American Pioneers

The mind is a collection of distinct faculties

Upham’s textbook

Elements of mental philosophy

The intellect

The sensibilities

The will

Systematic frameworks for understanding mental life

The modern university

Government gave states public land to sell and the money funded state universities.

Private colleges -expanded beyond undergraduate teaching

German university system emphasised: research, academic freedom.

Less religious or political interference.

Education for minorities

reduced opportunities

did not violate the fourteenth amendment, as long as the facilities and services provided to each race were equal in nature

Francis Sumner

First African American to earn Ph.D in psychology

received a fellowship award to study race psychology

Established prominent psychology programs

William James

Got a medical degree from Harvard

Renouvier argues free will matters and is real. - foundation of pragmatism - how well ti works in real life

teaches the first psychology course in America

The principles of psychology

Clear and accessible account

Functionalist approach

stream of thought, the consciousness of self, emotion, will

William James

Consciousness is always flowing

no one observes the same way as you

constantly moving from thought

we choose what part of the environment gets access to consciousness

Function of consciousness - adapt quickly to environmental change

Function of habit - Frees up cognitive capacity

James-Lange theory on emotion

Bodily changes accompanying emotion-arousing events are the emotions

stimulate bodily changes, and emotion associated with those changes will occur

different pattern of physiological arousal for each strong emotion

Later on in years - writing on religion and philosophy

hurt the reputation of psychology as a science

mainly use introspection + diversity of methods

Key contributions

Mainly use introspection + diversity of methods

allows us to adapt and problem solve

frees up cognitive capacity as we don’t have to consciously think

Physical responses are the emotion

G Stanley Hall

lectures on education got him hired at Johns Hopkins university.

laboratory of experimental psychology

journal to publish research

first president of Clark university

Opened 1889 - first graduate school

Psychology at Clark

scholars/scientists met and debated

comparative psychology

Emphasis on laboratory methods

What was James's "Principles of Psychology" about?

Clear, accessible account of psychology at the time. Functionalist approach influenced by evolutionary theory. Covered: stream of thought, consciousness of self, emotion, will. Primary method: introspection (looking inward, noticing own stream of consciousness). Accepted laboratory methods with skepticism; preferred diversity of methods including comparative.

What was William James's view on consciousness and habit?

Consciousness is always flowing and changing: Personal (no one observes same way), Continuously changing (constantly moving thought-emotion-memory), Sensibly continuous (smooth and uninterrupted), Selective/attention (choose what gets access). Function of consciousness: enables adaptation to environmental change and problem-solving. Function of habit: frees cognitive capacity.

Who was G. Stanley Hall and what did he professionalize?

(1844-1924) Earned Harvard Ph.D. from James and Bowditch. Founded first U.S. experimental psychology laboratory (1883, Johns Hopkins). Created first U.S. journal publishing psychology research. Founded American Psychological Association (1892). First president of Clark University (opened 1889 - first graduate school-only university in U.S.).