Neurasthenia (from the Ancient Greek νεῦρον neuron "nerve" and ἀσθενής asthenés "weak") is a term that was first used as early as 1829 for a mechanical weakness of the nerves . It became a major diagnosis in North America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries after neurologist George Miller Beard reintroduced the concept in 1869.
156-536: William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the late 19th century, one of the most influential philosophers of the United States , and the "Father of American psychology." Along with Charles Sanders Peirce , James established
312-411: A " stream of consciousness ", had a direct and significant impact on avant-garde and modernist literature and art, notably in the case of James Joyce . In "What Pragmatism Means" (1906), James writes that the central point of his own doctrine of truth is, in brief: Truths emerge from facts, but they dip forward into facts again and add to them; which facts again create or reveal new truth (the word
468-402: A "biculturally patterned illness experience (a special form of somatization), related to depression or other diseases or to culturally sanctioned idioms of distress and psychosocial coping." In Japan , shinkei-suijaku is treated with Morita therapy involving mandatory rest and isolation, followed by progressively more difficult work, and a resumption of a previous social role. The diagnosis
624-488: A "pretense treatment". He emphasized the example of Elizabeth von R's note that "the stronger these were the more they seemed to push her own pains into the background." Nevertheless, neurasthenia was a common diagnosis during World War I for " shell shock ", but its use declined a decade later. Soldiers who deserted their post could be executed even if they had a medical excuse, but officers who had neurasthenia were not executed. This diagnosis remained popular well into
780-555: A Black lens and dedicated her career to focusing on the anxiety of African American women. She founded the organization Rise Sally Rise which helps Black women cope with anxiety. She published her work Soothe Your Nerves: The Black Woman's Guide to Understanding and Overcoming Anxiety, Panic and Fear in 2003. In 2002 Dr. Teresa LaFromboise, former president of the Society of Indian Psychologists, received
936-402: A biologically potent stimulus (e.g., food that elicits salivation) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (e.g., a bell) over several learning trials, the neutral stimulus by itself can come to elicit the response the biologically potent stimulus elicits. Ivan Pavlov —known best for inducing dogs to salivate in the presence of a stimulus previously linked with food—became a leading figure in
1092-569: A child should be recognized as their own person with their own right and have each session catered to the child's specific needs. She encouraged drawing, moving freely, and expressing themselves in any way. This helped build a strong therapeutic alliance with child patients, which allows psychologists to observe their normal behavior. She continued her research on the impact of children after family separation, children with socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and all stages of child development from infancy to adolescence. Functional periodicity ,
1248-526: A close collaborator with Watson, examined biological manifestations of learning in the brain. Neurasthenia As a psychopathological term, the first to publish on neurasthenia was Michigan alienist E. H. Van Deusen of the Kalamazoo asylum in 1869. Also in 1868, New York neurologist George Beard used the term in an article published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal to denote
1404-572: A combination of the two conditions existed in many cases. In 19th-century Britain and, by extension, across the British Empire, neurasthenia was also used to describe mental exhaustion or fatigue in “brain workers” or in the context of “overstudy”. This use was often synonymous with the term “ brain fag ”. From 1869, neurasthenia became a "popular" diagnosis, expanding to include such symptoms as weakness , dizziness and fainting . A common treatment promoted by neurologist S. Weir Mitchell
1560-547: A concept of "recognition" ( pinyin : jen-shih ) which referred to the interface between individual perceptions and the socially accepted worldview; failure to correspond with party doctrine was "incorrect recognition." Psychology education was centralized under the Chinese Academy of Sciences , supervised by the State Council . In 1951, the academy created a Psychology Research Office, which in 1956 became
1716-609: A condition with symptoms of fatigue , anxiety , headache , heart palpitations , high blood pressure , neuralgia , and depressed mood . Van Deusen associated the condition with farm wives made sick by isolation and a lack of engaging activity; Beard connected the condition to busy society women and overworked businessmen. Neurasthenia was a diagnosis in the World Health Organization 's ICD-10 , but deprecated, and thus no more diagnosable, in ICD-11 . It also
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#17327808763751872-635: A degree of liberalization during the Khrushchev Thaw . The topics of cybernetics, linguistics, and genetics became acceptable again. The new field of engineering psychology emerged. The field involved the study of the mental aspects of complex jobs (such as pilot and cosmonaut). Interdisciplinary studies became popular and scholars such as Georgy Shchedrovitsky developed systems theory approaches to human behavior. Twentieth-century Chinese psychology originally modeled itself on U.S. psychology, with translations from American authors like William James,
2028-453: A depletion of qi "vital energy" and reduction of functioning in the wuzang "five internal organs" (heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys). The modern CCMD classifies it as a persistent mental disorder diagnosed with three of these five symptoms: "'weakness' symptoms, 'emotional' symptoms, excitement' symptoms, tension-induced pain, and sleep disturbances" not caused by other conditions. Arthur Kleinman described Chinese neurasthenia as
2184-622: A greater connection to physiology, emerged in South America, under the leadership of Horacio G. Piñero at the University of Buenos Aires . In Russia, too, researchers placed greater emphasis on the biological basis for psychology, beginning with Ivan Sechenov 's 1873 essay, "Who Is to Develop Psychology and How?" Sechenov advanced the idea of brain reflexes and aggressively promoted a deterministic view of human behavior. The Russian-Soviet physiologist Ivan Pavlov discovered in dogs
2340-656: A groundbreaking text in the field of psychology; Essays in Radical Empiricism , an important text in philosophy; and The Varieties of Religious Experience , an investigation of different forms of religious experience , including theories on mind-cure . William James was born at the Astor House in New York City on January 11, 1842. He was the son of Henry James Sr. , a noted and independently wealthy Swedenborgian theologian well acquainted with
2496-780: A hiatus for World War I, the Seventh Congress met in Oxford, with substantially greater participation from the war-victorious Anglo-Americans. In 1929, the Congress took place at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, attended by hundreds of members of the APA. Tokyo Imperial University led the way in bringing new psychology to the East. New ideas about psychology diffused from Japan into China. American psychology gained status upon
2652-435: A laboratory procedure meant to study attachment style by separating and uniting a child with their mother several different times under different circumstances. These field studies are also where she developed her attachment theory and the order of attachment styles , which was a landmark for developmental psychology . Because of her work, Ainsworth became one of the most cited psychologists of all time. Mamie Phipps Clark
2808-714: A learning process that was later termed " classical conditioning " and applied the process to human beings. One of the earliest psychology societies was La Société de Psychologie Physiologique in France, which lasted from 1885 to 1893. The first meeting of the International Congress of Psychology sponsored by the International Union of Psychological Science took place in Paris, in August 1889, amidst
2964-873: A lively group informally known as The Metaphysical Club in 1872. Louis Menand (2001) suggested that this Club provided a foundation for American intellectual thought for decades to come. James joined the Anti-Imperialist League in 1898, in opposition to the United States annexation of the Philippines. Among James's students at Harvard University were Boris Sidis , Theodore Roosevelt , George Santayana , W. E. B. Du Bois , G. Stanley Hall , Ralph Barton Perry , Gertrude Stein , Horace Kallen , Morris Raphael Cohen , Walter Lippmann , Alain Locke , C. I. Lewis , and Mary Whiton Calkins . Antiquarian bookseller Gabriel Wells tutored under him at Harvard in
3120-517: A new applied psychology organization called the International Congress of Psychotechnics Applied to Vocational Guidance, later called the International Congress of Psychotechnics and then the International Association of Applied Psychology . The IAAP is considered the oldest international psychology association. Today, at least 65 international groups deal with specialized aspects of psychology. In response to male predominance in
3276-682: A physiologist, but I drifted into psychology and philosophy from a sort of fatality. I never had any philosophic instruction, the first lecture on psychology I ever heard being the first I ever gave". He interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather Ralph Waldo Emerson , his godson William James Sidis , as well as Charles Sanders Peirce , Bertrand Russell , Josiah Royce , Ernst Mach , John Dewey , Macedonio Fernández , Walter Lippmann , Mark Twain , Horatio Alger , G. Stanley Hall , Henri Bergson , Carl Jung , Jane Addams and Sigmund Freud . James spent almost all of his academic career at Harvard. He
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#17327808763753432-449: A position that was controversial. An 1868 review posited that Beard's and Rockwell's knowledge of the scientific method was suspect and did not believe their claims to be warranted. William James was diagnosed with neurasthenia, which he nicknamed "Americanitis", and was quoted as saying, "I take it that no man is educated who has never dallied with the thought of suicide." In 1895, Sigmund Freud reviewed electrotherapy and declared it
3588-447: A professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University and the co-founder of Psychological Review , was the first professor of psychology in the United States . The German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus , a researcher at the University of Berlin , was a 19th-century contributor to the field. He pioneered the experimental study of memory and developed quantitative models of learning and forgetting. In
3744-697: A psychologist and political activist has applied a black, feminist, and class lens to all her psychological studies. Aiding progressive and women's issues, she has been the executive director for many NGOs. In 2007 she became the Senior Director of the Women's Programs Office of the American Psychological Association. Therefore, she was one of the creators of the APA's "Women in Psychology Timeline" which features
3900-522: A religion established by Russian-American philosopher Helena Blavatsky , drew inspiration from these doctrines during her time in British India . Psychology was of interest to Enlightenment thinkers in Europe. In Germany, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) applied his principles of calculus to the mind, arguing that mental activity took place on an indivisible continuum. He suggested that
4056-434: A sea change of opinion, away from mentalism and towards "behavioralism." In 1913, John B. Watson coined the term behaviorism for this school of thought. Watson's famous Little Albert experiment in 1920 was at first thought to demonstrate that repeated use of upsetting loud noises could instill phobias (aversions to other stimuli) in an infant human, although such a conclusion was likely an exaggeration. Karl Lashley ,
4212-666: A significant influence on psychology in China. Chancellor T'sai Yuan-p'ei introduced him at Peking University as a greater thinker than Confucius. Kuo Zing-yang who received a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, became President of Zhejiang University and popularized behaviorism . After the Chinese Communist Party gained control of the country, the Stalinist Soviet Union became
4368-855: A significant worker in the Erie Canal project and helping Albany become a major center of trade, he then became the first vice-president of the Albany Savings Bank. William James (grandfather) went from being a poor Irish immigrant to one of the richest men in New York. After his death, his son Henry James inherited his fortune and lived in Europe and the United States searching for the meaning of life. Of James' five children, two—Margaret and Alexander—are known to have had children. Descendants of Alexander are still living. William James wrote voluminously throughout his life. A non-exhaustive bibliography of his writings, compiled by John McDermott ,
4524-678: A time at Imperial University in Japan, with publications such as Clairvoyance and Thoughtography by Tomokichi Fukurai, but it was mostly shunned by 1913. As a discipline, psychology has long sought to fend off accusations that it is a "soft" science . Philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn 's 1962 critique implied psychology overall was in a pre-paradigm state, lacking agreement on the type of overarching theory found in mature hard sciences such as chemistry and physics. Because some areas of psychology rely on research methods such as self-reports in surveys and questionnaires, critics asserted that psychology
4680-450: A total of 100,000 individual members. At least 30 other international organizations represent psychologists in different regions. In some places, governments legally regulate who can provide psychological services or represent themselves as a "psychologist." The APA defines a psychologist as someone with a doctoral degree in psychology. Early practitioners of experimental psychology distinguished themselves from parapsychology , which in
4836-474: A variety of psychological symptoms which were diagnosed at the time as neurasthenia , and which included periods of depression during which he contemplated suicide for months on end. Two younger brothers, Garth Wilkinson ( Wilkie ) and Robertson (Bob), fought in the American Civil War . James himself was an advocate of peace. He suggested that instead of youth serving in the military that they serve
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4992-419: A view if its conception of truth is analyzed and justified through interpretation, pragmatically. As a matter of fact, James's whole philosophy is of productive beliefs. Belief in anything involves conceiving of how it is real, but disbelief is the result when we dismiss something because it contradicts another thing we think of as real. In his "Sentiment of Rationality", saying that crucial beliefs are not known
5148-446: A wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior. Typically the latter group of psychologists work in academic settings (e.g., universities, medical schools, or hospitals). Another group of psychologists is employed in industrial and organizational settings. Yet others are involved in work on human development , aging, sports , health, forensic science , education , and the media . The word psychology derives from
5304-583: Is nervosism . The condition was explained as being a result of exhaustion of the central nervous system 's energy reserves, which Beard attributed to modern civilization. Physicians in the Beard school of thought associated neurasthenia with the stresses of urbanization and with stress suffered as a result of the increasingly competitive business environment. Typically, it was associated with upper class people and with professionals working in sedentary occupations, but really can apply to anyone who lives within
5460-600: Is 47 pages long. He gained widespread recognition with his monumental The Principles of Psychology (1890), totaling twelve hundred pages in two volumes, which took twelve years to complete. Psychology: The Briefer Course , was an 1892 abridgement designed as a less rigorous introduction to the field. These works criticized both the English associationist school and the Hegelianism of his day as competing dogmatisms of little explanatory value, and sought to re-conceive
5616-512: Is a cross-disciplinary, holistic model that concerns the ways in which interrelationships of biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors affect health and behavior. Evolutionary psychology approaches thought and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. This perspective suggests that psychological adaptations evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments. Evolutionary psychologists attempt to find out how human psychological traits are evolved adaptations,
5772-513: Is important, and differs from the sum of its parts. Psychologists in Germany, Denmark, Austria, England, and the United States soon followed Wundt in setting up laboratories. G. Stanley Hall , an American who studied with Wundt, founded a psychology lab that became internationally influential. The lab was located at Johns Hopkins University . Hall, in turn, trained Yujiro Motora , who brought experimental psychology, emphasizing psychophysics, to
5928-657: Is indifferent) and so on indefinitely. The "facts" themselves meanwhile are not true. They simply are. Truth is the function of the beliefs that start and terminate among them. Richard Rorty made the contested claim that James did not mean to give a theory of truth with this statement and that we should not regard it as such. However, other pragmatism scholars such as Susan Haack and Howard Mounce do not share Rorty's instrumentalist interpretation of James. In The Meaning of Truth (1909), James seems to speak of truth in relativistic terms, in reference to critics of pragmatism: "The critic's trouble … seems to come from his taking
6084-616: Is no longer included as a diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association 's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . The condition is, however, described in the Chinese Society of Psychiatry 's Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders . Americans were said to be particularly prone to neurasthenia, which resulted in the nickname " Americanitis " (popularized by William James ). Another (albeit rarely used) term for neurasthenia
6240-413: Is not an objective science. Skeptics have suggested that personality, thinking, and emotion cannot be directly measured and are often inferred from subjective self-reports, which may be problematic. Experimental psychologists have devised a variety of ways to indirectly measure these elusive phenomenological entities. Divisions still exist within the field, with some psychologists more oriented towards
6396-506: Is that a large part of both human and lower-animal behavior is learned. A principle associated with behavioral research is that the mechanisms involved in learning apply to humans and non-human animals. Behavioral researchers have developed a treatment known as behavior modification , which is used to help individuals replace undesirable behaviors with desirable ones. Early behavioral researchers studied stimulus–response pairings, now known as classical conditioning . They demonstrated that when
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6552-541: Is that it was actually dysautonomia , an "imbalance" of the autonomic nervous system . Barbara Ehrenreich , restating James's view, considered that neurasthenia was caused by the Calvinist gloom, and it was helped by the New Thought , through replacing the "puritanical 'demand for perpetual effort and self-examination to the point of self-loathing'" with a more hopeful faith. The medical term neurasthenia
6708-405: Is the scientific study of mind and behavior . Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts , feelings , and motives . Psychology is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences . Biological psychologists seek an understanding of
6864-429: Is to doubt their truth, even if it seems possible. James names four "postulates of rationality" as valuable but unknowable: God, immorality, freedom, and moral duty. In contrast, the weak side to pragmatism is that the best justification for a claim is whether it works. However, a claim that does not have outcomes cannot be justified, or unjustified, because it will not make a difference. Psychology Psychology
7020-495: Is translated as Chinese shenjing shuairuo ( simplified Chinese : 神经衰弱 ; traditional Chinese : 神經衰弱 ; pinyin : shénjīng shuāiruò ; Cantonese Yale : sàhngīng sēuiyeuhk ) or Japanese shinkei-suijaku (神経衰弱), both of which also translate the common term nervous breakdown . This loanword combines shenjing ( 神經 ) or shinkei ( 神経 ) "nerve(s); nervous" and shuairuo or suijaku ( 衰弱 ) "weakness; feebleness; debility; asthenia ". Despite being removed from
7176-400: Is verifiable through its correspondence to reality, and its observable effects of putting the idea to practice. For example, James extends his Pragmatism to the hypothesis of God: "On pragmatic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true. … The problem is to build it out and determine it so that it will combine satisfactorily with all
7332-529: The Gemeinschaft ." Psychologists were to provide Seelenführung [lit., soul guidance], the leadership of the mind, to integrate people into the new vision of a German community. Harald Schultz-Hencke melded psychology with the Nazi theory of biology and racial origins, criticizing psychoanalysis as a study of the weak and deformed. Johannes Heinrich Schultz , a German psychologist recognized for developing
7488-737: The North American Review . James finally earned his MD degree in June 1869 but he never practiced medicine. What he called his "soul-sickness" would only be resolved in 1872, after an extended period of philosophical searching. He married Alice Gibbens in 1878. In 1882 he joined the Theosophical Society . James's time in Germany proved intellectually fertile, helping him find that his true interests lay not in medicine but in philosophy and psychology. Later, in 1902 he would write: "I originally studied medicine in order to be
7644-984: The Psychological Review . He challenged his professional colleagues not to let a narrow mindset prevent an honest appraisal of those beliefs. In an empirical study by Haggbloom et al. using six criteria such as citations and recognition, James was found to be the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century. William James was the son of Henry James (Senior) of Albany, and Mary Robertson Walsh. He had four siblings: Henry (the novelist), Garth Wilkinson, Robertson, and Alice . William became engaged to Alice Howe Gibbens on May 10, 1878; they were married on July 10. They had 5 children: Henry (May 18, 1879 – 1947), William (June 17, 1882 – 1961), Herman (1884, died in infancy), Margaret (March 1887 – 1950) and Alexander (December 22, 1890 – 1946). Most of William James's ancestors arrived in America from Scotland or Ireland in
7800-475: The Upanishads and other Vedic texts that formed the foundations of Hinduism was the distinction between a person's transient mundane self and their eternal, unchanging soul . Divergent Hindu doctrines and Buddhism have challenged this hierarchy of selves, but have all emphasized the importance of reaching higher awareness. Yoga encompasses a range of techniques used in pursuit of this goal. Theosophy ,
7956-528: The Amazon River , but aborted his trip after eight months, as he suffered bouts of severe seasickness and mild smallpox . His studies were interrupted once again due to illness in April 1867. He traveled to Germany in search of a cure and remained there until November 1868; at that time he was 26 years old. During this period, he began to publish; reviews of his works appeared in literary periodicals such as
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#17327808763758112-515: The American Psychiatric Association 's DSM in 1980, neurasthenia is listed in an appendix as the culture-bound syndrome shenjing shuairuo as well as appearing in the ICD-10 . The condition is thought to persist in Asia as a culturally acceptable diagnosis that avoids the social stigma of a diagnosis of mental disorder . In China , traditional Chinese medicine describes shenjingshuairuo as
8268-530: The Ebers Papyrus mentioned depression and thought disorders. Historians note that Greek philosophers, including Thales , Plato , and Aristotle (especially in his De Anima treatise), addressed the workings of the mind. As early as the 4th century BC, the Greek physician Hippocrates theorized that mental disorders had physical rather than supernatural causes. In 387 BCE, Plato suggested that
8424-524: The Imperial University of Tokyo . Wundt's assistant, Hugo Münsterberg , taught psychology at Harvard to students such as Narendra Nath Sen Gupta —who, in 1905, founded a psychology department and laboratory at the University of Calcutta . Wundt's students Walter Dill Scott , Lightner Witmer , and James McKeen Cattell worked on developing tests of mental ability. Cattell, who also studied with eugenicist Francis Galton , went on to found
8580-584: The International Journal of Psychology . IAAP and IUPsyS agreed in 1976 each to hold a congress every four years, on a staggered basis. IUPsyS recognizes 66 national psychology associations and at least 15 others exist. The American Psychological Association is the oldest and largest. Its membership has increased from 5,000 in 1945 to 100,000 in the present day. The APA includes 54 divisions , which since 1960 have steadily proliferated to include more specialties. Some of these divisions, such as
8736-629: The Psychological Corporation . Witmer focused on the mental testing of children; Scott, on employee selection. Another student of Wundt, the Englishman Edward Titchener , created the psychology program at Cornell University and advanced " structuralist " psychology. The idea behind structuralism was to analyze and classify different aspects of the mind, primarily through the method of introspection . William James, John Dewey , and Harvey Carr advanced
8892-804: The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and the American Psychology–Law Society , began as autonomous groups. The Interamerican Psychological Society , founded in 1951, aspires to promote psychology across the Western Hemisphere. It holds the Interamerican Congress of Psychology and had 1,000 members in year 2000. The European Federation of Professional Psychology Associations, founded in 1981, represents 30 national associations with
9048-582: The Weber–Fechner law . Fechner's 1860 Elements of Psychophysics challenged Kant's negative view with regard to conducting quantitative research on the mind. Fechner's achievement was to show that "mental processes could not only be given numerical magnitudes, but also that these could be measured by experimental methods." In Heidelberg, Hermann von Helmholtz conducted parallel research on sensory perception, and trained physiologist Wilhelm Wundt . Wundt, in turn, came to Leipzig University, where he established
9204-399: The emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience . As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups. A professional practitioner or researcher involved in the discipline is called a psychologist . Some psychologists can also be classified as behavioral or cognitive scientists . Some psychologists attempt to understand
9360-421: The monetary system . Freud included a variety of physical symptoms into this category, including fatigue, dyspepsia with flatulence , and indications of intra-cranial pressure and spinal irritation. In common with some other people of the time , he believed this condition to be due to "non-completed coitus" or the non-completion of the higher cultural correlate thereof, or to "infrequency of emissions" or
9516-434: The societal norms and roles they are assigned. As she states in her article, "Variability as related to sex differences in achievement: A Critique", the largest problem women have is the social order that was built due to the assumption women have less interests and abilities than men. To further prove her point, she completed another experiment with infants who have not been influenced by the environment of social norms, like
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#17327808763759672-509: The 1870s, when in France Paul Broca traced production of speech to the left frontal gyrus, thereby also demonstrating hemispheric lateralization of brain function. Soon after, Carl Wernicke identified a related area necessary for the understanding of speech. The contemporary field of behavioral neuroscience focuses on the physical basis of behavior. Behaviorial neuroscientists use animal models, often relying on rats, to study
9828-456: The 18th century. Many of them settled in eastern New York or New Jersey. All of James's ancestors were Protestant, well educated, and of character. Within their communities, they worked as farmers, merchants, and traders who were all heavily involved with their church. The last ancestor to arrive in America was William James's paternal grandfather also named William James. He came to America from Ballyjamesduff , County Cavan, Ireland in 1789 when he
9984-634: The 1910s and 1920s, eugenics became a standard topic in psychology classes. In contrast to the US, in the UK psychology was met with antagonism by the scientific and medical establishments, and up until 1939, there were only six psychology chairs in universities in England. During World War II and the Cold War, the U.S. military and intelligence agencies established themselves as leading funders of psychology by way of
10140-469: The 1940s. These tests, called the doll tests , asked young children to choose between identical dolls whose only difference was race, and they found that the majority of the children preferred the white dolls and attributed positive traits to them. Repeated over and over again, these tests helped to determine the negative effects of racial discrimination and segregation on black children's self-image and development. In 1954, this research would help decide
10296-637: The 20th century further diversified the field of psychology, with women of color reaching new milestones. In 1962, Martha Bernal became the first Latina woman to get a Ph.D. in psychology. In 1969, Marigold Linton , the first Native American woman to get a Ph.D. in psychology, founded the National Indian Education Association . She was also a founding member of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science . In 1971, The Network of Indian Psychologists
10452-409: The 20th century, eventually coming to be seen as a mental and behavioural rather than physical condition. Neurasthenia had largely been abandoned as a medical diagnosis by the 21st century, and is deprecated in the ICD-11 classification system of the World Health Organization . The earlier ICD-10 system categorized neurasthenia under "F48 – Other neurotic disorders". Under "F48.0 Neurasthenia",
10608-471: The APA's Distinguished Career Contribution to Research Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture Ethnicity, and Race for her research on suicide prevention . She was the first person to lead an intervention for Native American children and adolescents that utilized evidence-based suicide prevention. She has spent her career dedicated to aiding racial and ethnic minority youth cope with cultural adjustment and pressures. Dr. Shari Miles-Cohen,
10764-453: The Army's Project Camelot , the "Manhattan Project" of social science , an effort which enlisted psychologists and anthropologists to analyze the plans and policies of foreign countries for strategic purposes. In Germany after World War I, psychology held institutional power through the military, which was subsequently expanded along with the rest of the military during Nazi Germany . Under
10920-518: The Greek word psyche , for spirit or soul . The latter part of the word psychology derives from -λογία -logia , which means "study" or "research". The word psychology was first used in the Renaissance. In its Latin form psychiologia , it was first employed by the Croatian humanist and Latinist Marko Marulić in his book Psichiologia de ratione animae humanae ( Psychology, on
11076-548: The Institute of Psychology. Because most leading psychologists were educated in the United States, the first concern of the academy was the re-education of these psychologists in the Soviet doctrines. Child psychology and pedagogy for the purpose of a nationally cohesive education remained a central goal of the discipline. Women in the early 1900s started to make key findings within the world of psychology. In 1923, Anna Freud ,
11232-712: The Nature of the Human Soul ) in the decade 1510–1520 The earliest known reference to the word psychology in English was by Steven Blankaart in 1694 in The Physical Dictionary . The dictionary refers to " Anatomy , which treats the Body, and Psychology, which treats of the Soul." Ψ ( psi ) , the first letter of the Greek word psyche from which the term psychology is derived, is commonly associated with
11388-469: The Prussian state established psychology as a mandatory discipline in its rapidly expanding and highly influential educational system . However, this discipline did not yet embrace experimentation. In England, early psychology involved phrenology and the response to social problems including alcoholism, violence, and the country's crowded "lunatic" asylums. Philosopher John Stuart Mill believed that
11544-633: The Rockefeller Foundation, Mitscherlich established the first clinical psychosomatic medicine division at Heidelberg University. In 1970, psychology was integrated into the required studies of medical students. After the Russian Revolution , the Bolsheviks promoted psychology as a way to engineer the "New Man" of socialism. Consequently, university psychology departments trained large numbers of students in psychology. At
11700-491: The Soviet Union and inspired followers to use his methods on humans. In the United States, Edward Lee Thorndike initiated " connectionist " studies by trapping animals in "puzzle boxes" and rewarding them for escaping. Thorndike wrote in 1911, "There can be no moral warrant for studying man's nature unless the study will enable us to control his acts." From 1910 to 1913 the American Psychological Association went through
11856-402: The Soviet Union. Stalinist purges took a heavy toll and instilled a climate of fear in the profession, as elsewhere in Soviet society. Following World War II, Jewish psychologists past and present, including Lev Vygotsky , A.R. Luria , and Aron Zalkind, were denounced; Ivan Pavlov (posthumously) and Stalin himself were celebrated as heroes of Soviet psychology. Soviet academics experienced
12012-614: The U.S.'s entry into World War I. A standing committee headed by Robert Yerkes administered mental tests (" Army Alpha " and " Army Beta ") to almost 1.8 million soldiers. Subsequently, the Rockefeller family , via the Social Science Research Council , began to provide funding for behavioral research. Rockefeller charities funded the National Committee on Mental Hygiene, which disseminated
12168-700: The World's Fair celebrating the centennial of the French Revolution. William James was one of three Americans among the 400 attendees. The American Psychological Association (APA) was founded soon after, in 1892. The International Congress continued to be held at different locations in Europe and with wide international participation. The Sixth Congress, held in Geneva in 1909, included presentations in Russian, Chinese, and Japanese, as well as Esperanto . After
12324-600: The accomplishments of women of color in psychology. She is well known for co-editing Eliminating Inequities for Women with Disabilities: An Agenda for Health and Wellness (published in 2016), her article published in the Women's Reproductive Health Journal about women of color's struggle with pregnancy and postpartum (Published in 2018), and co-authoring the "APA Handbook of the Psychology of Women" (published in 2019). In 1920, Édouard Claparède and Pierre Bovet created
12480-406: The adult male getting more opportunities than women. She found no difference between infants besides size. After this research proved the original hypothesis wrong, Hollingworth was able to show there is no difference between the physiological and psychological traits of men and women, and women are not impaired during menstruation . The first half of the 1900s was filled with new theories and it
12636-620: The application of biological principles to the study of physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying behavior in humans and other animals. The allied field of comparative psychology is the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals. A leading question in behavioral neuroscience has been whether and how mental functions are localized in the brain . From Phineas Gage to H.M. and Clive Wearing , individual people with mental deficits traceable to physical brain damage have inspired new discoveries in this area. Modern behavioral neuroscience could be said to originate in
12792-625: The armed forces and in the new Office of Strategic Services intelligence agency. University of Michigan psychologist Dorwin Cartwright reported that university researchers began large-scale propaganda research in 1939–1941. He observed that "the last few months of the war saw a social psychologist become chiefly responsible for determining the week-by-week-propaganda policy for the United States Government." Cartwright also wrote that psychologists had significant roles in managing
12948-501: The auspices of rest cure doctors, much as Gilman herself did. Marcel Proust was said to suffer from neurasthenia. To capitalize on this epidemic, the Rexall drug company introduced a medication called "Americanitis Elixir" which claimed to be a soother for any bouts related to neurasthenia. Beard, with his partner A.D. Rockwell , advocated first electrotherapy and then increasingly experimental treatments for people with neurasthenia,
13104-541: The belief women are mentally and physically impaired during menstruation , impacted women's rights because employers were less likely to hire them due to the belief they would be incapable of working for 1 week a month. Leta Stetter Hollingworth wanted to prove this hypothesis and Edward L. Thorndike's theory, that women have lesser psychological and physical traits than men and were simply mediocre, incorrect. Hollingworth worked to prove differences were not from male genetic superiority, but from culture. She also included
13260-573: The brain advanced during the Qing dynasty with the work of Western-educated Fang Yizhi (1611–1671), Liu Zhi (1660–1730), and Wang Qingren (1768–1831). Wang Qingren emphasized the importance of the brain as the center of the nervous system, linked mental disorder with brain diseases, investigated the causes of dreams and insomnia , and advanced a theory of hemispheric lateralization in brain function. Influenced by Hinduism , Indian philosophy explored distinctions in types of awareness. A central idea of
13416-401: The brain is where mental processes take place, and in 335 BCE Aristotle suggested that it was the heart. In China, psychological understanding grew from the philosophical works of Laozi and Confucius , and later from the doctrines of Buddhism . This body of knowledge involves insights drawn from introspection and observation, as well as techniques for focused thinking and acting. It frames
13572-442: The brother of both the prominent novelist Henry James and the diarist Alice James . James trained as a physician and taught anatomy at Harvard, but never practiced medicine. Instead, he pursued his interests in psychology and then philosophy. He wrote widely on many topics, including epistemology , education, metaphysics , psychology , religion, and mysticism . Among his most influential books are The Principles of Psychology ,
13728-645: The characteristics of the disorder differ among various cultures. Two overlapping symptoms can be present: Increased fatigue after mental exertion can be associated with a reduction in cognitive function. Minimal physical effort might be felt as extreme fatigue along with pain and anxiety. Many other symptoms of bodily discomfort may be felt with either form. Excluded from this disorder are: asthenia NOS (R53), burn-out (Z73.0), malaise and fatigue (R53), postviral fatigue syndrome (includes myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)) (G93.3) and psychasthenia (F48.8). One modern theory of neurasthenia
13884-540: The classic problems of politics: how to sustain political unity and civic virtue in the absence of war or a credible threat", and which "sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation". In simple terms, his philosophy and writings can be understood as an emphasis on "fruits over roots," a reflection of his pragmatist tendency to focus on the practical consequences of ideas rather than become mired in unproductive metaphysical arguments or fruitless attempts to ground truth in abstract ways. Ever
14040-549: The completion of training, positions were made available for those students at schools, workplaces, cultural institutions, and in the military. The Russian state emphasized pedology and the study of child development. Lev Vygotsky became prominent in the field of child development. The Bolsheviks also promoted free love and embraced the doctrine of psychoanalysis as an antidote to sexual repression. Although pedology and intelligence testing fell out of favor in 1936, psychology maintained its privileged position as an instrument of
14196-667: The concept of mental illness and lobbied for applying ideas from psychology to child rearing. Through the Bureau of Social Hygiene and later funding of Alfred Kinsey , Rockefeller foundations helped establish research on sexuality in the U.S. Under the influence of the Carnegie-funded Eugenics Record Office , the Draper-funded Pioneer Fund , and other institutions, the eugenics movement also influenced American psychology. In
14352-432: The concept of women's impairment during menstruation in her research. She recorded both women and men performances on tasks (cognitive, perceptual, and motor) for three months. No evidence was found of decreased performance due to a woman's menstrual cycle. She also challenged the belief intelligence is inherited and women here are intellectually inferior to men. She stated that women do not reach positions of power due to
14508-411: The concepts of "agreement" and "reality", the last reasoning before thoughts settle and become autonomous for us. However, he contrasts this by supporting a more practical interpretation that: a true idea or belief is one that we can blend with our thinking so that it can be justified through experiences. If theological ideas prove to have a value for concrete life, they will be true, for pragmatism, in
14664-405: The daughter of Sigmund Freud , built on her father's work using different defense mechanisms (denial, repression, and suppression) to psychoanalyze children. She believed that once a child reached the latency period , child analysis could be used as a mode of therapy . She stated it is important focus on the child's environment, support their development, and prevent neurosis . She believed
14820-451: The difference between conscious and unconscious awareness is only a matter of degree. Christian Wolff identified psychology as its own science, writing Psychologia Empirica in 1732 and Psychologia Rationalis in 1734. Immanuel Kant advanced the idea of anthropology as a discipline, with psychology an important subdivision. Kant, however, explicitly rejected the idea of an experimental psychology , writing that "the empirical doctrine of
14976-692: The direction of Hermann Göring 's cousin Matthias Göring , the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute was renamed the Göring Institute. Freudian psychoanalysts were expelled and persecuted under the anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi Party , and all psychologists had to distance themselves from Freud and Adler , founders of psychoanalysis who were also Jewish. The Göring Institute was well-financed throughout
15132-596: The domestic economy. The Army rolled out its new General Classification Test to assess the ability of millions of soldiers. The Army also engaged in large-scale psychological research of troop morale and mental health . In the 1950s, the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation collaborated with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to fund research on psychological warfare . In 1965, public controversy called attention to
15288-465: The early 20th century, Wolfgang Kohler , Max Wertheimer , and Kurt Koffka co-founded the school of Gestalt psychology of Fritz Perls . The approach of Gestalt psychology is based upon the idea that individuals experience things as unified wholes. Rather than reducing thoughts and behavior into smaller component elements, as in structuralism, the Gestaltists maintained that whole of experience
15444-442: The empiricist, James believes we are better off evaluating the fruitfulness of ideas by testing them in the common ground of lived experience. James was remembered as one of America's representative thinkers, psychologist, and philosopher. William James was also an influential writer on religion, psychical research, and self-help. James defined true beliefs as those that prove useful to the believer. His pragmatic theory of truth
15600-612: The establishment of university psychology departments and journals, and the establishment of groups including the Chinese Association of Psychological Testing (1930) and the Chinese Psychological Society (1937). Chinese psychologists were encouraged to focus on education and language learning. Chinese psychologists were drawn to the idea that education would enable modernization. John Dewey, who lectured to Chinese audiences between 1919 and 1921, had
15756-403: The field of psychology. In 1890, William James defined psychology as "the science of mental life, both of its phenomena and their conditions." This definition enjoyed widespread currency for decades. However, this meaning was contested, notably by radical behaviorists such as John B. Watson , who in 1913 asserted that the discipline is a natural science , the theoretical goal of which "is
15912-741: The field, female psychologists in the U.S. formed the National Council of Women Psychologists in 1941. This organization became the International Council of Women Psychologists after World War II and the International Council of Psychologists in 1959. Several associations including the Association of Black Psychologists and the Asian American Psychological Association have arisen to promote the inclusion of non-European racial groups in
16068-399: The form of a simple story: A live squirrel supposed to be clinging on one side of a tree-trunk; while over against the tree's opposite side a human being was imagined to stand. This human witness tries to get sight of the squirrel by moving rapidly round the tree, but no matter how fast he goes, the squirrel moves as fast in the opposite direction, and always keeps the tree between himself and
16224-495: The founder of experimental psychology. James also developed the philosophical perspective known as radical empiricism . James's work has influenced philosophers and academics such as Alan Watts , W. E. B. Du Bois , Edmund Husserl , Bertrand Russell , Ludwig Wittgenstein , Hilary Putnam , and Richard Rorty . Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James Sr. and
16380-410: The function of giving human satisfaction in marrying previous parts of experience with newer parts played no role whatsoever, is nowhere to be found. The reasons why we call things true is the reason why they are true, for "to be true" means only to perform this marriage-function. James held a world view in line with pragmatism , declaring that the value of any truth was utterly dependent upon its use to
16536-537: The human mind as inherently purposive and selective. President Jimmy Carter's Moral Equivalent of War Speech , on April 17, 1977, equating the United States' 1970s energy crisis , oil crisis, and the changes and sacrifices Carter's proposed plans would require with the "moral equivalent of war", may have borrowed its title and much of its theme from James's classic essay "The Moral Equivalent of War" derived from his last speech, delivered at Stanford University in 1906, and published in 1910, in which "James considered one of
16692-503: The human mind was open to scientific investigation, even if the science is in some ways inexact. Mill proposed a "mental chemistry " in which elementary thoughts could combine into ideas of greater complexity. Gustav Fechner began conducting psychophysics research in Leipzig in the 1830s. He articulated the principle that human perception of a stimulus varies logarithmically according to its intensity. The principle became known as
16848-665: The idea of functionalism , an expansive approach to psychology that underlined the Darwinian idea of a behavior's usefulness to the individual. In 1890, James wrote an influential book, The Principles of Psychology , which expanded on the structuralism. He memorably described " stream of consciousness ." James's ideas interested many American students in the emerging discipline. Dewey integrated psychology with societal concerns, most notably by promoting progressive education , inculcating moral values in children, and assimilating immigrants. A different strain of experimentalism, with
17004-410: The infrequent practice of the higher cultural correlate thereof. Later, Freud formulated that in cases of coitus interruptus as well as in cases of masturbation, there was "an insufficient libidinal discharge" that had a poisoning effect on the organism, in other words, neurasthenia was the result of (auto‑)intoxication. Eventually he separated it from anxiety neurosis , though he believed that
17160-483: The landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, leading to the end of legal segregation across the nation. Clark went on to be an influential figure in psychology, her work continuing to focus on minority youth. As the field of psychology developed throughout the latter half of the 20th century, women in the field advocated for their voices to be heard and their perspectives to be valued. Second-wave feminism did not miss psychology. An outspoken feminist in psychology
17316-413: The late 1890s. His students enjoyed his brilliance and his manner of teaching was free of personal arrogance. They remember him for his kindness and humble attitude. His respectful attitude towards them speaks well of his character. Following his January 1907 retirement from Harvard, James continued to write and lecture, publishing Pragmatism , A Pluralistic Universe , and The Meaning of Truth . James
17472-418: The late nineteenth century enjoyed popularity (including the interest of scholars such as William James). Some people considered parapsychology to be part of "psychology". Parapsychology, hypnotism , and psychism were major topics at the early International Congresses. But students of these fields were eventually ostracized, and more or less banished from the Congress in 1900–1905. Parapsychology persisted for
17628-539: The literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics. William James received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French. Education in the James household encouraged cosmopolitanism . The family made two trips to Europe while William James
17784-399: The major influence, with Marxism–Leninism the leading social doctrine and Pavlovian conditioning the approved means of behavior change. Chinese psychologists elaborated on Lenin's model of a "reflective" consciousness, envisioning an "active consciousness" ( pinyin : tzu-chueh neng-tung-li ) able to transcend material conditions through hard work and ideological struggle. They developed
17940-463: The man occupies the space facing the squirrel's belly, back and sides. Depending on what the debaters meant by "going round", the answer would be clear. From this example James derives the definition of the pragmatic method : to settle metaphysical disputes, one must simply make a distinction of practical consequences between notions, then, the answer is either clear, or the "dispute is idle". Both James and his colleague, Charles Sanders Peirce , coined
18096-408: The man, so that never a glimpse of him is caught. The resultant metaphysical problem now is this: Does the man go round the squirrel or not? James solves the issue by making a distinction between practical meaning. That is, the distinction between meanings of "round". Round in the sense that the man occupies the space north, east, south, and west of the squirrel; and round in the sense that
18252-469: The mind of the observer and the act of observation affect any empirical approach to truth. The mind, its experiences, and nature are inseparable. James's emphasis on diversity as the default human condition—over and against duality, especially Hegelian dialectical duality—has maintained a strong influence in American culture. James's description of the mind-world connection, which he described in terms of
18408-415: The neural, genetic, and cellular mechanisms that underlie behaviors involved in learning, memory, and fear responses. Cognitive neuroscientists , by using neural imaging tools, investigate the neural correlates of psychological processes in humans. Neuropsychologists conduct psychological assessments to determine how an individual's behavior and cognition are related to the brain. The biopsychosocial model
18564-508: The other working truths." From this, we also know that "new" truths must also correspond to already existent truths as well. From the introduction by Bruce Kuklick (1981, p. xiv) to James's Pragmatism : James went on to apply the pragmatic method to the epistemological problem of truth. He would seek the meaning of "true" by examining how the idea functioned in our lives. A belief was true, he said, if it worked for all of us, and guided us expeditiously through our semihospitable world. James
18720-402: The person who held it. Additional tenets of James's pragmatism include the view that the world is a mosaic of diverse experiences that can only be properly interpreted and understood through an application of " radical empiricism ". Radical empiricism , not related to the everyday scientific empiricism , asserts that the world and experience can never be halted for an entirely objective analysis;
18876-471: The philosophical school known as pragmatism , and is also cited as one of the founders of functional psychology . A Review of General Psychology analysis, published in 2002, ranked James as the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century. A survey published in American Psychologist in 1991 ranked James's reputation in second place, after Wilhelm Wundt , who is widely regarded as
19032-484: The pragmatic theory of truth applied Darwinian ideas in philosophy; it made survival the test of intellectual as well as biological fitness . James's book of lectures on pragmatism is arguably the most influential book of American philosophy . The lectures inside depict his position on the subject. In his sixth lecture, he begins by defining truth as "agreement with reality". With this, James warns that there will be disagreements between pragmatics and intellectualists over
19188-453: The prediction and control of behavior." Since James defined "psychology", the term more strongly implicates scientific experimentation. Folk psychology is the understanding of the mental states and behaviors of people held by ordinary people , as contrasted with psychology professionals' understanding. The ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China, India, and Persia all engaged in the philosophical study of psychology. In Ancient Egypt
19344-616: The profession. The International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) is the world federation of national psychological societies. The IUPsyS was founded in 1951 under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) . Psychology departments have since proliferated around the world, based primarily on the Euro-American model. Since 1966, the Union has published
19500-494: The psychological laboratory that brought experimental psychology to the world. Wundt focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components, motivated in part by an analogy to recent advances in chemistry, and its successful investigation of the elements and structure of materials. Paul Flechsig and Emil Kraepelin soon created another influential laboratory at Leipzig, a psychology-related lab, that focused more on experimental psychiatry. James McKeen Cattell ,
19656-403: The public in a term of service, "to get the childishness knocked out of them." The other three siblings (William, Henry, and Alice James) all suffered from periods of invalidism . He took up medical studies at Harvard Medical School in 1864 (according to his brother Henry James , the author). He took a break in the spring of 1865 to join naturalist Louis Agassiz on a scientific expedition up
19812-514: The results of natural selection or sexual selection over the course of human evolution. The history of the biological foundations of psychology includes evidence of racism. The idea of white supremacy and indeed the modern concept of race itself arose during the process of world conquest by Europeans. Carl von Linnaeus 's four-fold classification of humans classifies Europeans as intelligent and severe, Americans as contented and free, Asians as ritualistic, and Africans as lazy and capricious. Race
19968-550: The role of mental functions in individual and social behavior . Others explore the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie cognitive functions and behaviors. Psychologists are involved in research on perception , cognition , attention , emotion , intelligence , subjective experiences , motivation , brain functioning , and personality . Psychologists' interests extend to interpersonal relationships , psychological resilience , family resilience , and other areas within social psychology . They also consider
20124-492: The second half of the 20th century continued to do research that had large-scale impacts on the field of psychology. Mary Ainsworth 's work centered around attachment theory . Building off fellow psychologist John Bowlby , Ainsworth spent years doing fieldwork to understand the development of mother-infant relationships. In doing this field research, Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation Procedure,
20280-439: The sense of being good for so much. For how much more they are true, will depend entirely on their relations to the other truths that also have to be acknowledged. Whereby the agreement of truths with "reality" results in useful outcomes, "the 'reality' with which truths must agree has three dimensions": According to James's pragmatic approach to belief, knowledge is commonly viewed as a justified and true belief. James will accept
20436-424: The soul can also never approach chemistry even as a systematic art of analysis or experimental doctrine, for in it the manifold of inner observation can be separated only by mere division in thought, and cannot then be held separate and recombined at will (but still less does another thinking subject suffer himself to be experimented upon to suit our purpose), and even observation by itself already changes and displaces
20592-417: The stage for further research to be done in social psychology , especially in gender construction . Other women in the field also continued advocating for women in psychology, creating the Association for Women in Psychology to criticize how the field treated women. E. Kitsch Child , Phyllis Chesler , and Dorothy Riddle were some of the founding members of the organization in 1969. The latter half of
20748-621: The state of the observed object." In 1783, Ferdinand Ueberwasser (1752–1812) designated himself Professor of Empirical Psychology and Logic and gave lectures on scientific psychology, though these developments were soon overshadowed by the Napoleonic Wars . At the end of the Napoleonic era, Prussian authorities discontinued the Old University of Münster. Having consulted philosophers Hegel and Herbart , however, in 1825
20904-427: The technique of autogenic training , prominently advocated sterilization and euthanasia of men considered genetically undesirable, and devised techniques for facilitating this process. After the war, new institutions were created although some psychologists, because of their Nazi affiliation, were discredited. Alexander Mitscherlich founded a prominent applied psychoanalysis journal called Psyche . With funding from
21060-399: The term " cash value ": When he said that the whole meaning of a (clear) conception consists in the entire set of its practical consequences, he had in mind that a meaningful conception must have some sort of experiential "cash value," must somehow be capable of being related to some sort of collection of possible empirical observations under specifiable conditions. A statement's truthfulness
21216-722: The unconscious mind. Research psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational relationships between psychosocial variables . Some, but not all, clinical and counseling psychologists rely on symbolic interpretation . While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental health problems, it is also directed towards understanding and solving problems in several spheres of human activity. By many accounts, psychology ultimately aims to benefit society. Many psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing psychotherapy in clinical, counseling, or school settings. Other psychologists conduct scientific research on
21372-459: The unique experiences of individual humans, which cannot be understood only as data points within a larger population. Critics inside and outside the field have argued that mainstream psychology has become increasingly dominated by a "cult of empiricism", which limits the scope of research because investigators restrict themselves to methods derived from the physical sciences. Feminist critiques have argued that claims to scientific objectivity obscure
21528-548: The universe in term of a division of physical reality and mental reality as well as the interaction between the physical and the mental. Chinese philosophy also emphasized purifying the mind in order to increase virtue and power. An ancient text known as The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine identifies the brain as the nexus of wisdom and sensation, includes theories of personality based on yin–yang balance, and analyzes mental disorder in terms of physiological and social disequilibria. Chinese scholarship that focused on
21684-413: The values and agenda of (historically) mostly male researchers. Jean Grimshaw, for example, argues that mainstream psychological research has advanced a patriarchal agenda through its efforts to control behavior. Psychologists generally consider biology the substrate of thought and feeling, and therefore an important area of study. Behaviorial neuroscience, also known as biological psychology, involves
21840-506: The war with a mandate to create a "New German Psychotherapy." This psychotherapy aimed to align suitable Germans with the overall goals of the Reich. As described by one physician, "Despite the importance of analysis, spiritual guidance and the active cooperation of the patient represent the best way to overcome individual mental problems and to subordinate them to the requirements of the Volk and
21996-487: The word 'true' irrelatively, whereas the pragmatist always means 'true for him who experiences the workings.'" However, James responded to critics accusing him of relativism , skepticism , or agnosticism, and of believing only in relative truths. To the contrary, he supported an epistemological realism position. Pragmatism is a philosophical approach that seeks to both define truth and resolve metaphysical issues. William James demonstrates an application of his method in
22152-463: Was Naomi Weisstein , who was an accomplished researcher in psychology and neuroscience , and is perhaps best known for her paper, "Kirche, Kuche, Kinder as Scientific Law: Psychology Constructs the Female." Psychology Constructs the Female criticized the field of psychology for centering men and using biology too much to explain gender differences without taking into account social factors. Her work set
22308-418: Was 18 years old. There is suspicion that he fled to America because his family tried to force him into the ministry. After traveling to America with no money left, he found a job at a store as a clerk. After continuously working, he was able to own the store himself. As he traveled west to find more job opportunities, he was involved in various jobs such as the salt industry and the Erie Canal project. After being
22464-670: Was a synthesis of correspondence theory of truth and coherence theory of truth , with an added dimension. Truth is verifiable to the extent that thoughts and statements correspond with actual things, as well as the extent to which they "hang together", or cohere, as pieces of a puzzle might fit together; these are in turn verified by the observed results of the application of an idea to actual practice. The most ancient parts of truth … also once were plastic. They also were called true for human reasons. They also mediated between still earlier truths and what in those days were novel observations. Purely objective truth, truth in whose establishment
22620-607: Was a turning point for women's recognition within the field of psychology. In addition to the contributions made by Leta Stetter Hollingworth and Anna Freud , Mary Whiton Calkins invented the paired associates technique of studying memory and developed self-psychology . Karen Horney developed the concept of " womb envy " and neurotic needs. Psychoanalyst Melanie Klein impacted developmental psychology with her research of play therapy . These great discoveries and contributions were made during struggles of sexism , discrimination , and little recognition for their work. Women in
22776-479: Was also not what he wanted to do, he then announced he was going to specialize in the nervous system and psychology. James then switched in 1861 to scientific studies at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard College . In his early adulthood, James suffered from a variety of physical ailments, including those of the eyes, back, stomach, and skin. He was also tone deaf . He was subject to
22932-467: Was also used to justify the construction of socially specific mental disorders such as drapetomania and dysaesthesia aethiopica —the behavior of uncooperative African slaves. After the creation of experimental psychology, "ethnical psychology" emerged as a subdiscipline, based on the assumption that studying primitive races would provide an important link between animal behavior and the psychology of more evolved humans. A tenet of behavioral research
23088-561: Was another woman in psychology that changed the field with her research. She was one of the first African-Americans to receive a doctoral degree in psychology from Columbia University , along with her husband, Kenneth Clark . Her master's thesis, "The Development of Consciousness in Negro Pre-School Children," argued that black children's self-esteem was negatively impacted by racial discrimination . She and her husband conduced research building off her thesis throughout
23244-418: Was anxious to uncover what true beliefs amounted to in human life, what their "cash value" was, and what consequences they led to. A belief was not a mental entity which somehow mysteriously corresponded to an external reality if the belief were true. Beliefs were ways of acting with reference to a precarious environment, and to say they were true was to say they were efficacious in this environment. In this sense
23400-432: Was appointed instructor in physiology for the spring 1873 term, instructor in anatomy and physiology in 1873, assistant professor of psychology in 1876, assistant professor of philosophy in 1881, full professor in 1885, endowed chair in psychology in 1889, return to philosophy in 1897, and emeritus professor of philosophy in 1907. James studied medicine, physiology, and biology, and began to teach in those subjects, but
23556-701: Was buried in the family plot in Cambridge Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts . He was one of the strongest proponents of the school of functionalism in psychology and of pragmatism in philosophy. He was a founder of the American Society for Psychical Research , as well as a champion of alternative approaches to healing. In 1884 and 1885 he became president of the British Society for Psychical Research for which he wrote in Mind and in
23712-584: Was drawn to the scientific study of the human mind at a time when psychology was constituting itself as a science. James's acquaintance with the work of figures like Hermann Helmholtz in Germany and Pierre Janet in France facilitated his introduction of courses in scientific psychology at Harvard University . He taught his first experimental psychology course at Harvard in the 1875–1876 academic year. During his Harvard years, James joined in philosophical discussions and debates with Charles Peirce , Oliver Wendell Holmes , and Chauncey Wright that evolved into
23868-802: Was established by Carolyn Attneave . Harriet McAdoo was appointed to the White House Conference on Families in 1979. Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison , named one of Time Magazine's "Best Doctors in the United States" is a lecturer, psychologist, and writer. She is known for her vast modern contributions to bipolar disorder and her books An Unquiet Mind (Published 1995) and Nothing Was the Same (Published in 2009). Having Bipolar Disorder herself, she has written several memoirs about her experience with suicidal thoughts , manic behaviors, depression , and other issues that arise from being Bipolar . Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett views psychology through
24024-556: Was increasingly afflicted with cardiac pain during his last years. It worsened in 1909 while he worked on a philosophy text (unfinished but posthumously published as Some Problems in Philosophy ). James sailed to Europe in the spring of 1910 to take experimental treatments for his heart ailment that proved unsuccessful, and returned home on August 18. His heart failed on August 26, 1910, at his home in Chocorua, New Hampshire . He
24180-485: Was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more European journeys during his life. James wished to pursue painting, his early artistic bent led to an apprenticeship in the studio of William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island , but his father urged him to become a physician instead. Since this did not align with James's interests, he stated that he wanted to specialize in physiology. Once he figured this
24336-564: Was the rest cure , especially for women. Data from this period gleaned from the Annual Reports of Queen Square Hospital, London, indicates that the diagnosis was balanced between the sexes and had a presence within Europe. Virginia Woolf was known to have been forced to have rest cures, which she describes in her book On Being Ill . Charlotte Perkins Gilman 's protagonist in The Yellow Wallpaper also suffers under
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