week 8 Flashcards
What did Gall and Spurzheim say about racial differences on skull capacity? How did this affect Psychologists connection to anthropologists?
The anthropologists relied on Phrenology to support their racist notions. Racial differences were proven in that larger brain/skull were superior and a shown correlation that white people had larger brain/skulls, thus they were superior. Psychologists then separated from anthropologists and adopts a lab/experimental focus on people in a controlled environment
What did Winston say about Scientific Racism? What were two issues with complicating psychology’s place in promoting scientific racism?
“The use of scientific concepts and data to create and justify ideas as enduring biological based racial hierarchy.”
First the issue has to do with scientific racism is multidisciplinary. It started with philosophers and anatomists. Then moved to statistions, anthropologists and political sciences and other. Another issue that complicates psychology place is that there are diff forms and trajectories depending on context.
What three concerns is “Race Psychology” Studies informed by?
Negro education debates; began in civil war. Justified brutal restrictions to education during Jim Crow. Stanely Hall helped promoted black study educability
Growth of eugenics movements in the US; through the effort of biologists, one of which Charles Gavin who found the eugenics record office in the U.S
Eugenics themes amidst immigrations; immigration restriction league
What are three studies of (Racist) Study of Mental Abilities?
Darwin and evolutionary theory; the survival of the fittest (spencer) sets the “stage” for nativist and innate racist perspectives
German psychophysics and structuralism; sciences put things into “boxes” and classifying them. Applied to humans means classifying white people as superior.
Galton and eugenics; applying Darwin’s work to humans. Human biological differences are innate, intelligence is innate. Supports the inherited idea that upper class + smarter. R.Meade Bache, reaction times
Who was Galton and what was his theory about The Nature of Intelligence? What did he argue about intelligence?
A british philosopher who said within species there are considerable individual differences. He was a self entitled “African Explorer” to understand the culture and tribes of Africans. He used his cousin, Darwins, theory of evolution and natural selection to humans. He argued that intelligence and character are inherited, there is a natural hierarchy in place.
What was the historical context of Galtons ‘The Nature of Intelligence’? How did Galton’s work align with societal views?
Major scientific and technological change such are railways, steam power and shipping lines. Capitalism took off, meaning emergence of the middle class – “Work hard and you get ahead.” Society held on to the notion that everyone was responsible for their own success. If you were low-class, you deserved to be there. Galton’s ideas worked because his work concludes that success in people has a natural inheritance, unchangeable. Individual explanation of why some people are in low-class and others in upper.
What three points does Galton’s Theory rest on? How does it differ from empiricism?
Eminence(status) runs in families; if you have the genealogy for “high character”, you will be “high character”
Intelligence was normally distributed in the populated; similar to physical characteristics are inherited
Adoptive families vs. biological relatives; races differed in how civilized and intelligent they were based on diffs if they were from adoptive families or biological . The theory differs from empiricist because it rejects the experience influence, and maintains a focus on the innateness of intelligence.
What did Galton say about the environment? What did his Twin Studies conclude? How did the twin studies contribute to the term “Eugenics”?
Environment could be a role, but focused on natural influence. He wanted to know if children adopted by eminent men would they grow up to be eminent?
Results showed that those living apart from their biological family, showed similarities.
Galton was convinced that intelligence was innate, concludes that the “The study of the agencies under social control that may improve or impair racial qualities of future generations, either physically or mentally” - first mention of the term Eugenics.
How did Alphonse de Condolles’ work contradict with Galton’s work? How did galton respond to the findings, what did to lead to?
Condolles sound that social, political, historical factors matter in relation to scientist success. He noted that successive scientists were using intelligence and character as indices (indicator) of success. Many external factors that related to that success than biological factors, contradiction with Galton.
Galton develops the survey method which were structured use of questions that was used to examin general characteristics of the general population. He sent this questionnaire to 180 members of the royal society to learn about their personalities and titled it “English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture (1974)” Which he concludes again that nature plays a strong role towards talent and inheritance.
What did James Mckeen Cattell and Galton agree on? What kind of mental test did they develop?
They agreed on an inductive approach to testing mental intelligence. With that they developed the mental test of pushing the eraser end of a pencil into ones forehead. With the assumption that the moment the person feels pain is an indicator of a persona mental intelligence.
What are four examples of supposed Mental tests that actually test sensation/ perception/ introspection?
Dynamometer Pressure: Grip strength - physical measure
Sensation Areas: two-point thresholds on the back of the right hand
Pressure Causing Pain: Top of hard rubber pressed into ones forehead until pain is reported
Time for Naming Color: 10 colored papers passed adjacent to each other, to be named as quickly as possible
What is the significance of Cattles “Mental Tests and Measurements” (1890)?
First use of the term mental tests. His tests includes samples sizes of 10 developed though the use of some of Galton’s test but ultimately refined it away from physical tests and focused on intelligence.
After Cattell moved to Columbia, how did he expand on his mental testing? Who did he apply his new work on, and how? What were the results from his new study, repercussions? What did Charles Spearman say about Cattell’s work?
Re-added the physical measurements Galton used. He wanted to apply it to freshman student coming into Columbia University. He planned to incorporate his testing into the uni of administration. He needed to quantify his findings with Person r (Karl Pearson). He wants to test the correlation between his mental tests and student academic performance. His way of using r would apply quantifiable value showing there is evidence of his mental tests. The results did not show a strong correlation, thus he abandoned his work and focused on big P psychology. Spearman worked on children’s sensory abilities and performance and said cattle had poor reliability tests.
What is “Individual” Psychology? What did Binet & Henri say about Individual psych?
Properties of psychological processes that vary from person to person, need a proper measure where as general psych is applied to everyone.
“…studies the properties of psychic processes that vary from individual to individual it has to determine the various properties and the study how much and in what ways they vary with the individuals” (1895)
What are some terms used regarding the categories of Mental Disability? Any setbacks? How did Binet respond to them?
Idiot - severy handicapped cannot care for themselves
Imbecile - somewhat more capable than idiot, still not able to function alone.
Debiles (weak ones) - far behind child was put into special E.D
These are very ill defined, different doctors would “diagnose” different terms, not reliable. Binet started create a better test to differentiate these groups of individuals(normal vs. special E.D) in a quantifiable measure.
