00. Intro: Studying the History of Psychology Flashcards
midterm 1
history helps us appreciate the…
reflexive nature of the field
what is reflexivity:
the human ability to become aware of, and reflect upon, one’s own activities
historiography
term of theory, history, methods, and assumptions of writing history
internalism
focus on internal factors when writing history
externalism
focus on external factors when writing history
great man approach
histories that focus on the contributions of eminent people whose ideas have shaped the field
zeitgeist approach
histories that take into account how the “spirit of the times” may affect the ability of a certain person to take hold and become significant
presentism
histories that view their subject from the standpoint of the PRESENT
explains today’s circumstances by emphasizing that because our predecessors overcame mistaken assumptions, we progressed to the present state of knowledge.
historicism
attempts to recreate the past as it was actually experienced by predecessors, without distortion by foreknowledge of how things later worked out
sophisticated presentism
position of historians who argue that you can’t escape the horizon of the present when writing history
historical study is motivated by a desire to better understand current issues
new history psychology
AKA critical history of psychology
more contextual and historicist than traditional histories
use archival and primary documents to check accuracy of anecdotes
origin myth process
process by which anecdotes and accounts are passed from one textbook generation to the next, often resulting in information that is not correct
continuity-discontinuity debate
the debate on whether psychological concepts have had more/less stable meanings and have been continuously developed over time
or are fairly modern and have specific contemporary meanings but also have identifiable precursors
or are completely new creations
