Chapter 8 - American pioneers: James, Hall, Calkins, and Thorndike

Question 1

William James

Answer 1

a professor at Harvard who used a personal and individual approach in psychology, in contrast to Wundt’s experimental method

Question 2

pragmatism

Answer 2

a way of thinking that focuses on what works in the real world rather than following strict rules or theories
- developed by Pierce

Question 3

“The Principles of Psychology”

Answer 3

James’ book where he argued that the concept of human consciousness is more like a stream than a collection of seperate ideas
- stream of thoughts/consciousness

Question 4

habit

Answer 4

James stated that the laws of habit formation are capable of producing both morally good and bad actions, and once a habit is established, it is very difficult to undo the establishment

Question 5

emotions

Answer 5

according to James, emotions are the consequence rather than the cause of the physiological effect associated with some emotion
- Carl Lange published a similar view
- became known as the James-Lange theory of emotions

Question 6

James-Lange theory of emotions

Answer 6

an emotion-provoking stimulus first causes a bodily reaction, which then triggers an emotion

Question 7

G. Stanley Hall

Answer 7

first person to earn a PhD with a dissertation on experimental psychology
- interested in developmental psychology
- proposed the theory of child development based on Darwin and recapitulationism
- founded the APA

Question 8

recapitulationism

Answer 8

every human goes through the same stages of intellectual, emotional, and psychological development as our pre-human ancestors

Question 9

Mary Whiton Calkins

Answer 9

developed the “self psychology”
- saw the self as an active, guiding, and purposeful tool, present in all conscious actions and essential for any full introspective account

Question 10

paired associations technique

Answer 10

a method to study association of ideas or concepts
- pioneered by Calkins

Question 11

Heidbreder

Answer 11

another woman pioneer
- wrote a book about the 7 distinct schools of psychology

Question 12

Edward Lee Thorndike

Answer 12

interested in animal studies, especialy how animals solve problems
- constructed the puzzle box showing trial-and-error behavior

Question 13

law of effect

Answer 13

behavior that is followed by pleasure is one that often gets to be displayed
- punishment has the opposite effect

Question 14

transfer of training

Answer 14

if you learn a skill in one context, you can apply the learned information in another context

Question 15

functionalism

Answer 15

focused on the utility and purpose of behavior, and was a direct consequence of Darwinian thinking