Chapter 1 - Introduction

Question 1

Old Psychology

Answer 1

Presentist, internal, personalistic
Glorified
Focus on breakthroughs/events/people
Ignored the not-so-good aspects

Question 2

New Psychology

Answer 2

Historicist, external, naturalist

Question 3

Why study history of psy? (Lecture)

Answer 3

Not repeat past mistakes
Retest old concepts
Recognize where current ideas come from
Understand old one perspective approach
Gives future direction
Keeps us humble (psy is always changing)

Question 4

Concerns with history of psy?

Answer 4

Where are sources coming from?
Must consider perspectives and biases
Inconsistencies between textbooks
Looking at history but knowing result

Question 5

What was Furumoto’s contribution to history of psy? When?

Answer 5

Distinguished between old and new history of psychology

Question 6

Presentism

Answer 6

Seeing/interpreting past in terms of today’s knowledge

Question 7

Historicism

Answer 7

Interpreting info from time when event occurred
Consider ideas/values/context of event
Reduces bias

Question 8

Internal

Answer 8

Looking at history only through a psychology perspective
Don’t consider any non-psychology people/events/characters
Inward looking and narrow perspective

Question 9

External

Answer 9

Considering multidisciplinary contributions

Exclusively external can lead to inadequate understanding

Question 10

Personalistic

Answer 10

Great Man Theory
Looking at history as though individuals were amazing or solely responsible
More exciting/encouraging
Intuitively appealing, reduces complexity
But not accurate
Leads to eponyms

Question 11

Why study history? (textbook)

Answer 11

“Mistakes” argument is simplistic
We use history as a rough guide for future
Helps us understand present and how it came to be
Puts current events into perspective

Question 12

How does psychology keep us humble?

Answer 12

1. Prevents illusion that we know a lot

2. Ignorance of past leads to arrogance

Question 13

Why study history of psy? (textbook)

Answer 13

1. Psychology is young - present is closely tied to past
2. We are still considering 100 yr old problems
3. Unity despite diversity
4. More critical thinking
5. Educates about human bhvr (eg. shows effect of environment on a person)

Question 14

What are the dangers of presentism?

Answer 14

1. It is misleading/inaccurate
2. Leads to harsh judgment of past
3. Cannot evaluate past based on what we presently know
4. We can judge but with caution and context

Question 15

Naturalisc

Answer 15

Overall climate/zeitgeist

Zeitgeist - attitudes, values, theories of a time

Question 16

What is a “multiple”? Give examples.

Answer 16

2 or more individuals producing something at the same time

eg. evolution - Darwin, Erasmus Darwin, Wallace, Vestiges
eg. Magendie and Bell

Question 17

What is a “discovery”?

Answer 17

A scientific feat that came ahead of its time

Question 18

What are some problems with writing history?

Answer 18

Data selection - what is most valuable?
Data sometimes missing
Bias can enter at any stage
Interpretation problems - writing reflects the writer
Influences such as preconceptions, prior knowledge, theories, historical context
History is not neat; it is being constantly reinterpreted
History is not always accurate/true

Question 19

How can we approach historical truth?

Answer 19

Be more inclusive and consider both sides

Must be skeptical and critical