What does the applied psychology mean? - Chapter 15

Hugo Munsterberg (1863-1916) was known for his articles about how psychological knowledge could be applied in daily life. He felt that scientific psychology is superior to the normal human brain and that the methods had to be used to improve the way people judge others and the world around them. Munsterberg also showed interest in the influence of emotion, suggestion and dissociation on perception. He felt that these processes had consequences for the psychology of testimony and detecting deceit. That's why he thought that psychological expertise also applied had to be in court. 

Munsterberg was eventually seen as the father of applied psychology. One of the first publications of Munsterberg was a report, in which he challenged Wundt, his teacher, about the subject of "will". He felt that the concept of will was actually the experiencing of one’s internal motor process when it is in response to a stimulus. After Munsterberg permanently established himself at Harvard, his interest grew towards applied psychology. Areas where he wanted to introduce applied psychology were legal testimony and individual psychotherapy. In the period in which psychotherapists assigned themselves the task to heal the mind, Munsterberg saw himself as an objective, scientific outsider. Every therapy that simply just assumed the existence of the unconscious (just like Freud had introduced), he saw as unscientific. The techniques used by Munsterberg were in stark contrast to those of psychoanalysis and were more functional in nature. In the approach that Munsterberg used, Clients were trained to forget their problems and deviant behaviors suppress. One of the interests of Munsterberg was the application of psychology in the business and industry. This approach was called psychotechnology.

What is the scientific management?

To deal with the rapidly growing urbanization and industrial expansion, Frederick Winslow Taylor (1865-1915) designed a system, which he named scientific management. The purpose of this system was to increase the efficiency and productivity of the factories by applying scientific methods. One of the changes that Taylor encouraged was applying standardized tasks through careful analysis of industrial work. The emphasis was on increasing production by an increase of efficiency, or in other words: let employees do more work in a shorter time, by providing them with fast, repetitive tasks that were easier to do. Munsterberg quite like the approach that Taylor had.

Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972) and her husband Frank Bunker Gilbreth (1868-1924) together developed the complex motion studies to identify the most efficient way to get a task done. By using a camera, which registered the necessary movements made when performing of a task, the Gilbreths analysed different types of work and activities. As a result, they identified 18 basic hand movements, which they called "therbligs". They felt that efficiency could reduce fatigue. They also thought that the motion studies were able to show how machines could be designed for to make the movements of the employees more efficient and easier. 

Unlike Taylor, the Gilbreths were interested in researching how the most efficient movements affected the individual employee. They wanted to use the information obtained to design work that efficient and rewarding for the employee. The combination of psychology and management reflects the humanistic approach of Lillian Gilbreth. She saw mankind as the most important element in the industry, and the welfare of the employee was central. According to her, the employee was central to the design of the workshop. She emphasized the fact that the work had to be adapted to the employee, just as she believed the communication between different groups had to be improved. Lillian Gilbreth is seen as the mother of industrial psychology. The interface between psychology and education was an important contribution Lillian made to the history of applied psychology. Gilbreth started to design the physical environment in the late 1920s, that fitted better with the average housewife / man. This contributed to the new field, known as the 'human psychology factor', which arose after World War II. Gilbreth's studies are still used to created comfortable and efficient, or ergonomic workplaces. In 1929 she became full-time consultant. She remained professionally active until her death and received a Hoover Medal for distinguished public service.

What are the Hawthorne studies?

Hawthorne Works was an electricity company outside of Chicago. Here, investigations were performed, called the Hawthorne studies, which showed physical and economic conditions alone were not enough to explain productivity in the workplace. Psychological and social factors were also important. 

The Hawthorne effect refers to the impact on performance and behaviour that comes from the awareness that you are a participant in a study. The human relationship movement was a shift in research into the social and psychological factors affecting and satisfaction at work. Elton Mayo (1880-1949) was most involved in the studies. Mayo was interested in politics  and was convinced after the first world war that the existing political system was not good. According to him, society must be seen as a cooperative collection of social relations. He emphasized the importance of good leadership. Mayo investigated industrial fatigue in factories in Philadelphia and two years later got involved in the Hawthorne studies. Researchers found that other factors than  the employees' physical environment could be of importance to the general productivity, so this became subject of subsequent studies. An example of this was lunch breaks. Pauses and shorter working days were introduced, which increased the overall productivity. Increased productivity could, however, not be achieved explained by higher wages.

Who was Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886-1939)?

During and after the second world war, it became habitual for clinical psychologists to keep themselves busy with the psychotherapy. The original clinical psychologists in the first half of the twentieth century were "mental testers", and testing was also what they were concerned with. By that time, many psychologists worked in places like schools, hospitals and courtrooms. Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886-1939) knew to improve her financial situation thanks to the Coca-Cola Company in 1911. The Coca Cola Company was charged with violating the "Pure Food and Drug Act ", because the amount of caffeine in their production proved to be harmful to humans. To defend their products, the company was looking for psychologists to study the behavioural effects that caffeine had on people. When Cattell rejected the job, the company approached Harry Hollingworth (1880-1956) and he began working on the experiments with Lea. Because of this, she earned a small fortune, which made graduating for her very possible. 

Thorndike and Cattell were supporters of the variability hypothesis, a belief that men differ from women in both physical and psychological characteristics, and therefore deserved a chance on better working positions. According to this belief, women are limited to mediocrity and are men's engines of natural selection and evolutionary progress. When Lea Hollingworth met Thorndike, he was still heavily influenced by his traditional mentor Cattell. Cattell felt that men and women were of different intellectual skills, and that men were able to achieve the highest level of success. 

After Hollingworth graduated, she decided to put the variability hypothesis to the test. She researched 1000 cases of people working with a mental defect and concluded that this diagnosis was more often given to men. However, she discovered a bias in the data. From the people from an older age group that were admitted to the institution, a larger proportion was female than in the younger age categories. Hollingworth interpreted this as a proof that mentally flawed men were detected earlier due to their inability to meet social expectations. Women knew to avoid until this later in life, thanks to their social roles: sitting at home and for to care the children. Hollingworth decided to refute another assumption about women: that she was functionally weakened during their menstruation. This belief is also called functional periodicity and was used to determine the unfitness of the woman for certain work (such as voting), and the stereotype of the woman as physical and emotionally fragile.

How did the APA come about?

Many academic psychologists looked down on their colleagues and saw applied psychology as messy and impure. The applied psychologists responded to the attack fired on them in 1917 by forming their own association, independent of the APA, which they called AACP. Three factors were underlying their motivation to do this. First, it had to do with the turnout of testing jobs in the public school system during the second decade of the 20^th century. Immigration, urbanization and compulsory education in the US led to a public school system where large numbers of children, with varying skill levels, worked all together in classrooms. The testers had the task of identifying, categorizing and distributing students over different suitable programs. In their haste to test, got unqualified individuals without a suitable academic background the task of assessing children and diagnose. Psychologists began to worry about qualifications and standards for professional work. J.E. Wallace Waillin (1876-1969) wrote an article in 1913 in which he expressed his concerns, and in which he tried to explain the exact nature of clinical psychology. In addition, he treated the goals of clinical work, the kind of cases where clinical psychologists cooperated and how clinical psychology differed from the other professions. The second factor that motivated clinical psychologists to start their own association focus on their own low professional status. By setting up a professional organization, clinical psychologists pursued better established professions. The third factor was that clinical psychologists felt that their needs were not met by the large scientific organization of psychologists (APA). In 1919 the AACP became the section of clinical psychology of the APA. Hollingworth continued to engage in clinical work, and with especially in helping and identifying gifted children. She also wrote two books here about: Gifted Children and Children Above 180 IQ.

What has WW II brought into applied psychology?

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the pioneers of applied psychology disputed theirs commitment had a good influence on the scientific image of their original discipline. Today's industry, school, consulting and clinical psychologists are completely in their own profession, and even dominate it. Before the second world war was the task of one psychologist mainly taking tests and making diagnoses. The second world war was one of the factors that supported this. Due to the war there was an increase in the demand for the expertise of applied psychologists. The war also made it possible for new ones clinical services such as psychotherapy.

ExamTips

• Try to understand how psychology can be applied to nearly every aspect of life, for instance, like in this case, the economy. Psychology is everywhere. 
• Why do higher wages not influence productivity? Can you link this to cognitive dissonance?