Psych 397 Chapter 12

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James Rowland Angell (1869-1949)

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A powerful advocate of the functionalist viewpoint in US psychology. He argued that psychology should emphasize mental operations rather than the "stuff of experience". His book Psychology and his classic article The Province of Functional Psychology are important expositions of functionalism.

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Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)

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First woman president of the American Psychological Association, who argued for a reconciliation of structuralism and functionalism. Advanced a personalistic psychology in which the self is the primary focus of study.

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Harvey A. Carr (1873-1954)

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The 35th president of the American Psychological Association, Carr helped consolidate and amplify the functionalist viewpoint in psychology. At the University of Chicago, he headed a powerful department of psychology that was one of the most prolific in PhD production.

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James McKeen Cattell (1860-1944)

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A prominent leader in the US functionialist tradition. Though he published little, he established a laboratory at Columbia University and headed a strong department in that institution. Cattell served as editor of numerous journals and magazines, including Science, Popular Science Monthly, Psychological Review, and School and Society. Through his efforts, psychology became more visible in the public consciousness and in the scientific community. He also advanced the cause of applied psychology, most notably by founding the Psychological Corporation.

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John Dewey (1859-1952)

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US psychologist and philosopher and a key pioneer in the functionalist school of thought. Dewey argued for a process-oriented psychology emphasizing the study of adaptation. He argued against the concept of elements, whether they be units in consciousness or in the reflex.

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Functional Autonomy

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Refers to the idea that the means for satisfying a motive may acquire drive properties. Thus, one might hunt to satisfy hunger, but later hunting acquires drive properties of its own and one now hunts for "sport".

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Functionalism

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A loosely knit system of psychology having its origin in the work of US scholars such as William James, John Dewey and G. Stanley Hall. Functionalism emphasized a broad-based methodology applied to basic and applied problems associated with experience and behaviour.

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Granville Stanley Hall (1844-1924)

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Pioneer US psychologist and founder and first president of the American Psychological Association. Hall was awarded the first doctorate in psychology, founded several journals, and served as president of Clark University. One of the first developmental psychologists, Hall was the author of classic books such as Adolescence and Senescence.

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Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886-1939)

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Psychologist and educator who was one of the first to subject gender differences to rigorous experimental scrutiny. Her work exposed several 19th century myths regarding the intellectual status of women. She is also remembered for pioneering studies on gifted children.

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William James (1842-1910)

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US psychologist and philosopher who was the author of several classics in both fields. Jame's two-volume The Principles of Psychology is one of the most influential books in the field. His The Varieties of Religious Experience and Talks to Teachers are pioneering efforts in the psychology of religion and educational psychology. His philosophical pluralism, pragmatism and radical empiricism are still deeply imprinted in US psychology and philosophy.

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James-Lange Theory of Emotion

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A theory of emotion advanced independently by William James and Carl Lange. The theory emphasizes the somatic substrate of emotional experiences and argues that the experience of emotion is the experience of the activity of the body. Thus the famous statement: We see a bear, we run, and we are afraid. James's later vision of emotion emphasizes constitutional determinants and the impossibility of separating cognition and emotion.

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Carl Georg Lange (1834-1900)

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Danish physiologist remembered for a theory of emotion comparable to one proposed by William James and subsequently known as the James-Lange theory.

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Material Self

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In James's theory, the material self is the body, friends and possessions such as clothing, house and automobile.

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Hugo Munsterberg (1863-1916)

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German American psychologist and a pioneer in applied psychology with his research on forensic, clinical and industrial psychology.

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Pluralism

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A philosophical position that emphasizes the importance of alternative perspectives (methodological pluralism) and the existence of many realities (metaphysical pluralism).

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Pragmatism

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A US philosophical movement associated with the work of Charles S. Pierce and William James. According to pragmatism, concepts must be judged in terms of their cash value or the practical work they do in the world. Thus, truth is judged by the utility and the practical consequences achieved by an idea.

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Primary Memory

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According to William James, primary memory is memory associated with nerve vibrations that have not yet ceased. It is memory associated with the specious present, what is immediately held in consciousness, and somewhat akin to an afterimage.

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Radical Empiricism

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The name William James employed to characterize his larger philosophic vision. Radical empiricism emphasizes the primacy of experience and argues that things genuinely encountered in experience must not be excluded from philosophical and scientific inquiry. Radical empiricism treats various monisms as hypotheses.

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Secondary Memory

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In James's psychology, secondary memory is memory proper or memory of past events that are not in present consciousness.

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Self-esteem

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A topic explored by William James and discussed in his work as a function of the ratio of success to pretensions.

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Social Self

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In James's view, a dimension of selfhood born in various social contexts. Thus, the self in the presence of a parent may be different in some respects than the self in the presence of a friend.

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Spiritual Self

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In James's view, the self that is "the home of interest" or that sits in judgement of other selves. The spiritual self, for James, is also the source of effortful striving.

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Stream of Thought

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A concept advanced by William James that illustrates his view that consciousness is not composed of static elements. According to James, even a strong stimulus, such as a clap of thunder, is not pure; rather, it is "thunder-breaking-upon-silence-and-constrasting-with-it". James regarded consciousness as ever changing; each successive thought, even of the same object, changes by some degree.

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Francis Sumner (1895-1954)

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A pioneer in the study of black psychology and the first African American to earn a doctorate in psychology in the US.

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Variability Hypothesis

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A commonly held 19th century belief that, in all things physical and mental, men are more variable than women. The research of Leta Stetter Hollingworth effectively dismantled the variability hypothesis.

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Robert Sessions Woodworth (1869-1962)

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A pioneer psychologist in the functionalist tradition who greatly extended the domain of experimental psychology. Woodworth was one of the first US psychologists to emphasize the centrality of motivation. His text Experimental Psychology may be the most important classic in the field.

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Helen Wooley (1874-1947)

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American psychologist who emphasized practical social problems in her research on educational psychology.