Chapter 1 - Introduction Flashcards
Old Psychology
Presentist, internal, personalistic
Glorified
Focus on breakthroughs/events/people
Ignored the not-so-good aspects
New Psychology
Historicist, external, naturalist
Why study history of psy? (Lecture)
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)
Concerns with history of psy?
Where are sources coming from?
Must consider perspectives and biases
Inconsistencies between textbooks
Looking at history but knowing result
What was Furumoto’s contribution to history of psy? When?
Distinguished between old and new history of psychology
Presentism
Seeing/interpreting past in terms of today’s knowledge
Historicism
Interpreting info from time when event occurred
Consider ideas/values/context of event
Reduces bias
Internal
Looking at history only through a psychology perspective
Don’t consider any non-psychology people/events/characters
Inward looking and narrow perspective
External
Considering multidisciplinary contributions
Exclusively external can lead to inadequate understanding
Personalistic
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
Why study history? (textbook)
“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
How does psychology keep us humble?
- Prevents illusion that we know a lot
2. Ignorance of past leads to arrogance
Why study history of psy? (textbook)
- Psychology is young - present is closely tied to past
- We are still considering 100 yr old problems
- Unity despite diversity
- More critical thinking
- Educates about human bhvr (eg. shows effect of environment on a person)
What are the dangers of presentism?
- It is misleading/inaccurate
- Leads to harsh judgment of past
- Cannot evaluate past based on what we presently know
- We can judge but with caution and context
Naturalisc
Overall climate/zeitgeist
Zeitgeist - attitudes, values, theories of a time
What is a “multiple”? Give examples.
2 or more individuals producing something at the same time
eg. evolution - Darwin, Erasmus Darwin, Wallace, Vestiges
eg. Magendie and Bell
What is a “discovery”?
A scientific feat that came ahead of its time
What are some problems with writing history?
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
How can we approach historical truth?
Be more inclusive and consider both sides
Must be skeptical and critical
