 203
4:00 to 5:00pm Tuesdays, MBH 336
www.ed.utah.edu/~bhill (see HisSys folder)
“Our knowledge [of psychology] is a powerful tool that has developed over time and is a narrative
worth knowing. Like any good story, it has its heroes and its villains, it is set in a time and a
place, and it offers us a message we can all hear and use.”
-
D.B. Baker
-
The science of psychology encompasses knowledge about developmental,
cognitive/affective, social/cultural, individual, and biological aspects of human
functioning, processes of change, and the history and systems of psychology (U of U
CP Program Handbook, 2009).
This course addresses the history and systems of psychology as a domain of science and
as a practice specialization in the human services field. This includes ideas (and
individuals) that have shaped our understanding of the human psyche and how it
adapts to normative and non-normative phenomenon. In addition to the traditional
view of the history of psychology, the role of social processes such as stereotyping and
discrimination, reformation, cultural and economic change that have limited and
enhanced the profession will be discussed.
Class Objectives
 Prepare for the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) that
includes objective questions related to the History and Systems of Psychology.
 Acquire basic knowledge about the intellectual and social history of contemporary
psychology.
 Further your development of your identity as a scientist/practitioner within the
larger field of psychology.
 Learn to think (and write) critically about information - such as claims throughout
the history of psychology - that may be construed as objective psychological
methods (or facts), but may actually involve biased assumptions and implicit
cultural perspectives and values.
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Grading Criteria:
Midterm:
Final:
Final Paper
-paper: 50 pts
-presentation of paper 10 pts
------------------------Total
Points for Grade
50 points
90 points
60 points
Percentage of Grade
25%
45%
30%
----------200 points
100%
Grading Scale: The following scale will be used to determine your grade based on the
exams and the final paper.
A = 189-200; A- = 181-188; B+ = 172-180; B = 163-171; B- = 154-162; C+ = 141-153;
C = 131-134; C- = 120-130; D+ = 110-119; D = 100-109; Below a D =100
Exams & Assignments:
Tests will follow a multiple choice/essay format. The multiple choice items will give you
practice with an EPPP format and the essays will provide you with practice (in content)
with items that might appear on a comprehensive doctoral qualifying examination.
Tests will cover material presented in the lectures and in the readings. The final exam
will be cumulative; that is, it may include information across the entire semester. You
will not be graded on class attendance; however, lecture materials will be part of the
assessment process. In addition, part of your final paper grade is based on your class
presentation.
Make-up Exams and Papers
Make-up exams and paper extensions will be given only under extenuating circumstances
and arrangements must be made in advance. In fairness to individuals who turn their
papers in on time, late papers will lose 5 points for each overdue day.
Text:
Hothersall, D. (2004). History of Psychology (4th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Guthrie, R. V. (2004). Even the rat was white. Pearson Education, Boston, MA.
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Final Paper:
You will be assigned a topic that is germane to the “History of Psychology.” When you
receive your assigned topic, you will collect references (from the scientific literature)
related to that topic. Your final paper involves a critical review of selective trends in the
history of psychology as these relate to your assigned topic.
As part of this paper do the following:
1) Literature review:
a. Read the Hothersall text to learn about your topic and how it is presented
in a typical history of psychology text. You should then discuss potential
reasons as to why your topic is (or is not) an important issue in the
history of psychology.
b. Select three commonly used History and Systems texts (or professional
books that discuss the history of psychology. (for example you might
consult: Schultz, D. P. & Schultz, S. E. (2008). A History of modern
psychology, Wadsworth; ninth edition) to determine how the contents of
these common texts address the topic adequately. Adequacy means that
the many potential viewpoints of this topic are covered. If you do not
think that has been accomplished, then describe how (and why) you
think the topic has been approached in a biased or narrow way.
c. Use information from existing published journal articles (for example: the
APA journal “History of Psychology”) to obtain information and
viewpoints about your chosen topic as it fits within the history of
psychology. Don’t rely solely on the web or generic information sources
such as Wikipedia.
2) Synthesize the above information to create a paper that is no more than 10 wellwritten double-spaced pages in length (10 pages of text, not including title page,
figures, or references). Your paper should be organized to explicitly address the
following questions:
a. How has the “topic you have been assigned” influenced the field of
psychology?
b. How might this topic be treated when, in the future, a history of
psychology is written at the end of the 21st Century? (covering, for
example, the years from 1830 through 2100)
3) Grading of the paper will be based on:
a. How well the paper is organized.
b. How well you addressed the specific details of the assignment (e.g.,
addressed points #1 and #2 above).
c. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
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Course Topics and Timeline:
Date
Topic
Readings and Assignments
8/25
Hothersall: Chapter 1
9/15
Introduction: The foundation
of psychology in the ancient
world
The influence of Western
philosophy on psychology
Beginnings of the formalized
field of psychology: The
central nervous system and
structuralism
The German psychologists
9/22
Gestalt Psychology
Hothersall: Chapter 7
9/29
The profession of psychology:
Philosophies and theories of
practice
Hothersall: Chapter 8
10/6
Midterm Exam
9/1
9/8
10/14
10/20
Hothersall: Chapter 2
Guthrie, Chapter 1
Hothersall: Chapters 3 & 4
Guthrie, Chapter 2
Hothersall: Chapters 5 & 6
(Hothersall 1-8)
(Gurthrie 1 & 2)
FALL BREAK
Counseling & vocational
psychology
Discussion:
Article: Munley et al. (2004). Counseling psychology in the
United States of America (labeled Munley2004).
10/27
Evolution, genetics, eugenics,
functionalism & their impact
on psychology
Hothersall: Chapters 9 & 10
11/3
Intelligence testing
Hothersall: Chapter 11
Guthrie: Chapters 3 & 4
11/10
The origins of school
psychology I (intro)
Origins of School psychology
and its future II (class exercise)
Discussion: (read three references):
1. Cantor (2006). School psychology, National
Association of School Psychologists, NASP,
Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education,
University of Florida, Gainsville, FL.
2. Fagan, T. (2000). Practicing school psychology: A
turn-of-the-century perspective, American
Psychologist, 55, 754-757.
3. “A Brief History of School Psychology in the United
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States” in Best Practices in School Psychology – II
(see folder in www.ed.utah.edu/~bhill labeled:
Hothersall: Chapter 12
11/17
11/24
Behaviorsim, Neobehaviorism and cognitive
psychology
Hothersall: Chapter 13
The social justice movement
humanism, feminist &
multicultural psychology
Article: Furumoto & Scarborough (1986). Placing women in the
history of psychology: The first American women.
(labeled 199736747-045)
Prepare for presentation of final paper: Address questions
and develop presentation outline
Guthrie: Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8
12/1
Final Paper Presentations
No assignments
12/8
Final Paper Presentations
(Continued)
Final Exam Review
12/18
Friday
Final Exam
BUC – 203, Friday – following the regular exam schedule
format (FINAL PAPERS GRADED AND RETURNED)
(cumulative)
(Final paper is due)
The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and
activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class,
reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162
Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor
to make arrangements for accommodations. All written information in this course can
be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for
Disability Services.
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Representative List of References and Sources in the History of Psychology
 Ash, M. G. (1995). Gestalt psychology in German culture, 1890-1967.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
 Baker, D.B. (2002). Historical understanding and teaching in professional
psychology. History of Psychology, 5(3), 219-223.
 Buchanan, T. (2002). Historically grounding the practice of psychology:
Implications for professional training, History of Psychology, 5(3), 240-248.
 Cadwallader, T. C. (1974). Charles S. Peirce (1839-1914). The first American
experimental psychologist. Journal of the *History of the Behavioral Sciences,
10, 291-298.
 Danziger, K. (1997). Naming the mind: How psychology found its language.
London: Sage.
 Evans, R. B., Staudt Sexton, V., & Cadwallader, T. C. (Eds.) (1992). The
American Psychological Association: A historical perspective. Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
 Everson, S. (Ed.)(1991). Companions to Ancient thought 2: Psychology. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
 Green, C. D. & Groff, P. R. (2003). Early psychological thought: Ancient
accounts of mind and soul. Westport, CT: Praeger.
 Heidbredder, E. (1933). Seven psychologies. New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts.
 Jarzombek, M. (2000). The Psychologizing of Modernity Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
 Köhler, W. (1940). Dynamics in psychology. New York: Liveright.
 Kroker, K. (2003). The progress of instrospection in America, 1896-1938. Studies
in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 34, 77-108.
 Kusch, M. (1995). Recluse, interlocutor, interrogator: Natural and social order in
turn-of-the-century psychological research schools. Isis, 86, 419-439.
 Lorenz, W. (2007). Practising history: Memory and contemporary professional
practice. International Social Work, 50, 579-612.
 Lundblad, K.S. (1995). Jane Addams and social reform: A role model for the
1990s. Social Work, 40(5), 661-669.
 Paranjpe, A. C. (1998). Self and identity in modern psychology and Indian
thought. New York: Springer.
 Plas, R. (1997). French psychology. In W. G. Bringmann, H. E. Lück, R. Miller,
& C. E. Early (Eds.), A pictorial history of psychology (pp. 548-552). Chicago:
Quintessence.
 Rieber, R. W. & Robinson, D. K. (Eds.) (2001). Wilhelm Wundt in history: The
making of a scientific psychology. New York: Kluwer & Plenum.
 Robinson, T. M. (1995). Plato's psychology (2nd ed.). Toronto: University of
Toronto Press.
 Shapin, S. (1975). Phrenological knowledge and the social structure of early
nineteenth-century Edinburgh. Annals of Science, 32, 219-243.
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 Sokal, M. M. (2001). Practical phrenology as psychological counseling in the
19th-century United States. In C. D. Green, M. Shore, & T. Teo (Eds.), The
transformation of psychology: Influences of 19th-century philosophy, technology,
and natural science (pp. 21-44). Washington DC: American Psychological
Association.
 Starks S.L. & Braslow, J.T. (2005). The making of contemporary American
psychiatry, part 1: Patients, treatments, and therapeutic rationales before and after
World War II. History of Psychology, 8(2), 176-193.
 Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological
Review, 20, 158-177.
 Wertheimer, W. (1945). Productive thinking. London: Tavistock.
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Potential Research Paper Topics
1. The influence of the “Women’s Suffrage Movement” on the history of
psychology.
2. The influence of “slavery” on the history of psychology.
3. The influence of the “Roe v Wade” on the history of psychology.
4. The influence of the “Rorschach” on the history of psychology.
5. The influence of the “termanites” on the history of psychology.
6. The impact of the “Great Depression (1929-1930s)” on the history of
psychology.
7. The impact of the “Vietnam War” on the history of psychology.
8. The influence of the study of “human sexuality” on the history of psychology.
9. The influence of “optical illusions” on the history of psychology.
10. The influence of the “Cognitive Behavior Therapy” on the history of
psychology.
11. The influence of “Counseling Psychology” on the history of psychology.
12. The influence of “School Psychology” on the history of psychology.
13. The influence of “schizophrenia” on the history of psychology.
14. The influence of “Eastern Philosophies (e.g., Buddhism; Zen)” on the history
of psychology.
15. The influence of the statistical term “the bell curve” on the history of
psychology.
16. The influence of “mind-body dualism” on the history of psychology.
17. The influence of “dreams” on the history of psychology.
18. The influence of the concept of “deception” on the history of psychology.
19. The influence of the discovery of “electricity” on the history of psychology.
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20. The influence of “chimpanzees” on the history of psychology.
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