Notes on Key Figures and Perspectives in Psychology

Pauline Elizabeth Scarborough and the push for diversity in psychology

• Pauline Elizabeth Scarborough (1935–2015) was a Russian-born US psychologist who championed the inclusion of women in the history of US psychology.
• She, along with Laurel Furumoto, documented the lives of the first 25 women to become psychologists in the United States.
• Scarborough also explored how women’s changing social status affected the field of psychology.
• Emphasis in this course section on highlighting overlooked psychologists from underrepresented groups (women, racial/ethnic minorities, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ communities).
• References to Scarborough include her works and course materials (Scarborough, 02/2005; Aldridge & Christensen, 2013; Kramblad Alvarez et al., 2019).

James and his influential students; early US psychology milestones

• William James profoundly influenced psychology through his students, notably G. Stanley Hall and Mary Whiton Calkins (note: transcript mentions Mary Witten Cawkins; commonly Mary Whiton Calkins in historical records).
• G. Stanley Hall
  • In 1878, Hall received the first PhD in psychology awarded in the United States.
  • Founded the first psychology research laboratory in the United States at Johns Hopkins University in 1883.
  • In 1892, Hall founded the American Psychological Association (APA) and was elected its first president (APA as the world’s largest professional organization of psychologists).
• The APA and APS membership context
  • The APA today is the world’s largest professional organization of psychologists, with approximately $150{,}000$ members.
  • The Association for Psychological Science (APS), founded in 1988, has more than $35{,}000$ members from more than $80$ countries.
• Mary Whiton Calkins (Mary W. Calkins)
  • In 1890, assigned to teach experimental psychology at a new women’s university in the United States (Wellesley College).
  • Studied with James at nearby Harvard University; completed all PhD requirements, but Harvard did not grant the PhD to women at the time.
  • In 1891, established a psychology laboratory at Wellesley College.
  • Turn of the 20th century: wrote a well-received textbook titled Introduction to Psychology.
  • In 1905, elected president of the APA, the first woman to hold that position.
• Margaret Floyd Washburn
  • The first officially awarded US PhD in psychology was Margaret Floyd Washburn, a student of Edward Titchener at Cornell.
  • Washburn advocated for the scientific study of mental processes in different animal species.
  • In 1908, Washburn published The Animal Mind, an influential text summarizing research on sensation, perception, learning, and other inner experiences across animal species.
  • Washburn taught at Vassar College, a women’s university she also attended as a student.
• Francis C. Sumner and James’s legacy for Black psychologists
  • G. Stanley Hall’s notable student at Johns Hopkins was Francis C. Sumner, the first Black American to receive a PhD in psychology (1920).
  • Sumner later chaired a psychology department at Howard University that produced more Black psychologists than all other US universities combined.
• Kenneth Bancroft Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark
  • Among Sumner’s notable students was Kenneth Bancroft Clark; his wife Mamie Phipps Clark conducted foundational work on racial discrimination and its effects.
  • Their segregation research informed the 1954 US Supreme Court decision to end school segregation (Brown v. Board of Education).
  • It’s noted that Mamie’s contributions were long overlooked; Kenneth later acknowledged Mamie’s central role, reportedly saying that Mamie’s project was the primary one and that he piggybacked on it (Niemann, 2010, p. 76).
  • Kenneth Clark became the first Black president of the APA in 1970.
• APA apology and reflection on racism in psychology
  • In February 2021, the APA adopted a resolution and issued an apology to people of color for the organization’s role in promoting and failing to challenge racism and racial discrimination, and for marginalizing psychologists from affected communities.
  • This apology acknowledged the discipline’s legacy of racism and affirmed a commitment to equity and inclusion (Goode; James; others).
• The turn-of-the-century critique of early schools of psychology
  • Although early psychologists emphasized the study of conscious experiences, the early 20th century brought new approaches that challenged structuralism and functionalism.

Myths, Freud, and the psychoanalytic influence

• Myth: Freud was the first psychologist
  • The course emphasizes that Wilhelm James (William James) is often credited as a founder; Freud was a physician/neurologist, not a psychologist by training.
• Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis
  • Freud developed psychoanalytic theory: personality is shaped by unconscious factors and early experiences; unconscious conflicts are often sexual or aggressive in nature.
  • Psychoanalysis provided a distinct form of psychotherapy; many core ideas about unconscious influences and early childhood experiences persist in psychology.
  • Freud’s claim: glimpses of unconscious impulses appear in dreams, memory blocks, slips of the tongue, and spontaneous humor (Freud, 1904).
  • Psychoanalytic theory influenced psychology into the early 20th century and beyond; planned deeper exploration in later chapters on personality and therapies.

The emergence of behaviorism

• Early 20th century shift toward observable behavior
  • Behaviorism rejected emphasis on consciousness and internal mental states; prioritized observable, measurable behavior.
  • The goal was to discover fundamental laws of learning—how behavior is acquired and modified by environmental influences.
• Pavlov and classical conditioning
  • Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) demonstrated that dogs could learn to associate a neutral stimulus (e.g., ticking metronome) with an automatic response (salivation to food).
  • The association could be triggered by the neutral stimulus alone after conditioning.
  • Pavlov believed he had discovered a mechanism by which all behaviors are learned.
• John B. Watson and American behaviorism
  • Watson (1878–1958) championed behaviorism in the US in the early 20th century; published the classic work Behaviorism (1924).
  • Watson asserted that the subject matter of psychology is the behavior of the organism and that consciousness is neither definite nor usable for scientific inquiry.
• B. F. Skinner and operant conditioning
  • Skinner (1904–1990) extended behaviorism, focusing on reinforcement and punishment to shape behavior in rats and pigeons.
  • Skinner’s work highlighted how environmental consequences determine behavior and how behavior can be systematically shaped.
• Consequences for studying learning and behavior
  • The chapter on learning will cover Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner in greater detail, illustrating the development of experimental methods and the academic influence of behaviorism.

The emergence of humanistic psychology

• The third force in US psychology
  • In the 1950s, a new movement—humanistic psychology—emerged as a counterbalance to psychoanalysis and behaviorism.
  • It emphasized human potential, growth, and self-direction, rather than pathology or external control.
• Key figures
  • Carl Rogers: emphasized conscious experiences, self-direction, growth, and the importance of choice in behavior; stressed client-centered therapy and the therapeutic alliance.
  • Abraham Maslow: developed a hierarchy of needs focusing on growth, motivation, and psychological development.
• Core ideas and contributions
  • Rogers and Maslow contributed to a focus on personal growth, self-actualization, and the belief in human potential.
  • Humanistic psychology also provided a foundation for later positive psychology movements.

The emergence of cognitive psychology and the cognitive revolution

• The shift back to mental processes
  • In the 1960s, cognitive psychology revived interest in how mental processes influence behavior, marking a break from strict behaviorism.
• The role of computation in thinking
  • The development of early computers in the 1950s provided a model for conceptualizing human mental processes.
  • The information-processing view characterized thinking as a flow of information through perceptual, memory, and problem-solving processes.
• Topics within the cognitive perspective
  • Memory, perception, language development, problem solving, decision making, and information processing efficiency.

Contemporary psychology: diversity, specialization, and major questions

• Diversity of topics and approaches
  • Psychology has become highly diverse and specialized; no single approach dominates every topic.
  • Modern psychologists identify with a perspective (emphasis) and a specialty area (practice/training).
• Major perspectives in contemporary psychology
  • Biological perspective: focuses on the physical bases of behavior
  • Psychodynamic perspective: emphasizes unconscious influences, early life experiences, and interpersonal relationships (Freud’s legacy)
  • Behavioral perspective: emphasizes observable behavior and learning principles
  • Humanistic perspective: emphasizes growth, self-direction, and human potential
  • Positive psychology: studies positive emotions, traits, and institutions that foster well-being
  • Cognitive perspective: studies information processing, memory, thinking, and problem-solving
  • Cross-cultural perspective: studies how cultural contexts influence behavior across cultures
  • Multicultural perspective: emphasizes diversity of inputs, contexts, and social experiences across all areas
• The biological perspective
  • Emphasizes the nervous system, endocrine system, immune system, genetics; neuroscience as the study of the brain
  • Brain imaging and other techniques are used to study structure and function in living brains
  • Implications for understanding neural underpinnings of behavior and mental processes
• The psychodynamic perspective
  • Continues to influence some mental health approaches; emphasizes unconscious influences, early experiences, and relationships as drivers of behavior and psychopathology
• The behavioral perspective
  • Focuses on how environment shapes behavior via learning processes; remains relevant in clinical settings and education
• The humanistic perspective
  • Highlights personal growth, self-direction, autonomy, and the subjective experience of individuals
  • Related to the rise of positive psychology and its focus on well-being and flourishing
• The positive psychology perspective
  • Focuses on positive emotions, traits, resilience, creativity, and wisdom; seeks to increase well-being rather than only reducing problems
  • Policy relevance: research has informed government and institutional policies (e.g., social programs, education, workplace well-being)
  • Key contributors and citations include Seligman and others (e.g., Seligman et al., 2005; Peterson, 2006; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2011; Zwolinski, 2019; Mattis et al., 2016; McNulty & Fincham, 2012).
• The cognitive perspective (revisited)
  • Now mainstream; continues to study information processing, memory, language, problem-solving, and decision making.
• The cross-cultural perspective
  • Emerged in the late 1980s; emphasizes the diversity of human behavior across cultures and contextual factors; some effects thought to be universal are not universally observed.
  • Example: social loafing vs social striving
  • Social loafing: early studies in the US and Europe showed people exerted less effort when in a group; Chinese participants showed the opposite pattern, performing better in groups (social striving) (Hong et al., 2008).
• The multicultural perspective
  • An expansion of cross-cultural work that emphasizes diverse cultural inputs and social contexts across all areas of psychology; increasingly integrated into therapy and research practice
• Notable references and cautions
  • Kitayama & Uskull (2011); P Smith (2010); Lomas (2020); Mattis et al. (2016); Cheek, Nakamura (2011); Seligman et al. (2005); Waterman (2013) and others are cited in discussions of perspectives and diversity.

Key concepts, terms, and connections to core principles

• Foundational schools of psychology and their legacies
  • Structuralism and functionalism: challenged by new approaches at the turn of the century
  • Psychoanalysis: emphasis on unconscious processes and early experiences; influenced psychotherapy and clinical practice
  • Behaviorism: emphasis on observable behavior and learning; shaped experimental and applied psychology
  • Humanistic psychology: emphasis on growth, self-direction, and meaning; influenced positive psychology and counseling approaches
• Modern trajectories in psychology
  • The integration of multiple perspectives to understand complex behavior
  • The rise of applied psychology in education, health, policy, and organizational contexts
• Ethical and social implications
  • Historical examples of marginalization and bias in the field (e.g., limited access to degrees for women, and the under-recognition of contributions by Mamie Phipps Clark)
  • Ongoing efforts toward equity, inclusion, and representation in psychology
• Recurrent themes across sections
  • The interplay between theory and empirical methods
  • The relationship between scientific advances and social context
  • The role of technology (computers, brain imaging) in shaping theories of mind and behavior

Notable dates, people, and numerical references (quick reference)

• Scarborough (1935–2015); documented inclusion of women in psychology; highlighted underrepresented groups.
• Hall: first US psychology PhD (1878); first psychology lab (1883); APA founder and first president (1892).
• APA membership: approximately $150{,}000$; APS membership: >$35{,}000$ from >$80$ countries.
• Mary Whiton Calkins: taught at Wellesley; completed PhD requirements but denied; became APA president in 1905 (first woman to hold that role).
• Margaret Floyd Washburn: first US woman to earn a PhD in psychology; The Animal Mind (1908).
• Francis C. Sumner: first Black PhD in psychology (1920); later at Howard University produced many Black psychologists.
• Kenneth Bancroft Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark: segregation research influencing Brown v. Board; Kenneth became APA president in 1970.
• APA apology to people of color: February 2021.
• Freud: psychoanalysis; unconscious conflicts; 1904 reference in text.
• Pavlov: classical conditioning; Watson: Behaviorism; 1924 publication Behaviorism
• Skinner: operant conditioning; 1904–1990.
• Rogers: humanistic psychology; Maslow: hierarchy of needs; mid-20th century publications and influence.
• Cognitive revolution: 1960s; computers as models of mental processes; information-processing approach.
• Cross-cultural psychology: emerged by the late 1980s; cross-cultural findings reveal non-universal results (e.g., social loafing vs social striving).
• Multicultural psychology: expanding the scope of cultural inputs and contexts across all areas of psychology; increasingly integrated in practice.
• Key terms to remember: structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, humanistic psychology, cognitive psychology, cross-cultural psychology, multicultural psychology, positive psychology.