Dr. Nancy Alvarado

Score
43-55
38-42
33-37
28-32
0-27
Grade
A
B
C
D
F
N
8
9
13
8
2
Highest score = 48 (used to set curve)

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Functionalists were the first major non-German school of psychology.
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They were interested in studying the functions of the mind and the adaptive value of consciousness.
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These concerns were a product of the intellectual climate of the 19 th century, dominated by Darwin’s theory of evolution.
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Their work was later extended by the American functionalists at the Univ. of Chicago and Columbia.

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Darwin was born to a wealthy family with interests in medicine and natural science.
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The pivotal experience of his life was his 5-year voyage on the Royal Navy survey ship, the H.M.S.
Beagle, where he collected specimens.

He first left med school & got a “poor” (third-class) degree in religion.

He was initially seeking confirmation of the Biblical account of creation, but his experiences changed his mind.

At each stop, Darwin travelled extensively inland.

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Darwin’s findings raised many questions:
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Why had God created so many different species?
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Why had God allowed giant armadillos (found as fossils) to become extinct but not the smaller armadillos?
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Why had God allowed some species to become totally extinct?
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How would there have been room on the ark for the giant fossils?
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How could the earth have been created in 4004 BC when the age of the fossils was much older?

The Galapagos Islands are part of the country of
Ecuador.

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Tortoises from islands just 50-60 miles apart had clearly different shells.
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On one island, finches had strong thick beaks to crack nuts and seeds, while on another island they had smaller beaks and fed on insects.
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On a third island they had beaks better suited for eating fruit, berries & flowers.
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Darwin wondered how such differences had developed – perhaps species are not fixed but are able to adapt and change over generations.

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Darwin’s eventual theory was influenced by writings of several theorists before him:

Darwin read Quetelet’s summary of Malthus’s view of population growth – Malthus predicted an increasingly severe struggle for existence due to lack of food.
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“It at once struck me that, under these circumstances, favorable variations would tend to be preserved and unfavorable ones destroyed” Darwin wrote.

He called this idea “Natural selection” or “Survival of the Fittest.” (1859) He delayed publication for 20 yrs.


First Darwin published his journal “The Voyage of the Beagle” which was very popular.

In 1858, he became aware of Wallace’s theory of natural selection, and agreed to present both his and Wallace’s theory jointly to the Linnean Society.
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There was little reaction.

In 1859, he published his “Origin of the Species,” which sold out immediately.

His theory was hotly debated (see famous Oxford
Wilberforce/Huxley debate on pg 308 of text).

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Do we share behavioral, emotional and cognitive characteristics with other species?

In “The Descent of Man,” Darwin argued that “there is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties.” (1871)

Morgan’s canon : “In no case may we interpret an action as the outcome of the exercise of a higher psychical faculty if it can be interpreted as the outcome of the exercise of one which stands lower in the psychological scale.”

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Darwin suggested no genetic mechanism for evolutionary change.
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Lamarck proposed that acquired characteristics can be inherited by offspring, speeding up change.
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Gregor Mendel demonstrated inheritance of physical characteristics in plants and laid the foundation for modern genetics.
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This was the mechanism for evolution.

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“The Expression of the Emotions in Man & Animals.”
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Darwin studied facial expressions, anticipating later research by Paul Ekman.

Darwin kept detailed records on the growth of his son, Erasmus, and published them in “A Biographical
Sketch of an Infant” in Mind, 1877.

His methods were repeated by Jane Goodall, Piaget, and B.F. Skinner.

Dar win’s theory raised questions about the adaptive value of consciousness and mind & survival


Galton was one of the last amateur scientists, with eclectic interests:
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Meteorologist, experimented with stereoscopic photos, studied fingerprints, invented an early teletype.
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Anthropologist and explorer (sought source of the
Nile).

Galton was impressed by how well people he met had adapted to their harsh desert environment (Kalahari).

He published “Art of Travel.”

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Galton was interested in measuring things:
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Whenever you can, count.” Fidgets per minute in kids, middle-aged and elderly. “Beauty map” of Britain.

In 1884 he established an anthropometric
laboratory to collect data on individual differences.
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Psychometrics – measurement of mental powers.
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Visual & auditory reaction times, highest audible tone.
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He published a method for quantifying correlation later derived mathematically by Karl Pearson (r).
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He used questionnaires, associations & tests of imagery.

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In “Hereditary Genius” he discussed the relative contributions of environment & genetics to ability.
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“I propose to show in this book that a man’s natural abilities are derived by inheritance under exactly the same limitations as are the form and physical features of the whole organic world.”
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He proposed that abilities were on the same continuum as other physical traits – Quetelet’s law of deviation from the average (like the normal curve).
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Quetelet & Galton established the “normal man”.

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Galton developed the following terms:
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Median, bell-shaped curve, correlation, dispersion, interquartile range, regression, percentile.
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Galton’s student Pearson introduced:
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Histogram, kurtosis, random sampling, random walk, skewness, standard deviation, variance.
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Formula for the correlation coefficient, Pearson’s r.
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The concept of dealing with individual differences in a probabilistic way – the characteristics of a population are regular, even if people are not.

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Galton argued that because talent seemed to concentrate in eminent families (Hereditary Genius), individuals must be inheriting such abilities.
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He introduced the terms nature vs nurture into the debate and the idea of twin studies, see pg 322.

Candolle criticized this idea, cataloging the favorable circumstances in eminent families.
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In response, Galton wrote:
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“English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture.”

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Galton was fascinated by the idea of human improvement via genetic control, which he called
Eugenics .
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He proposed voluntary means of improvement.

Eugenics societies and idea were widespread after
WWI – G.B. Shaw & Isadora Duncan (his brain…).
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Abuses were justified in the name of eugenics, including forced sterilization and restrictive immigration in the US.

With the rise of the Nazis, these were implemented as
Hitler’s “final solution to the Jewish question.”


In 1872, Galton published “Statistical Inquiries into the Efficacy of Prayer.”
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He advocated for the use of control groups in statistical comparisons.
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Are prayers beneficial? Royalty have shorter lifespans.

There is no evidence that missionary voyages are safer.

In his “Inquiry into Human Faculties and
Development,” the chapters on prayer were omitted from future editions due to controversy.


Cattell was one of the first students to get a Ph.D. with Wundt, then he was appointed to Cambridge.

He was strongly influenced by Galton, and like
Galton measured everything he could about himself.

In 1888, Cattell founded a lab at the University of
Pennsylvania using Galtonian measures with students but moved to Columbia College in 1891.

He discussed 10 mental tests in “Mental Tests and
Measurements,” published in Mind – The Freshman
Test.


The 10 tests included:

Dynamometer pressure, Rate of Movement, Sensation-
Areas, Pressure causing Pain, Least Noticeable
Difference in Weight, Reaction-Time for Sound, Time for
Naming Colours, Bi-Section of a 50-cm. Line, Judgment of 10 Seconds Time, Number of Letters Remembered on
One hearing.

Wissler found no correlation between the tests.

These tests were abandoned in favor of better mental measurements (see Chapter 11).

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Experimental research on judgments of relative rank, such as shades of gray rank ordered on brightness.

Leading psychologists ranked those in their profession.
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Backgrounds of famous scientists – a person had the best chance if their father were clergy or professor.

His famous students were: Thorndike, Woodworth,
Strong (vocational test).
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Published Science (AAAS). Founding member of
APA. His company developed WAIS, WISC, TAT.


In early 20 th century, America’s foremost psychologist. First on everyone’s list (Cattell).
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As a young man, James floated directionless, rejecting chemistry, natural science, dabbling in medicine, until finally discovering psychology.

He visited Fechner, Helmholtz,Wundt & DuBois-
Reymond.
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He finally graduated in medicine. He was offered a job at Harvard teaching physiology & anatomy.

He contemplated suicide at age 28.

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In 1874, James taught his first class on physiology and psychology (making it up as he went along).
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In 1882, he took a leave of absence to visit
European psychologists again.
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In 1890, he published Principles of Psychology which became an instant classic.

Theodore Roosevelt was a famous student of James.
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After the success of his book, he withdrew from experimental research -- not worth the effort.

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
Available as an ebook that can be read on the web: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/j/james/william/principles/complete.html


He became increasingly interested in mind-body relationships and psychical phenomena.

Psychosomatic illness led to interest in “mind cures.”
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He studied automatic writing, telepathy, clairvoyance, fortune-tellers, religious experience (energy flow).
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He wrote “ Pragmatism ” expressing a practical philosophy – pragmatic criteria for judging truth.

All beliefs are judged by their consequences in action.

If a belief in God works, it is a pragmatic truth for that person.

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He opposed the Wundt-Titchener approach.

He proposed an analytical approach that studies the functions of consciousness & its characteristics.
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Consciousness is adaptive – lets us adjust to environment
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Also, personal, ever-changing (a stream), selective.
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James-Lange theory of emotion – the perception of changes in the nervous system constitute emotion.
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Cannon criticized this view
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Habits are formed by nurture early in life.

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James said the strength of a memory depends on the quality of the structure of the brain, an innate characteristic not influenced by experience.
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Systematically linking facts together might improve memory.
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This contradicted the dominant view, formal discipline, that said a general intellectual faculty could be developed via exercise.
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Memorizing poems (Victor Hugo’s Satyr and Milton’s
Paradise Lost), he demonstrated interference.

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A contemporary of James, Hall grew up in a farm family of Puritan heritage.
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At age 16, he worked as a village school teacher.
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Later, he attended Williams college and Union
Theological Seminary in NYC.
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In 1869, he went to Europe, then returned & finished seminary and taught at Antioch College.

He ultimately did his Ph.D at Harvard, then went back to Europe to study in Wundt’s lab.


Hall lectured on the German psychologists at
Harvard and Johns Hopkins which led to a job there

The president of Johns Hopkins created fellowships for grad students which attracted excellent students.

Hall founded a great psychology dept and The
American Journal of Psychology.
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Hall was the founding president of Clark University.

Lots of problems, including being raided by Univ of
Chicago (2/3 of faculty & 70% grad students left).

Hall helped found the APA in 1892 & was president


In 1883, Hall developed questionniares for Boston kindergarten children to assess the content of their minds – how children think.
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He was the first psychologist to describe adolescence as a separate stage.
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He stressed the importance of genetics & evolution.

He developed a recapitulation theory (embryological development recapitulates evolutionary development).
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As he grew older he became interested in aging.


Hall felt that adolescent “storm & stress” was largely biological, mediated by family & culture.

Mead disagreed, using a 1928 ethnography of
Samoa to depict adolescents as free of turmoil.

Freeman (1983) criticized Mead’s book, claiming that she had diminished “the aggression, violence, and rivalry of Samoan life and exaggerated thedegree of sexual freedom.”

Orans (1996) supported Freeman, not Mead.

Although flawed, her book is still the most widely read book in anthropology.


Hall organized the first opportunity for Americans to meet Freud.

Freud gave 5 lectures, Jung gave 3 lectures – both received honorary degrees.

The lectures were published, bringing them to a wider audience.