The psychology of Lightner Witmer.

Discusses the work of Lightner Witmer (1867–1956), whose recognition of the need to treat "mentally and morally retarded" children led him to establish the first psychological clinic in the US at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896. The following topics are addressed: background and biographical information, Witmer's 4 areas of practical work (statistical and clinical investigation; establishment of a clinic and school; practical opportunities for those in teaching, medicine, and social work; and training of psychological experts), services offered by the clinic (diagnosis, assessment, and treatment), and Witmer's theories regarding the nature of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lightner Witmer: Little-known founder of clinical psychology.

Lightner Witmer inaugurated the first psychological clinic in 1896, and he also took a number of other crucial steps in establishing and defining the field of clinical psychology. Witmer was one of the early group of Americans who took their doctorates under Wilhelm Wundt. He was a charter member of the American Psychological Association and the last to die. Clearly, he is an important figure in the history of psychology, yet relatively little biographical information about him has been available. This article summarizes his life and career, examines the beginnings of his clinic, and evaluates the significance of his contributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lightner Witmer and the first 100 years of clinical psychology.

linical psychology has developed over its first century in certain ways that Lightner Witmer's work anticipated. These include clinicians' emphases on trying to help individuals and on collaboration with physicians and other professionals and at least some continued emphasis on children 's academic problems. In other respects, the field developed along lines Witmer did not anticipate: Clinical psychology as it developed emphasized first the IQ, then other kinds of testing, including projective and neuropsychological assessment, and most recently clinical psychology has emphasized psychotherapy with adults more than children. (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)     

Comparative psychology is deadp Long live comparative psychology.

The study of behavior of nonhuman organisms is today, as it has been for a century, a vital and active area within psychology. Comparative psychology is, therefore, by definition, alive and well. The recent resurgence in interest in evolutionary and ecological approaches to the study of comparative psychology reflects developments in ethology, sociobiology, and behavioral ecology. The ability of comparative psychologists to incorporate these modern biological approaches to the study of animal behavior into their work, while maintaining traditional focus on the study of developmental and causal problems, is a sign of strength in the field, not a sign of incipient demise. Neither revisionist histories of nor epitaphs for comparative psychology are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applied dimensions of comparative psychology.

Relatively little attention has been paid to potential applications of comparative psychology during the recent review and reevaluation of the discipline. Yet, problems arising from the human–animal relationship most often demand solutions that call upon both a knowledge of naturalistic behavior patterns and familiarity with the principles of learning and behavioral analysis, a combination uniquely characteristic of comparative psychology. Applications of comparative psychology are well established in zoos, in attempts to preserve endangered species, small animal veterinary practice, in agriculture, and in animal welfare. Applied comparative psychology is likely to establish itself as a valuable adjunct to more traditional activities in all of these areas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling psychology and clinical psychology: Some preliminary comparative data.

Comments on L. F. Fitzgerald and S. H. Osipow's (see record 1986-25640-001) occupational analysis and statements regarding the lack of empirical bases to distinguish counseling psychologists from clinical psychologists by presenting findings from the present authors' own comparison of survey data from 716 counseling psychologists and 479 clinical psychologists. These data reveal several similarities and differences regarding counseling and clinical psychologists' theoretical orientations, occupational environments, amount of time devoted to specific professional and psychotherapeutic activities, and identification with a practitioner role. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a comparative psychology of learning.

"About 90% of our work on animal learning has been done with the rat." Exploratory work with new animals, especially phylogenetically lower animals, is desirable. The mammalian phenomena which confound contemporary SR theory "are less likely to appear in more primitive species… . Broadening the phylogenetic base of our work will facilitate the broadening of our outlook, and perhaps one day we shall be able to approach even the higher forms in the same spirit of discovery." 5 figures are presented, including apparatus diagrams for studying learning in the crab, the fly, and the earthworm. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2EH04B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the fall of comparative psychology.

R. B. Lockard's (see record 1971-24449-001) criticisms of comparative psychology (CP) are the latest in a series indicating that CP has no real basis in contemporary American psychology. CP's status is shown by its lack of professional organization or archival journal and by hiring attitudes that place CP secondary to other areas of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the demise of comparative psychology.

Argues that the entire area of comparative psychology has been questioned by R. B. Lockard (see record 1971-24449-001) following an earlier questioning by R. B. Lockard (see record 1969-06149-001) of the use of rats in psychology. The author protests handing this area of behavioral analysis over to biology, leaving the role of planning statistical manipulation to psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lightner Witmer: A centennial tribute.

Clinical psychology had its origins 100 years ago when Lightner Witmer, at the University of Pennsylvania, established the first psychological clinic. Witmer was later responsible for a number of other key contributions to clinical psychology, including giving the discipline its name and founding its first journal. Although the field has advanced greatly since Witmer's pioneering period, the basic values that he espoused continue to characterize the profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Restrictive versus open paradigms in comparative psychology.

Takes issue with M. Blumberg and E. Wasserman's article (see record 1995-20777-001) in which D. R. Griffin's cognitive ethology is criticized and precepts are presented to revitalize comparative psychology along Skinnerian lines. It is argued that data from bird studies indicate that many birds understand what is going on around them and are far more anthropomorphic and mentalistic than the precepts of Blumberg and Wasserman can encompass. Researchers need to consider the implications of results that show that animals understand subtle meanings and have other subtle cognitive capabilities that scientists have always assumed were exclusively human. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Darwin's legacy to comparative psychology and ethology.

Charles Darwin made numerous seminal contributions to the study of animal behavior over his long career. This essay places these contributions in the context of Darwin's life, showing his long-standing interest in psychological and behavioral issues encompassing all species, including humans. Ten areas are highlighted: natural history; communication; sexual selection and courtship; comparative cognition; emotion; instinct and behavioral development; inheritance of behavior; phylogeny of behavior; sociobiology and behavioral ecology; and applied animal behavior, animal welfare, and conservation. Several newer emphases that Darwin anticipated are briefly discussed. Darwin, while not always correct by current standards, crucially aided the process of firmly embedding psychological phenomena in a naturalistic scientific ethos. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Roles of naturalistic observation in comparative psychology.

Comparative psychology is replete with laboratory investigations of animal behavior to the conspicuous exclusion of naturalistic observations. Five roles, with corresponding examples, are considered by which systematic, quantified field research can augment controlled laboratory experimentation in terms of increasing the validity of the design, execution, and interpretation of laboratory studies. The roles include (a) studying nature for its own sake, (b) using nature as an initial starting point from which to develop a subsequent program of laboratory research, (c) using nature to validate or add substance to previously obtained laboratory findings, (d) obtaining from nature information pertaining to species variables that will subsequently increase the efficient utilization of animals in the laboratory, and (e) using the field as a naturalistic "laboratory" to test some hypothesis or theoretical concept. (2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physiological and comparative psychology: Current research interests.

316 members of the American Psychological Association Division 6 (physiological and comparative psychology) completed a questionnaire concerning their research Ss, methods, and topics. Results show that the primary Ss were animals (particularly rats); the most frequent methods were behavioral observations and lesioning or electrophysiological techniques; and the most favored topics were learning and memory, perception and emotion, and development. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Witmer, James, and Münsterberg.

Briefly comments on the L. T. Benjamin article (see record 1996-03525-010) regarding the contributions of Lightner Witmer to the field of applied psychology. The present author notes an incident documented in the correspondence between Hugo Münsterberg and William James as having occurred when the APA was to have its meeting at Harvard University in the early part of the 20th century. Witmer's publishing of critical comments about James' work are said to have so incensed Münsterberg, the Philosophy/Psychology Department Chair at Harvard, that he declared that the meetings would not be held at Harvard unless Witmer was expelled from APA. James intervened, and the meetings were held. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Current and future advances in physiological and comparative psychology.

"An important current advance in both comparative psychology and physiology during the last ten years has been the development of a very considerable number of laboratories devoted, at least in part, to the use of primates as experimental subjects." During the next twenty-five years a truly comparative psychology will be developed. A number of predictions are made based in part on recent researches which appear to suggest trends for the future; the presentation is semi-whimsical. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lightner Witmer: Father and grandfather?

Comments on P. McReynolds' (see record 83-24764) view of L. Witmer's role in establishing clinics for vocational guidance and for the personal problems of college students also meriting acknowledgement as a precursor of counseling psychology. McWhirter and McWhirter ask the question that in addition to his status as the father of clinical psychology, might Witmer be granted status as the grandfather of industrial/organizational and counseling psychology as well? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Triumph and tribulation in the history of American comparative psychology.

The accomplishments of the last 100 yrs of American comparative psychology have been exemplary. However, throughout this time the status of comparative psychology has been ambiguous. It has been the study of nonhumans in a science of human behavior and mind and thus peripheral to the main endeavor. The need for special resources, unique problems caused by work with animals, and frequent problems of job availability affected the development of the field. The accomplishments of comparative psychology have been achieved in spite of a substantial and continuous loss of young scientists initially attracted to the field but unable to sustain careers in comparative psychology. The tragedy of comparative psychology is that so many psychologists began their careers in animal research and later moved to other fields, especially educational psychology. The "miracle" is that so much was accomplished. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)