Evolution Comes to America c. 1900• American Psychology: More Darwin and Galton

than Wundt and Titchener• Distinctive social, economic, and political character• Land Grant Colleges

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)and Social Darwinism

• English philosopher who took America by storm

– Leaders in business, science, politics, and religion viewed him as a redeemer

– Darwin called him “our philosopher.”

Social Darwinism: The application of the Theory of Evolution to society

– Spencer stretched Darwin’s theory significantly

– Evolutionary development of all aspects of universe

– Principle of “survival of the fittest”

• Spencer coined the phrase!!!

– Utopian view: human perfection inevitable if nothing interferes with the natural order

– Individuals and institutions that fail to adapt should be allowed to perish

– U.S. was the living example

– Functional psychology and theory of evolution well-suited to the American temperament

– Consequence: Spencer’s views permeated every learning area

Social Darwinism

Eugenics in US and Europe

• American eugenecist Madison Grant proposed “Nordic Theory” wrote The Passing of the Great Race in 1916.

• U.S. Supreme Court decision Buck vs. Bell (1927) ruled that the “feebleminded” could be sterilized against their will.

We were Hitler’s model society!!

• “In North America, where the population is prevalently Teutonic, and where those elements intermingled with the inferior race only to a very small degree, we have a quality of mankind and a civilization which are different from those of Central and South America.” – Mein Kampf, 1924

From Darwin to Hitlerby Richard Weikart

• Pre-Darwin and concurrent with social Darwinism, there was a movement in Europe to break from Judeo-Christian tradition. It seems that Darwin gave many of these movements the foundation they were desperately seeking.

• Is this accurate?• RW: Yes, many materialists were jubilant when

Darwin published his theory and immediately jumped on the Darwinist bandwagon. They used Darwinism as a club against their religious opponents. Karl Marx, for example, stated that Darwin provided the natural-historical foundation for his views.

Evolution of Machines• Anticipated complexity of 1890 U.S. Census

– 1880 census: 1,500 clerks took seven years to hand-tally data reported in 21,000 page document

– (1859-1929) invented punched card processor

Henry Hollerith’s System• 1890 Census

– Machines counted holes and tabulated results

– 62 million participated

– Card capacity: 36 eight-bit bytes of information

– Census completed in two years

– Cost savings: $5 million

– Can machines substitute for human cognitive function?

– Hollerith sold the Company in 1911

Questions

1. Why are you taking a psychology class?

2. Awake under anesthesia.

3. What do drugs tell us about emotion?

William James (1842-1910): Anticipator of

Functional PsychologyGeneral paradox

– Pioneer of new scientific psychology in the United States

– Another physician-turned-psychologist

William JamesVery wealthy all his life

– Liberal upbringing and education– Extensive travel– Harvard-trained physician– Nervous breakdown/depression 1869– Mind-altering drugs– Encountered the work of Helmholtz

and Wundt – Decided to try Psychology

– Back to Harvard in 1872

Neurasthenia Epidemic

Described by George Beard (1860s)– A disease if the rich and educated

– Insomnia, hypochondria, headache, rash, exhaustion, and “brain collapse”

– Rexall: Americanitis Elixr

– Treatment• Women: Six weeks of rest and food• Men: Travel and exercise

William JamesJames at Harvard

– Professor of Physiology (1872)

– Promoted to Philosophy (1885)

– “Promoted” to Psychology (1889)• He knew Wundt, but didn’t like him• Established Harvard’s Lab, but hated

lab work

– Finished Principles of Psychology in (1890)• Wundt didn’t like it…neither did James

What James Started– Rebelled against artificiality and

narrowness of the Wundtian position– Introspection does not show elements

exist independently of the observer: to think otherwise is the psychologists’ fallacy

– Simple sensations do not exist in consciousness experience; they are inferred

– Mental life is a unity

James’ Philosophy

Core Philosophy: Pluralism (as opposed to monism)• Deep respect for the individual and individual

experience

• He saw forces of Industry, Government and the military as inappropriate – You can’t expect all individuals to fit a common plan

• Promoted Multiple Levels of Analysis

James’ Philosophy

Core Philosophy - Pluralism• Psychology should be studied on all

levels – molecular, biological, psychological, sociological, and philosophical

• All things can not be subsumed under any one rubric

James’ PhilosophyPragmatism and Radical Empiricism• Pragmatism: Concepts must be

judged on their “cash value.” The only theories, opinions, religions, that are true are those that demonstrate a clear benefit.

• Radical Empiricism: All monistic conceptions are only hypotheses and we must find a place for everything that is a genuine part of experience

James’ PsychologyInstincts

Appeared only to develop and remain if an appropriate stimulus was present • Spalding (1873) The Wizard of the chicks!• Demonstrated the critical period – later

implications for education

Instincts get us through the first days of life (sucking, clasping, crying) and become less important through life

James’ PsychologyHabits

– Explains much of human behavior

– Physical basis of habit• Sprained ankle is most likely point of future injury

• Nervous system pathways form like ruts in a road

– Humans are programmed to develop habits; They keep us moving.

– Explains difficulty in breaking them

– Intended changes should enlist the support of others

James’ Psychology

Emotions– The experience of emotion is the experience of

the body

– James-Lange theory of emotion• Emotion is a result of the physical state of the body

and cognitive processes

– The first to suggest that emotion and cognitive processes are inseparable

James’ Psychology

Self – Which is the real you?1. The material self is comprised of what we

physically own, including our body, clothing, and other possessions.

2. The social self is a plurality of selves for different social situations.

3. Finally, the spiritual self is a personal, subjective, and intimate self that sits in judgment of the other selves and can be a source of effort or will.

James’ Psychology

• Self– Spiritual self is similar to what Freud would

later call the superego.– James argued that conflicts among the selves

could lead to tension– Self Esteem = (Success/Pretensions)

James’ PsychologyStream of Thought: There are no elementary

sensations.1. All thoughts are your own (what about dissociative

disorders?)2. Thought is continuous and always changing (but

requires consciousness)A thunder clap is not discrete

4. Thought conveys a sense of realityHuman thought only understands itself

5. Selectivity, choice and shifting interests are the natural state of thought

James’ PsychologyMemory

– Hailed Ebbinghaus: different individuals had different gifts for visual, tactile, auditory, and verbal memory (100 years before Gardner!)

– Demonstrated that memory was not necessarily facilitated by effort• Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

– Debunked the prevailing Doctrine of Formal Discipline: Memorizing one thing will make you better at memorizing an unrelated subject

– The Principles of Psychology (1890)• Goal of psychology: study of people as they

adapt• Function of consciousness: survival• Treats psychology as a biological science• Intellect operates under physiological influences

of the body• Beliefs are determined by emotional factors• Reason and concept formation affected by human

wants and needs

James’ Impact on Functionalism

Attitudes of Male Superiority 1880s-1890s– Derivative of Variability Hypothesis based on

Darwinian ideas– Hypothesis: “males show a wider range and variation

of physical and mental development than females.”– Therefore women are:

• Less likely to benefit from education• Less likely to achieve intellectually• Had less evolved brains than men• Showed a smaller range of talents than men• Inferior to men physically and mentally

– Common acceptance of inequality between sexes

Women in Functional Psychology• Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)

– Completed an informal doctoral program at Harvard with James

– Denied her Ph.D. – Defined psychology as the science of

the conscious self. (Personalism)– Developed the paired-associate method

to study retention– Conducted one of the first formal

studies of dreaming. “We dream every night.”

Mary Whiton Calkins– 1st woman president of APA– 1906: ranked 12th among 50 most

important psychologists– Freud cited her work on sleep

and dreams– Awarded honorary degree from

Columbia University– Men: Psychology’s Past– Women: Psychology’s Future

Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886-1939)

• Ph.D. from Columbia (1916) under Thorndike

• Measured newborns and empirically challenged the variability hypothesis, the belief that men are in all ways more variable than women

• Demonstrated that the abilities of women are not affected by the menstrual cycle (periodic function)

Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886-1939)

• Social and cultural attitudes, not biology, responsible for keeping women behind men in contributions

• Significant contributions to clinical, educational and school psychology

• Noted for work with “gifted children” (coined term)

• Never able to receive grant support for her research

• Active in woman’s suffrage and rights movements

The Founding of Functionalism

• Formalized by Titchener– 1898: “postulates of a structural psychology”

• Used “structural” as distinct from “functional”• Argued structuralism the only proper study for

psychology

The Chicago School• Chicago Philosophy Club (1896)

– Saw themselves as pragmatic philosophers

The Chicago School• John Dewey (1859-1952)

– Criticized reductionistic approaches– Experience must be understood in a

naturalistic context. – The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology

• Behavior and experience cannot be separated

• Reflex is a circle, not an arc• Experience changes future behavior

– Consciousness serves to modify reflexes– Apply to Democracy, Economics,

Schools

John Dewey• Evolution

– Consciousness should be studied in a natural environment, not dissected

– Consciousness and behavior work together for the organism’s survival

– Consciousness as a mechanism of survival

John Dewey• Education

– Columbia University (1904-1952)• Focused on education

– We learn by doing and then reflecting

– Educational processes should be open and democratic. Learning by rote promotes totalitarianism

– Democracy will flourish in society if it is applied in education

The Chicago School• James Rowland Angell (1869-1949)

– Educated at U. of Halle in Germany• Wundt’s lab was full• Ph.D. in German was never quite

finished (ABD)– Argued that a functional approach

must include social and biological context and clearly defined Functionalism

– Advocated the study of the contributions of mental events to our adjustment to the world

James Rowland Angell (1869-1949)

“Functional Psychology is not new! but has been the core of psychology from the earliest times.”

The Structuralists are the oddballs!

Retired to the Presidency of Yale University; Helped develop the institute of human relations

Functionalism in Sum

• Did not last in any organized fashion– Seems vague– Thinkers appear only loosely connected– Researchers focused more on applied than basic

research questions– Eclecticism makes it difficult for historians to

develop a clear statement of functionalism.

• Current psychology in America, however, may be regarded as functionalist in its problem-focused eclecticism and its applied nature.