Review of Arthur R. Jensen (2006)--Clocking the mind: Mental chronometry and individual differences.

Reviews the book Clocking the Mind: Mental chronometry and individual differences by Arthur Jensen (see record 2006-20276-000). Mental chronometry, as Arthur Jensen stresses, is the study of reaction time (RT) in its various guises, contexts, and applications. As with respect to much of experimental psychology (cognitive and other), there is a venerable past here lying in the background, providing a wide-ranging context in which to embed our current (that is, our 40-odd year) preoccupation with RT as a primary dependent measure in cognitive psychology. This recent book, Clocking the Mind: Mental Chronometry and Individual Differences (published by Elsevier), weds both differential psychology's concern with the measurement of individual differences in RT (e.g., Austin, Deary, Gibson, McGregor, & Dent, 1998) and experimental psychology's concern with "the effects of manipulating various external conditions on variation in the measurements of RT" (p. 1). The reader of this journal will most probably be more familiar with the latter use of RT in the literature, especially when embedded within such familiar experimental tasks as those tapping both Garner and Stroop effects (Pansky & Algom, 1999). The book should be perused with care in order to ensure the further profitable use of RT in both experimental and differential lines of research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The two disciplines of scientific psychology.

"No man can be acquainted with all of psychology today." The past and future place within psychology of 2 historic streams of method, thought, and affiliation—experimental psychology and correlational psychology—is discussed in this address of the President at the 65th annual convention of the APA. "The well-known virtue of the experimental method is that it brings situational variables under tight control… . The correlation method, for its part, can study what man has not learned to control or can never hope to control… . A true federation of the disciplines is required. Kept independent, they can give only wrong answers or no answers at all regarding certain important problems… . Correlational psychology studies only variance among organisms; experimental psychology studies only variance among treatments. A united discipline will study both of these, but it will also be concerned with the otherwise neglected interactions between organismic and treatment variables. Our job is to invent constructs and to form a network of laws which permits prediction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A history of modern experimental psychology: From James and Wundt to cognitive science.

Reviews the book, A history of modern experimental psychology: From James and Wundt to cognitive science by George Mandler (see record 2007-05052-000). George Mandler, a longtime researcher in the area of memory and cognition, has gathered together his notes and selected bits from previous publications to assemble a new book cast as a brief history of the emergence of cognitive psychology. Mandler draws us to the positive impact Behaviourism had on the development of Cognitive Psychology. Mandler's book stands as an outline of the past, not a history. Its value rests with the perspective that comes from someone who has been thinking, researching and writing about topics central to Cognitive Psychology for over 40 years. He has been a witness to change, someone who has even participated in them, so his insights are valuable and directive. I would have enjoyed Mandler's book to a greater extent if, rather than chronologically reporting events, he had attempted to provide a gestalt of the emergence of cognitive psychology, one that would have located the articulate in the inarticulate of research practise and concept development in societies caught in the rift of redefinition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Russian physiologists' psychology and American experimental psychology: A historical and a systematic collation and a look into the future.

Sechenov was the originator of the basic theoretics of Russia's distinct physiologists' psychology. Pavlov and Bekhterev were its experimental verifiers and validators. Watson's Behaviorism arose as an independent development of American experimental psychology but interacted almost immediately with Russian-opened new experimental vistas. The vast influence of the English translations (1927 and 1928) of Pavlov's 2 conditioned reflex books on American psychological systematics is fully discussed, as is also the distinctness of the Pavlov system vis-à-vis specific American systems and American psychology in general. The language barrier is shown to be a unique factor in Russo-American experimental and theoretical parallels and divergencies. Brain behavior is the keynote of current Soviet physiologists' psychology and is increasingly dominating recent American experimental psychology. Significant Russo-American rapprochements in the basics of psychology seem imminent. (4-p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The graduate course in experimental psychology.

The course at the University of Buffalo is described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special section on multicultural and community psychology: Clinical psychology in context.

Human behavior occurs in the contexts of culture and community. Yet, clinical psychology has traditionally focused on the individual, neglecting the individual's context. The purpose of this Special Section is to address the underlying conceptual issues in integrating multicultural and community psychology within a common framework. The integration of etic and emic approaches distinguishes the research programs in these articles from others that have solely focused on universal or culture-specific approaches. Issues facing ethnic minority populations are addressed, including identification of risk and protective factors, obstacles to mental health service use, and optimal treatment effectiveness. The integration of culture and community contexts into clinical psychology is necessary for it to remain relevant in an increasingly diverse 21st century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Making the history of psychology clinically and philosophically relevant.

The author discusses ways to make the history of psychology course relevant for a clinical psychology doctoral program within a multidenominational Protestant theological seminary. She uses a personalist orientation to emphasize the need to integrate psychology, philosophy, and theology. She differentiates among the intrapersonal, interpersonal, impersonal, and transpersonal dimensions of experience. She illustrates the rich multidisciplinary historical roots of contemporary psychology by tracing the history of the term psychology and examining its meanings in the existential psychology of S?ren Kierkegaard and in the 19th-century novel. She includes brief histories of the "new psychology" and of the unconscious. She describes how she uses the field of psychotheological integration to illustrate principles of historiography and summarizes resources used to supplement traditional textbooks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Current practices in teaching history of psychology.

150 returns from departments of psychology in the 168 American schools listed in the December 1960 issue of the American Psychologist indicate that most schools (130 of 150) teach a history course. "In a large majority of the departments, History is treated as a three-credit, one-semester course." The textbook most commonly used (75%) was the one by Boring. Others used were Murphy, Woodworth, Chaplin and Krawiek, Heidbreder, Dennis, and Wolman. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the teaching of experimental psychology.

Criticisms point up the necessity of a new approach to experimental psychology. It is contended that "the primary functions of the laboratory should be (a) to stimulate and develop the creative talent of the student, (b) to give the student meaningful research experience, (c) to develop a general research orientation in the student… . The new content and goals of the experimental course require some changes in the teaching procedure, especially in the manner in which the laboratory is conducted… . The laboratory should… have a minimum of preplanned and formalized procedures." The laboratory should utilize the ideas and interests of students. The final part of the article describes a course based on the concepts indicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student reactions to the history of psychology.

Analysis of a short questionnaire administered to 53 students (26 men and 27 women) disclosed that the majority liked the course and found it "moderately" or "very useful." Topics liked best were hypnotism, dynamic psychology, behavioristics, and gestalt psychology; those liked least were the personal equation, psychophysiology in the 1st ? of the 19th century, and physiological psychology of sensation—1800-1850. Wundt, Freud, James, Helmholtz, and Darwin were regarded as the greatest contributors to psychology. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2AM89N. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High school psychology: A history and some observations.

Psychology has been in the secondary curriculum by title since at least 1895. 390 questionnaires were sent to superintendents and principals in 46 states. "Returns were received from 39 states which represented 64% of the original mailing." A table indicating dates for the introduction of psychology into the curriculum ranged from 1895 to 1959 discloses "a gradual increase in the number of schools introducing the course up to the modal year 1948." Once in the curriculum it tends to remain. Schools indicate 3 major reasons why psychology is not being offered and why others drop it: (a) an already crowded curriculum; (b) lack of trained teachers; (c) since "the trend of today is toward a more intense development of science, psychology cannot be offered." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between psychometric and experimental research in psychology.

A discussion of the distinction between experimental research (variables determined by experimental operations) and psychometric research (variables determined by psychometric operations). Indications of how these two traditionally distinct methods may be combined and the resultant advantages obtained are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Building more solid bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology.

Introducing the ways of cultivating mental balance, B. A. Wallace and S. L. Shapiro (see record 2006-12925-003) attempted to build bridges between Buddhism and psychology. Their systematic categorization of Buddhist teachings and extensive review of empirical support from Western psychology are valuable for future study. However, it remains a matter of concern that some more profound parts of Buddhist philosophy can be disregarded by focusing only on practical aspects of Buddhism within the context of mental health. In this comment, the authors briefly address four substantial themes to be considered: reality, identity, causality, and logicality. They suggest that the way to interpret Buddhism as techniques for well-being would certainly be viable in encouraging the study of Buddhist teachings in psychology. Yet, such attempts should not result in superficial imports and applications of Buddhist practices but give due weight to the deeper philosophical issues to build more solid bridges between Buddhism and psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The control of behaviour in the history of psychology.

Sciences develop as rule of thumb techniques of control become written down in formal systems of laws. Although rule of thumb techniques for the control of behaviour appear early in human history, formal systems of behavioural laws do not emerge at the same time as similar systems in other areas of science. One reason for this, a vested interest in keeping the existence of the techniques of control secret, is discussed. Implications are pointed out for the history of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology.

Clinical psychology has focused primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disease, and only recently has scientific attention turned to understanding and cultivating positive mental health. The Buddhist tradition, on the other hand, has focused for over 2,500 years on cultivating exceptional states of mental well-being as well as identifying and treating psychological problems. This article attempts to draw on centuries of Buddhist experiential and theoretical inquiry as well as current Western experimental research to highlight specific themes that are particularly relevant to exploring the nature of mental health. Specifically, the authors discuss the nature of mental well-being and then present an innovative model of how to attain such well-being through the cultivation of four types of mental balance: conative, attentional, cognitive, and affective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some glimpses of Soviet psychology.

"Our major purpose was to see psychology at work in a variety of experimental laboratories at institutes, universities, and hospitals and, through conferences with Soviet psychologists, to learn as much as possible about their spheres of scientific interest, their aims, problems, theories, instruments, and techniques." Major subtopics are: How Psychological Research is Organized; Basic Tenets of Soviet Psychologists; Some Examples of Current Investigations (Experimental Studies of Higher Nervous Processes; Studies of Voluntary Activity, Work Operations, Productivity; Studies of Higher Mental Processes). "Wherever we went we found dedicated Soviet psychologists fully set to tell us about what they had last done, were then doing, and were planning to do next. They were more intent on reporting their performances in research than in debating their theories and hypotheses." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A brief history of the psychology course in american high schools.

Psychology has been a part of the high school curriculum for the past 170 years in a variety of forms, in classes labeled mental and moral philosophy, mental hygiene, personal adjustment, child development, human relations, and psychology. This abbreviated and selective account traces that history, including the considerable role played by the American Psychological Association. This history focuses on the social and educational contexts that led to changes in the nature of high school psychology classes and concludes with comments about the value of precollege psychology classes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Public service mental health practice and psychology: Historically at the cutting edge.

Public service psychologists have led in the systematic use of new approaches to assessment, diagnosis, therapeutic interventions, and organizational management of mental and physical disorders. Outstanding examples include the MMPI and its successor developed at the University of Minnesota; elaboration of its 2-point code types and additional clinical scales at VA Medical Centers; David Wechsler’s work on intelligence and memory measurement at Bellevue Hospital, New York; early adoption of group therapy, early development of family therapy, token economies, and adult mental hygiene clinics; and finally the impetus for the development of accreditation in professional psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rediscovering the history of psychology: Interview with Kurt Danziger.

Kurt Danziger is a senior scholar whose innovative contributions to the history of psychology have received widespread international recognition. This wide-ranging interview covers every aspect of Danziger's work since the 1970s, including his early work on Wundt, his work on psychological methods that culminated in the book Constructing the Subject (1990), and his more recent work on psychological objects in Naming the Mind (1997). It also includes his thoughts on history of psychology in general and the related subject of historical psychology. The interviewer is a former student of Danziger and coeditor of a recent book on Danziger's work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A history of modern psychology: Third edition.

Reviews the book, A history of modern psychology: Third edition by C. James Goodwin (see record 2008-14615-000). This text is an excellent introduction to the history of Western psychology, in terms of both tracing the discipline’s lineage through milestone events and in demonstrating how historians approach the subject. As the primary goal of the book is to attract the interest of students who perhaps are only taking a course in the history of psychology because it is required of them, the major strength of this text is its readability. The author’s ability to render complicated material comprehensible for introductory level students and laymen, as well as the affable tone used throughout the work makes it suitable for any reader interested in the foundations of the discipline. Its success is in the framework it provides, which graduate or even undergraduate level instructors can flesh out with supplementary readings and in-class discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)