History of Psychology, Ch. 10

A psychology of social action and social change

New psychological organization formed during Great Depression. Asked if psychological science had any bearing on social conflicts in America.

Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)

Founders of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.

Ross Stagner, David Krech

New constitution adopted by the APA in 1945.

To advance psychology as a science, profession, and means of promoting human welfare

Pioneered psychological experimental research on sexual differences. Made first attempt to obtain a complete statement of psychological likenesses and differences of sexes by experimental method. Concluded sexual differences seem not due to differences in average capacity nor type of mental activity, but due to differences in social influences on developing individuals.

Helen Thompson

Tested the centuries-old belief that women were impaired cognitively/emotionally each month during their menstrual cycle. Data did not reveal periodic mental or motor inefficiencies in normal women, no part of period was affected. Studied the variability hypothesis and explained differences not in terms of biology but with regard to social roles.

Leta Hollingworth

Asserted that men were more variable than women, thus in any distribution there would be more men at the high and low ends, meaning highest achievements in any field would more often belong to men. Debunked by Hollingworth.

Variability hypothesis

Psychologist whose work was influenced by escaping Nazi Germany as a Jew. Had deepened interest in problems of democratic leadership, conditions for effective individual/group growth, concern about knowledge of how human behavior could be used to deal with social problems. Considered a Gestalt psychologist. Founded the Research Center for Group Dynamics at MIT, 1945.

Kurt Lewin

Recognition that research on social problems was not enough; it was critical to discover ways to use that research to change situations and make individuals/groups/societies better.

Social action research

A holistic characterization of causality that emphasized interaction of environmental influences and individual personal factors in a person’s behavior.

Life space

Argued in the book Hereditary Genius (1869) that the black race was decidedly inferior to the white race.

Francis Galton

Labeled Blacks as an inferior race in his book Adolescence, 1904.

G. Stanley Hall

Studied reaction time across 3 racial groups (Native Americans, Blacks, whites). Found Natives had the fastest reaction time, followed by Blacks, then whites. Concluded whites were disadvantaged at the task because their brains were more contemplative, didn’t operate as quickly as primitive brains on simple tasks.

R. Meade Bache

Instances in which science is used to introduce or maintain beliefs about the superiority of a particular race.

Scientific racismUs

Used dissertation to investigate “the psychology of the Negro.” Found Black subjects were poor at abstract thought but capable in terms of sensory/motor functioning. Results suggested the type of educational effort that should be expanded upon different races.

George O. Ferguson

Cited studies on African/Mexican/Native Americans in the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test manual that indicated a higher percentage of “morons” in those groups compared to whites.

Lewis Terman

Canadian psychologist who published two important books on the psychology of race in 1935: Negro Intelligence and Selective Migration and Race Differences. Stated there was no scientific proof of racial differences in mentality, and thus they should be treated equally. Addressed the assumption that more intelligent Blacks migrated North; claimed it could be explained by favorable environment, not selective migration.

Otto Klineberg

Stated that the idea of racial differences in intelligence was a “peculiarly American obsession.”

Graham Richards

First Black to earn a doctorate, at Clark University under Hall. Dissertation research compared psychoanalytic ideas of Freud and Adler.

Francis Cecil Sumner

First Black woman to earn a PhD in psychology. Doctoral research examined personality differences in Black children attending either voluntarily segregated or integrated schools. Found Black children developed favorable personality traits more often in segregated schools.

Inez Beverly Prosser

Worked together on research projects that examined self-esteem in Black children in mandated segregated vs. integrated schools. Results indicated Black children in segregated schools had lower self-esteem. They passively accepted their inferior status as practically an act of God.

Kenneth Clark, Mamie Phipps Clark

Lead attorney of the NAACP. Used the Clarks’ work to demonstrate to courts that segregation was damaging to Black children.

Thurgood Marshall

Psychologist who testified on the Brown vs Board of Education trial. Wrote the “Social Science Statement” along with Isidor Chein and Stuart Cook, which was filed to the Supreme Court. Got the Supreme Court to outlaw segregated schooling, cited research as a “modern authority” in the decision.

Kenneth Clark