PS1012 & PS1014 Approaches to Psychology Topics covered by John Beech

1. PS1012 & PS1014Approaches to PsychologyTopics covered by John Beech These areas will be covered over 9 lectures: • Introduction – to history of psychology and the context of scientific progress. • The behaviorist approach. • The neo-behaviorist approach. • Early paradigms of cognitive psychology. • History of the cognitive approach. Part 1 pre 1967. • History of the cognitive approach. Part 2 post 1967. • The biological approach. • The approach of feminist psychology.

2. Approaches to Psychology: John Beech PS1012 Approaches to Psychology 1A For: Joint degrees (PB1, PN1, PS1) & JYA students 10-credit course 2 lectures/week • 1½ hour MCQ @ 75 questions. End of Semester 1 PS1014 Approaches to Psychology 1B For: SS1 students only 20-credit course 3 lectures/week • 3 hour MCQ @ 150 questions. End of Semester 1 All MCQs are scored: correct = 1; incorrect = -1/3 Background reading • See handouts and see the web

3. Timetable Consult the web site for your module PS1012 (Joint degrees) Two sessions each week PS1014 (SS1) Three sessions each week

4. PS1012 & PS1014 Approaches to Psychology The module has 3 main aims (overview): • Psychology’s concern to be a science. • Important social factors in the development of influential ideas. • A general introduction to psychology incorporating a strong emphasis on historical factors examining major approaches from past and present.

5. Three main aims of coverage of “Approaches” 1. Psychology’s concern to be a science. • Previously Psychology was the domain of philosophy. Only in last 100 years or so has Psychology been taught formally as a discipline. This was when the scientific method was applied to the study of Psychology. • What is science? “The systematic acquisition of knowledge” (Brennan, 1998). We have to observe directly something and measure it in order to confirm its existence. This is empiricism. • Science is applied by means of the experimental method. This involves controlling, manipulating and measuring variables. • But not everyone agrees, and so Psychology became more diversified with different schools of thought.

6. Three main aims of coverage of “Approaches” 2. Social factors • This diversification in psychology was influenced by social factors. The social status of a science is important. At a time when science was becoming more socially appealing, explanations based on scientific knowledge were being preferred. So it was necessary to at least appear to be scientific to explain behaviour. • An exception was psychoanalysis which was flourishing even when stimulus-response methods were dominant. Psychoanalysis is not scientific, but Freud, the main proponent was very persuasive and passionate and wrote with great clarity (Storr, 1995).

7. Three main aims of coverage of “Approaches” 2. Social factors (continued) • This social attitude still prevails: we are sceptical unless a “revelation” is supported by science. • But social climate can influence the development of schools of thought: e.g. the rise of Nazism led to the demise of intellectual climate and of Gestalt psychology in particular. The founders had to flee to the USA and were not very successful over there.

8. Three main aims of coverage of “Approaches” 2. Social factors (continued) • After the war the atrocities during WW2 stimulated a great deal of interest in the social-psychological factors that could have been at work. This led to a programme of research on conformity and obedience. 3. General introduction, with a historical perspective This module serves to provide a general introduction to psychology. It has a strong emphasis on historical aspects so looks at major approaches from the past and looks at some in the present.

9. Lecture 1 Introduction (An overview) 1. In the beginning: Wundt (1832-1920) – Leipzig 1879 first lab. 2. Relevance of the past to present 3. Concepts of scientific progress - great person theory - zeitgeist theory 4. Contextual forces

10. 1. In the beginning • Psychology is one of the oldest but newest disciplines • Goes back to 500BC and Plato and Aristotle • When was psychology born? • Where was psychology born?

11. Some dates • 1871 Germany and Italy founded • 1879 Household gas • 1879 Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig – set up the first Psychology laboratory • 1881 Philosophische Studien (A journal called “Philosophical Studies”) • 1885 First American laboratory • 1887 American Journal of Psychology • 1897 First UK laboratory

12. 2. Relevance of past to present Why is the history of psychology taught? • You are about to have a relationship with psychology for the next 3 years, so it is appropriate to get to know its background and history. • Learning about the history of the subject should enable you to appreciate the framework in which current ideas are founded. There are many different strands in psychology, so it is important to learn how these arose in the first place. • Ideas that were grappled with 100s of years ago are still relevant today e.g. Plato and Aristotle on memory, perception aesthetics. E.g. Today we have Berlyne’s theory of aesthetics: an inverted-U relationship between complexity and liking.

13. 2. Relevance of past to present • The study of history is a field in itself, just like the study of memory or language. • Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences started in 1965. • There is no single approach that encompasses all of psychology. For instance, cognitive psychology and social psychology are currently prominent, but they can be quite different from one another. • History holds it all together. • A story full of feuding, revolution and - sex.

14. Introduction We have just covered: 1. In the beginning; 2. Relevance of the past to the present. Two themes, that we are covering next, that are salient throughout the module: 3. Conceptions of scientific progress i.e. what makes history? 4. Contextual shapers of science

15. 3. Conceptions of scientific progress Great person theory • This focuses on the great achievements of specific individuals i.e. great innovators e.g. Newton, Einstein, Darwin. These are responsible for major scientific developments. • Without these people progress would not have happened?

16. 3. Conceptions of scientific progress Why propose great person theory? • We like heroes. It makes a good story, especially if we identify with them. • Social Attribution Theory looks at the way we explain people’s behaviour. If we identify with a person who has achieved something great then we are likely to feel good: basking in reflected glory. This applies nationally as well: MS Encarta (Encyclopaedia) lists Bell as inventing the phone in the USA, but names a Frenchman in the French version! This is good for national egos. • Scientists “blowing their own trumpet” in order to boost their career. As there is pressure to publish, this tendency will continue.

17. What makes a great person? (Overview) • Historiometry (see Simonton, 1984) • Birth order • Being orphaned • Role models (Zuckerman, 1977) • Productivity (perhaps great people work harder?) E.g. Dennis (1954); Moles (1958) • Height

18. What makes a great person? Historiometry (see Simonton, 1984) First it is useful to examine the history and methodology of history. This involves the use of measurements in history. For instance, to measure the eminence of scientists one can start by counting the number of publications of researchers. This can be useful data for measuring the worth of a particular scientist.

19. What makes a great person? Birth Order • The nature-nurture debate. Is genius born, or is it made? Most likely it’s a combination of the two. If it were simply hereditary, then surely all siblings would be of equal genius? But who has heard of Darwin’s siblings? • However, the order in which you were born may have an effect. If you are a first born, and especially if you are a first born male, research indicates that you are likely to achieve more than your siblings. • Francis Galton (1874) found that more first-born and only sons among famous scientist than could be attributed to chance. • Ellis (1904) showed similar effects for disciplines other than science and that the effect is similar for females. Ellis also found that youngest children are more likely than intermediate children to become eminent scientists

20. What makes a great person? Orphanhood • Lenin lost his father as a teenager. Beethoven was head of his family when he was 16. Napoleon and Julius Caesar lost their father at about 15 years. Evidence seems to suggest that being orphaned improves chances of being eminent. • Eisenstadt (1978) examined 699 eminent people from various disciplines. ¼ of geniuses lost their first parent by 10 years of age; 2/3 by 15; about ½ by 21 (10% had lost both parents by 21); >60% by age 30. These proportions exceeded the numbers of the general population.

21. What makes a great person? Role models Possible disruption of sexual identification: for males, loss of father may prevent development of clearly-defined sex role. The outcome may be a preponderance of feminine characteristics, a type of personality that may be related to or important for creativity. But orphan hood does not fully explain great people. It is only a small part of it.

22. What makes a great person? Role models (continued) Many eminent people had role models in their specialist area – this may have an effect. Walberg et al (1980) found that 63% of eminent individuals had been exposed to other eminent people at a very early age. Zuckerman (1977) found that previous laureates had mentored more than half of the Nobel laureates in science. There may also be a critical age for the input of role models: and this is around 20, and the role models are typically about 20 years older, i.e. 40.

23. What makes a great person? Productivity (great people work harder?) Thomas Edison held 1093 patents in the US – a record number ever. He once said “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Einstein had 248 publications. He averaged almost 4 per year. Charles Darwin 119. Freud 330 (averaged 7 per year). Mozart >600 compositions. Perhaps great people work harder? Dennis (1954) 10% of psychologists publish 37-47% of all psychological research. The least productive 50% contribute < 15% of all psychological research. Moles (1958) – just 36 of composers account for ¾ of all works performed. Eminent people also tend to produce work younger. Mozart began composing at 6 years. Freud published his first paper at 21 years. Darwin and Einstein first published at 22 years.

24. What makes a great person? Productivity and age Early commencement of scientific eminence does not necessarily mean early burn-out. Bach dictated his final composition on his deathbed at age 65. Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals at age 78. Wilhelm Wundt – founder of Experimental Psychology – finished the first revision of “Volkerpsychologie” at 89 years of age. This all suggests that eminence may be a result of a long and productive career.

25. What makes a great person? Height • Height is also related to eminence: in all but 3 elections the winner of the US presidential elections has been the taller candidate. • In the last election George W. Bush who won was shorter than John Kerry, but apparently there were no pictures in the media of them standing next to each other.

26. What makes a great person? Height (continued) • This may be related to an indication of greater maleness in that there is a strong association between the height and status of a man and the number of offspring that he has. Furthermore women are more attracted to men who are taller. • There are of course exceptions: Napoleon, Hitler, etc.

27. Great Person Theory (GPT) Limitations of GPT • Is the great person theory sufficient to explain scientific progress? • It is clear that there are great people around or in the past, and certainly great leaders. But this alone is not sufficient to explain the development of science. • Why not? The work of what we call eminent people can be ignored during their lives. It was only later that the work was accepted. Perhaps the climate, or zeitgeist, has to be appropriate in order for a new theory to be accepted?

28. Great Person Theory (GPT) Limitations of GPT (continued) • E.g. Robert Whytt, a Scottish scientist first suggested conditioning as an explanation for behaviour/learning in 1763 but nobody took much notice. • In 1904 the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov was awarded the Nobel prize in medicine for his contribution to the physiology of digestion for his work on conditioning.

29. Zeitgeist theory • This can be traced back to the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) who claimed that there is a “world spirit” which controls the course of nature. • This view suggests that science evolves through impersonal forces – a natural spirit – not controlled by individuals. Proponents of the zeitgeist say that the zeitgeist establishes the climate within which the right person at the right time can demonstrate innovation. If the timing is not right, it won’t happen.

30. Zeitgeist theory How does zeitgeist influence science? • The accepted model dictates the way that research is conducted. This largely prevents new ideas from developing – because it doesn’t fit in with the accepted model. • Behaviorism was dominant for years with quite a radical proposal. It refused to acknowledge consciousness: all behaviour could be explained in terms of stimulus-response units, or conditioning. This was the dominant model, especially in the USA for years and greatly influenced how people raised children, for instance.

31. Zeitgeist theory • Established theories affect the way that data are interpreted – i.e. researchers insist on interpreting findings in terms of the theory. Important alternative interpretations can be missed. • Established theory influences what gets published: it is very difficult to get others to accept finding which do not support the theory. Findings are often rejected because of potential “methodological flaws”, even though a similar critique would sometimes be aimed at “accepted” research studies: we like to read of significant results.

32. Zeitgeist theory Science is therefore influenced by the wider context, and it is important to understand this, if you are to get to grips with psychology. The wider context is the focus of the rest of this introduction.

33. 4. The wider context (Overview) In effect, evidence for zeitgeist: • temporal trends • multiple discovery • economic factors • political factors • warfare • discrimination

34. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – temporal trends • Research has looked at the cyclical nature of the zeitgeist or spirit of the times. The idea that society develops in cycles contradicts the idea of slow, evolving progression. It is possible that history is capable of retrogression as well as progression.

35. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – temporal trends Kuhn’s theory of the structure of scientific revolutions suggests that the dominant science of the time remains dominant until anomalies are sufficient in number to produce a new scientific theory. The new theory then enjoys dominance until anomalies arise, and so on. These wave-like cycles may be relatively quick, e.g. for scientific discoveries and inventions, but cycles in the dominance of specific creative geniuses may be very slow, taking a long time to become dominant. Examples of this can be seen in the arts: composers’ year of birth and “greatest” nominations. Pop performers year of birth and “favourite” nominations. Same applies to painters, authors, etc.

36. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – multiple discoveries Further evidence for the idea that things happen when the time is right comes from multiple discoveries, that is, the same things discovered by different people working independently. English astronomer J.C. Adams and French astronomer U.J.J. Leverrier did not know of each others work, but in 1845 and 1846 respectively, used Newton’s work on gravity to predict the existence of Neptune.

37. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – multiple discoveries Further evidence that ideas emerge when time is right: Elisha Gray announced his intention to file a patent for the telephone on the same day that Alexander Bell filed his patent for the same. A court battle settled the dispute. Ogburn and Thomas (1922) detail 150 other cases which all seem to suggest that inventions are inevitable.

38. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – political factors The impact of Nazi Germany is perhaps the most dramatic example of how culture influences scientific progress. Jewish academics were expelled or arrested. Many academics left Germany. The result of this was the collapse of the intellectual climate in Germany. In the 1920s the school of thought known as Gestalt psychology was a dominant school. But when the Nazis came to power in 1933 many scholars, including the leaders of Gestalt psychology left and moved to USA. Gestalt psychology was diminished in Germany and was slow and rather unsuccessful in the USA, as mentioned before.

39. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – political factors Naroll (1971) investigated the relationship between political fragmentation (i.e. division of civilised country into independent states (Yugoslavia) and creative genius. He measured the number of active creators and the number of independent states in four civilisations: China, India, Islam and Europe each century between 500 BC and 1899 AD. He found a positive relationship between the two: more independent states = more creativity.

40. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – political factors Simonton (1975, 1976) conducted a similar investigation using 20-year periods rather than whole centuries. As in the Noroll study, political fragmentation was the best predictor of creativity. He also found evidence to suggest the current political climate predicted creativity 20 years later, regardless of the political climate 20 years later. i.e. fragmentation now = creativity 20 years later (when academics are adults.) Rebellions also seem to be relate to creativity, also within 20 year time span: rebel now in 20 years = creativity (+.41). Germany was unified with the Berlin Wall falling in 1989. Yugoslavia is now more fragmented. What is the likely outcome of this now at the beginning of the new century?

41. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – warfare Much psychological effort was dedicated to the war effort - music and productivity of munitions workers. War is related to civil unrest one generation later. Simonton says this may be because of the baby boom and resulting population pressure. i.e. soldiers came home after WW2, millions of babies were conceived and there was civil unrest in the 1960s. Is this just coincidence?

42. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – warfare • War also seems to influence creativity negatively. Perhaps because the scientists get drafted. The greatest plays of writers such as Shakespeare were written during peace time. Even medical knowledge is not advanced by warfare. While we may learn more about traumatic injuries, we know less about basic and applied medical knowledge. Casualty counts are negatively related to the number of medical discoveries.

43. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – warfare • It is necessary to distinguish between different types of war. Wars between European nations, or wars when European nations are attacked by non-European nations, have an adverse affect on creative output. But wars within nations (civil wars) or wars when European nations attack non-European ones do not have such an effect. • Fortunately any negative consequences of war on creativity are short-lived, because scientists make up for lost time over the course of their careers.

44. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – economic factors It has been proposed that economic prosperity is positively related to scientific achievement in a given culture. E.g. Schmookler (1966) reported that the amount of money invested in research is positively related to number of patents filed. In the extreme case, if there’s no money, there’s no science. Padgett & Jorgenson (1982) looked at variables that were related to economic depression. Recession was related to an increased interest in non-science disciplines such as astrology and mysticism.

45. 4. The wider context Zeitgeist theory – economic factors The field of applied psychology in the US grew up as a consequence of limited academic positions -–no jobs in universities – but there was work in industry. In Britain, there is an emphasis in further education to attract funding from the private sector. To do this research has to be attractive to such sources of funding. The popularity of forensic and consumer psychology is evidence for this.

46. 4. The wider context Discrimination or inequality Discrimination also influences scientific progress. There are relatively few Afro-Caribbeans in academia. Between 1920-1966 the top ten psychology departments in the USA awarded almost 4000 PhDs to whites and only 8 to Afro-Americans. Women are discriminated against in academia. We will examine this later in Feminist Psychology.

47. Summary • History of psychology provides a framework for understanding psychology now. • History of science is dominated by Great Person Theory and Zeitgeist Theory. • Broad cultural context shapes the progress of science. Rest of module looks at how psychological context influences the progress of the subject. How does one school of thought influence the development of the next?