The linguistic repudiation of Wundt.

Wilhelm Wundt's influence on the development of linguistics and psychology was pervasive. The foundations for this web of influence on the sciences of mind and language were laid down in Wundt's own research program, which was quite different from other attempts at founding a new psychology, as it was deeply rooted in German philosophy. This resulted in certain gaps in Wundt's conception of mind and language. These gaps provoked a double repudiation of Wundt's theories, by linguists and psychologists. The psychological repudiation has been studied by historians of psychology, and the linguistic repudiation has been studied by historians of linguistics. The intent of this article is to bring the linguistic repudiation to the attention of historians of psychology, especially the one outlined by two important figures in the history of psychology: Karl Bühler and George Mead. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neoscholastic Psychology Revisited.

Beginning around 1879, a Neoscholastic psychology developed, an experimental psychology with a soul. Opposed to materialism, it sought to renew Scholastic philosophy by incorporating the findings of the natural sciences. Neoscholastic psychology is an important chapter in the history of the relationships between science and religion in the 20th century. Neoscholastic psychology was both experimental and philosophical. This article presents the main accomplishments of North American Neoscholastic psychology in academic and applied areas. Neoscholastic psychologists championed scientific psychology while insisting on a better conception of human nature. Philosophical critiques led to a decline of Neoscholasticism; after the 1960s it was no longer official Catholic philosophy. Neoscholasticism gave psychologists concerned with philosophical questions impetus to turn to phenomenology, existentialism, and humanistic psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The individual differences tradition in counseling psychology.

Counseling psychology developed in the 1950s out of applied psychology, which at that time was the application of the psychology of individual differences. The present article traces this historical development, from individual differences psychology through psychological testing, vocational counseling, and student personnel work, to counseling psychology. The individual differences tradition in counseling psychology research and practice is described, and the ways in which individual differences psychology has influenced counseling psychology and how, in turn, counseling psychology has contributed to the psychology of individual differences are discussed. The article concludes with speculations on the future relationship between the 2 fields. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The passing of psychology.

Discusses the failures of mainstream psychology in finding solutions to human misbehavior and unhappiness. Physiological psychology held promise for bringing fresh air into the study of psychological problems, but is probably destined to failure because of neglect in psychology departments and the greater emphasis in medical schools on the behavioral sciences, which would make physiological psychology redundant. (French abstract) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology applied to education: A specialty in search of an identity.

Proposes that a revision of doctoral school psychology be considered within the American Psychological Association that better meets standards for specialty status in professional psychology. School psychology as it currently exists has become a nondoctoral profession of a highly applied nature that is not really a product of psychology. A new professional specialty concerned with the application of psychology to education should be commensurate with accepted goals of professional psychology education and practice and meet at least 3 additional requirements: movement from concern for schools to concern for schooling, greater emphasis on an educational orientation than on mental health, and greater reliance on educational psychology as the knowledge base for professional practice. What is presently called school psychology is moving toward a doctoral specialization that is trying to decrease the gap between assessment and intervention. An impetus for this movement has been the use of behavioral psychology in educational settings. Educational psychology has expanded due to the development of cognitive psychology and decreased reliance on the laws of learning. (97 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comment on the quality principles.

The 1991 conference on undergraduate education in psychology, held at St. Mary's College in St. Mary's City, Maryland, resulted in two documents that are relevant to anyone concerned with undergraduate education in psychology. The large proportion of students who major in psychology underscore the importance of how psychology is taught to undergraduates. The Quality Principles, one of the documents generated by the conference, is a blueprint for innovation and change in undergraduate education. The Quality Principles are contained in this article. Principles for quality undergraduate psychology programs and steering committee members of the APA National Conference on Enhancing the Quality of Undergraduate Education in Psychology are appended. [A correction to this article was published in the American Psychologist, Vol 51(4), April 1996, page 370. The correction notice provides the names of 2 individuals that were listed in Appendix B incorrectly.] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethology and comparative psychology.

An analysis of the relationship between ethology and comparative psychology is presented by an ethologist whose background was in agriculture, animal breeding, and evolutionary genetics. The view is presented that today, comparative psychology is largely an American name for the ethological work taking place in psychology departments throughout the world. Generally, those studying animal behavior or human ethology fill an important niche in psychology departments, providing the biological, particularly the evolutionary, complement to other fields of psychology. This role is functional, rather than having a theoretical foundation different from ethology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching about animal research in psychology.

Responds to P. F. Cunningham's (see record 199604968-008) and S. D. Gosling's (see record 199604968-009) comments on M. Domjan and J. E. Purdy's (see record 1995-45383-001) study of the acknowledgment of contributions of animal experimentation in leading introductory psychology textbooks. The authors agree with Gosling that the primary goal of the general psychology course is to facilitate the students' understanding of psychology and that animal research is not presented in an educationally effective fashion in general psychology textbooks. However, it is argued that students need to know not only the conclusions of research but also something about how the research was conducted. In response to Cunningham's contention that psychology instructors will have to address why research animals are kept under stressful laboratory conditions, the authors note that psychology experiments typically do not involve deadly diseases or experimental pathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Florence L. Denmark.

This article recognizes Florence L. Denmark for her courageous, innovative, and methodologically rigorous scholarship on the psychology of women; her tireless advocacy on behalf of ethnic minorities, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and gay men and lesbians; and her extensive writing on the pedagogical issues involved in integrating new scholarship on gender, race and ethnicity, and feminist and multicultural perspectives into psychology courses. When Denmark conducted her pioneering research in the 1950s and 1960s on sex differences in leadership and authoritarian behavior and on discrimination against women in higher education, these topics were not fashionable. Practically single-handedly she brought recognition and respect to women's concerns in psychology by tackling the toughest conceptual and methodological issues inherent in the interdisciplinary hybrid that is the psychology of women (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Television Instruction in Child Psychology.

The October 1955 issue of the "American Psychologist" was devoted principally to educational television. The need for research on the effectiveness of television instruction in psychology was emphasized. This is a report of an attempt to assess the impact of a series of television programs in child psychology on an audience of parents and teachers in the Denver (Colorado) area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health psychology training in doctoral psychology programs.

Presents the results of a Division 38 (the health psychology division of the American Psychological Association) survey of graduate training programs in psychology, along with facility-specific information on doctoral training opportunities in health psychology as of Fall 1981. 310 questionnaires were returned from psychology programs; 53 indicated that doctoral training in health psychology was available at their institution. It was found that established subspecialty programs were expanding to include health psychology, and new programs were developing in that area. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problems and pseudo-problems.

Comments on J. B. Conway's (see record 1985-10567-001) history of clinical psychology in Canada. Alternative views of the fundamental problems facing Canadian clinical psychology are presented, and the basic problem is seen as being whether clinical psychology achieves its potential for advancing human welfare. Implications for training curricula and accreditation are noted. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ronald E. Fox.

While maintaining an active career as a scholar, teacher, and administrator, Ronald E. Fox has made important contributions to the field of education in professional psychology. Key among his contributions have been his work in establishing the Association of Psychology Internship Centers, organizing the National Council of Schools of Professional Psychology, and establishing a university-based school of professional psychology as a viable alternative to the graduate education models based in traditional departments of psychology. Fox is, perhaps, most noted for the various educational initiatives for which he has been responsible here at the American Psychological Association (APA). While he was recording secretary and member of the Board of Directors of APA, he was the key, central figure in the creation of the Education Directorate. This new directorate is now firmly established and will shape APA's actions regarding education and training for many years to come. For his commitment and dedication to the field of education in psychology, we honor Ronald E. Fox. He is this year's recipient of the award for Distinguished Education and Training Contributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions: Joseph D. Matarazzo.

Cites Joseph D. Matarazzo for the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions. Matarazzo is cited for his service to patients and his research and scholarly writings in clinical psychology, health psychology, and clinical neuropsychology. His research has focused specifically on 3 areas: the clinical interview; cognitive, intellectual, and related neuropsychological functions; and health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology seen some 50 years later.

Important developmental aspects of the history of clinical psychology over the past 50 yrs are considered, beginning with the author's own early Jamesian orientation toward viewing psychology (experimental and clinical) as a unity. Several reports influencing the development of clinical training in psychology are described, including the 1945 report of the Subcommittee on Graduate Internship Training to the Committees of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Association for Applied Psychology, "Recommended Graduate Training in Clinical Psychology," written in 1947 by the Committee on Training in Clinical Psychology, and that committee's subsequent progress reports written in 1948 and 1949. A report by F. H. Sanford to the APA Committee on Relations between Psychology and the Medical Profession, with its 13 aspirations of psychology, is seen to provide the basic principles guiding the relationship between psychology and other professions and a code of ethics still governing the present field of psychology. In summary, several pleas are directed at departments of psychology, divisions of psychology, and clinical psychology students to improve the effectiveness, validity, and standards of clinical training programs and to clarify the issues within clinical psychology and between different fields of psychology. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Robert Sessions Woodworth: 1869-1962.

Woodworth was "a unique contributor to modern American psychology in at least four respects." (a) He was a symbol of mature, factually and method-oriented experimental psychology. (b) Through teaching and editing he became a central figure in a vigorous, broadgauged conception of research. (c) His eclecticism indicated scope and perspective. (d) He clearly defined his position on controversial issues and buttressed it with logic and evidence. For Woodworth a psychology worth knowing meant that one should know it "in three dimensions." His Experimental Psychology was a major reference work for a particular era of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

T. Ernest Newland (1903–1992): Obituary.

Reports the death of T. Ernest Newland, who was an important pioneer in the field of school psychology. His work is especially noteworthy for its linking of clinical and educational psychology with special education to create an identity for school psychology. Newland also influenced legislation in Pennsylvania mandating hearing testing and inclusion of the gifted as a category of exceptional children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Root metaphors and the evolution of American social psychology.

S. C. Pepper's (1942) concept of "root metaphor" is used to compare the schools of American social psychology that emerged by the 1930s. The 3 world hypotheses of organicism, mechanism, and contextualism were each influential in shaping schools of thought during the early period of American social psychology. Organicism, which is based on the root metaphor of the organism, formed the conceptual foundation for W. McDougall's (1920) biologically oriented version of social psychology. The mechanistic model, based on the root metaphor of the machine, was reflected in F. H. Allport's (1924) social psychology. Contextualism, with its root metaphor of the historic event, constituted the core of approaches to the field, which assumed that the basic unit of analysis was social interaction rather than the individual. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychology of mystery.

Describes the development of the ways in which psychology has been used in the fictional world of the mystery/detective novel. Application of psychology has included (1) the use of experimental techniques, such as laboratory techniques and deductive reasoning, and (2) the use of applied theories, such as those on motivation or personality, by detectives, psychological consultants, and psychologist-detectives to solve crimes in popular literature. Some of these stories, such as those of C. D. King, a fiction writer who was also a psychologist, mock the usefulness of psychology. Other writers have been optimistic about psychology's helpfulness. The psychology of the detective story can be a fruitful area for exploring the usefulness of psychology to the solution of crimes and mysteries. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On complementarity and William James.

Comments that in J. Rychlak's (see record 1993-43676-001) discussion of suggested principles of complementarity for psychology, Rychlak used a modified version of N. Bohr's (1935) theory of complementarity for physics, which in turn was influenced by W. James (1890 [1983]). James's influence on Bohr is described, and Bohr's support for the use of complementarity in psychology is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)