An Introduction to the History of Psychology, 7th Edition

Book Preface

As with the first six editions of An Introduction to the History of Psychology, the primary purpose of the seventh edition is to provide students with a com
prehensive overview of the history of psychology. It is our belief that to fully understand the concerns of contemporary psychologists one must know the origins of their research questions, the roots of the theories those questions emerge from, and the evolution of the methods used to answer them.
A new edition always includes updating the scholarly citations throughout the book. Likewise, the images and illustrations were upgraded. Without altering the material covered or the narrative flow, the text was “tightened up,” resulting in a reduction of a few pages in most chapters. Specific changes made in this edition include the following:

â–  Chapter 1: The use of Kuhn for understanding the history of psychology is further considered; several theoretical issues that may be difficult for some students are now illustrated with more concrete examples.

â–  Chapter 2: Theory of Mind is introduced to students; the pivotal transition from mythos to logos in the Ancient world is now referenced throughout the chapter.

■ Chapter 3: Coverage of Roman life and philosophy is expanded, including coverage of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations; the importance of early Christian scholars such as St. Jerome and St. Augustine is re-framed; the transition from the Roman world to the Middle Age is more fully outlined; the supposed anti-intellectualism of the medieval era is clarified; a brief discussion of later medieval science is now included.

■ Chapter 4: The importance of printing for timely progress in science and philosophy is further underscored; the mention of Machiavelli and other renaissance notables is expanded; Bacon’s idols are illustrated with psychological examples.

■ Chapter 5: The mention of the Garcia effect is linked to John Garcia; coverage of Bentham and Utilitarianism is expanded; more examples of French sensationalism are provided; the meaning of “positivism” is clarified for students.

■ Chapter 6: Differences between empiricism and rationalism are illustrated with the “top down” versus “bottom up” metaphor; Leibniz’s anticipation of modern computing is noted; the coverage of monadology is simplified; influences of the Scottish School are added; Kant’s ideas are grounded in concrete examples and connected to Gestalt and Gibsonian psychology; Hegel’s dialectic and his use of “spirit” are further clarified; Herbart is moved to the chapter’s end, and is used to discuss the transition from philosophy to psychology.

â–  Chapter 7: Both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are more explicitly connected with subsequent developments in psychology.

■ Chapter 8: A brief consideration of early women in science and academia is added to the introduction of Christine Ladd-Franklin; Sheldon’s work on body type is now mentioned; the story of Phineas Gage is added; the origins of early electrophysiology are expanded.

■ Chapter 9: More details in the Clever Hans story and Husserl’s biography are provided; connections with the Würzburgers and Ebbinghaus to modern cognitive psychology are noted; coverage of G. E. Müller is now included.

■ Chapter 10: The significance of Herbert Spencer is highlighted; more depth is given to characters in Darwin’s orbit—such as FitzRoy, Huxley, and Wallace; Mendel’s contributions in genetics are noted; the Zeitgeist of Darwin and Galton is better illustrated; Galton’s connection to eugenics and modern statistics is expanded; the distinction between idiographic and nomothetic is introduced; the legacy of Spearman, Burt, and Terman is updated; the chapter now ends with a section on modern IQ testing (Wechsler) and psychometric contributions.

■ Chapter 11: Early interest in psychology and religion is noted; more on the actual students of James and Hall is included; there is a substantial reorganization of the Hall section; several additional women involved in early U.S. psychology are now mentioned; additional coverage of functionalism’s use of comparative psychology is provided; the positive contributions of James Mark Baldwin are now covered.

■ Chapter 12: Additional examples of classical conditioning are provided; coverage of Luria and Vygotsky now concludes the “Russian” section; several aspects of Watson’s fascinating biography are added; Rhine’s parapsychology and Kuo’s contributions are now covered in the McDougall section.

■ Chapter 13: Positivism is more explicitly linked with psychology; the order of presentation is changed, beginning now with Guthrie (to connect with anticipation of artificial intelligence and his many influential students are noted; Skinner’s time at Indiana as well as a sample of his specific contributions are more fully covered; key concepts from Skinner and Tolman are illustrated with new examples.

■ Chapter 14: Biographical details are added to Koffka and a connection to Gibson is made; the Gestaltists transition to America is discussed; field theory, Prägnanz, and the connection to phenomenology are clarified; new perceptual examples are provided; the impact of the Gestaltists on modern psychology is covered in greater detail.

â–  Chapter 15: The discussions of witches, hypnotism, and the early biological explanations of abnormality are updated.

■ Chapters 16 and 17: These chapters are now combined. The influence of Hegel and Nietzsche on Freud is better explained; Freud’s use of sexual metaphors is discussed; although the material on Freud is reduced, his substantial influence on psychology is made more clear; Erikson and other developmental matters are expanded; the relationship between Freud and subsequent figures such as Jung and Adler is considered more explicitly; Adler’s interest in birth order is noted.

â–  Chapter 17: This chapter now covers Humanistic Psychology. Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, and Camus are now discussed as influences; Jaspers, Frankl, and Boss are discussed as German examples; Buber, Becker, Rotter, and Rychlak are now mentioned; the end matter on comparisons and criticisms is simplified.

â–  Chapter 18: This chapter now covers Psychobiology. Nobel Prize winners are discussed; additional collaborators and students of Lashley are covered; antecedents to Sperry are noted; the heading of behavioral genetics is replaced with a more individualized consideration of ethology, sociobiology, and evolutionary psychology; Chomsky is moved to the cognitive chapter; the end of the chapter now introduces students to more accessible modern neuroscientists.

■ Chapter 19: This chapter now covers Cognitive Psychology. The start of the chapter remains roughly chronological, although material about people— such as George Miller—is placed together; additional details are added on Bartlett, Piaget, cybernetics, and Bruner; concurrent developments in neuroscience and to behaviorism are noted, and concurrent developments in social psychology are added; the coverage of Neisser and the classic research areas of cognitive psychology is enhanced; the discussion of artificial intelligence is improved and the coverage of connectionism greatly simplified.

■ Chapter 20: This chapter now covers Contemporary Psychology. Material about the APA and related organizations is updated and streamlined; more on the history of applied psychology is included; Cronbach’s extension of Snow’s Two Cultures is noted; the Wittgenstein section is expanded and Ryle is introduced.

Brief Contents

Chapter1Introduction 1
Chapter2Ancient Greece 27
Chapter3Rome and the Middle Ages 62
Chapter4Renaissance Science and Philosophy 92 Chapter5Empiricism, Sensationalism, and Positivism 122 Chapter6Rationalism 168
Chapter7Romanticism and Existentialism 195
Chapter8Physiology and Psychophysics 219
Chapter9Early Approaches to Psychology 248
Chapter10Evolution and Individual Differences 279 Chapter11American Psychology and Functionalism 320 Chapter12Behaviorism 368
Chapter13Neobehaviorism 405
Chapter14Gestalt Psychology 437
Chapter15Early Considerations of Mental Illness 465 Chapter16Psychoanalysis 491
Chapter17Humanistic (Third-Force) Psychology 533 Chapter18Psychobiology 567
Chapter19Cognitive Psychology 585
Chapter20Psychology Today 609