Historical and Conceptual Issues in Psychology by M. Brysbaert and K. Rastle (second edition) – Summary chapter 4

Wolff has several important characteristics:

• Proposes rational psychology; in this type of psychology, axioms had to be derived from fundamental disciplines.
• Proposes empirical psychology; in this type of psychology, the demonstrations of rational psychology had to be considered.
• Introduces introspection as a scientific method

Introspection refers to the study of the mind by using the mind (i.e. investigating one’s own mental states).

According to Comte, introspection is not a reliable observation as there is no difference between the observer and observation (1), objectivity is impossible because it is not possible to control results (2). The results from introspection are not public, which goes against scientific principles of positivism. Comte believed that the mind could only be studied scientifically through physiology.

According to Kant, introspection is not a good method as mental states do not have quantitative properties (1), consciousness never stands still and can thus not be observed at a single point in time (2), the observation of the mind changes the mind (3) and introspection cannot provide mathematical descriptions (4).

There were three problems with studying man scientifically:

1. It was believed that man could not be described mathematically.
2. It was believed that man was not an animal.
3. It was believed that the mind is immaterial.

The mind can be described mathematically, as mental chronometry – the study of reaction times of mental operations – provides a mathematical description of mental processes. This was demonstrated by Von Helmholz, who discovered the speed of transmission in the nervous system and Donders who studied the duration of mental processes.

Quetelet proposed that statistics should be applied to humans because individuals could not be lawfully described but groups of people can, resulting in quantitative sociology. The noise in research into humans – the result of humans being stochastic – allows for a quantitative approach in psychology. Fisher demonstrated that confounds could be factored out in statistical analyses.

Weber discovered that the fingers are the most sensitive body parts by investigating the limits of the tactile senses. He also demonstrated the importance of muscles and joints for weight discrimination. Fechner was inspired by Weber and realised there could be a Newtonian mathematical function connecting the magnitude of the sensation to the magnitude of the stimulus, birthing psychophysics.

In short, Von Helmholz (1), Donders (2), Quetelet (3), Fisher (4), Weber (5) and Fechner (6) demonstrated that humans could be mathematically described.

Darwin has several important characteristics:

• Introduces the theory of evolution; the origin of species is based on accidental mutation (1) and natural selection (2).
• Introduces the notion that man is an animal.
• Proposes that human and animal behaviour can rest on the same explanatory principle as it is both mediated by evolutionary pressure.

The two processes of Darwin’s theory make that evolution is a blind and fully automatic system driven by a statistical principle. However, his theory could not explain how a single new organism could come to dominate the rest. Misconceptions of the theory of evolution are that there is a direction in genetic changes (1) and that organisms become better or stronger (2).

Medicine rests on Galenus until the 17th century. In the 18^th and 19^th century, it became clear that mental functions are linked to the brain and the idea of localization gains strength through Broca and Wernicke. The discovery of the reflex introduces the idea of mechanisms behind behaviour, showing that the mind is connected to the body and opposing the notion that the mind is immaterial.

Ventricalism refers to the idea that the mind resides in the ventricles of the brain.

The birth of psychology occurred separately in different areas around the world:

• Germany: Wundt (1832-1920)
• United States: James (1842-1910)
• France: Binet (1857-1911)
• Austro-Hungary: Freud (1856-1939)

Wundt has several important characteristics:

• Founder of the first formal laboratory of psychology; he used the methods of experimental observation (1), introspection (2) and the historical method (3).
• Inspired many early psychologists in their visits to the first laboratory.

The historical method consisted of studying the human mind by investigating the products of human culture.

Titchener introduced structuralism – the psychological research approach which consists of trying to discover the structure of the human mind by means of introspection – but did not inspire many people. This had several reasons; it did not address the issues most American psychologists saw as important (1), most people were not aware of the processes in the mind (2) and there was a belief that a holistic approach rather than a reductionist approach should be used in understanding the mind.

James introduced functionalism – the psychological research approach which emphasizes the function of psychological phenomena – which was well-received in the United States. It regards the function of a psychological state and this can be viewed evolutionary (e.g. fear to avoid danger) (1) or culturally (e.g. religion to coordinate behaviour in society) (2).

Binet attempts to establish an intelligence test through reaction times (1), basal perceptual skills (2) and skull size (3). This was ineffective. Allowing children to solve simple tasks and summing how many tasks a child can solve in order to calculate the mental age of a child appeared to be better predictor or academic performance. The mental age of a child was compared to the chronological age of the child.

In the United Kingdom, there was not a lot of psychological research, as universities were conservative (1) and heavily tied to the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England (2). This made psychological progress and the establishment of psychological laboratories difficult. Sully was the driving force of psychology in England and Bain, Jacobs, Stout and Cox were the driving forces of psychology in Scotland.

Freud has several important characteristics:

• Introduces the first comprehensive psychological theory; psychoanalysis.
• Changed the view on disorders.
• Proposes that psychological disorders can be treated by talking about them.
• Introduces defence mechanisms.

Psychoanalysis revolves around the tension between the conscious and the unconscious. The unconscious is a set of uncoordinated instinctual desires (e.g. sex and aggression) and the ego censors the id by order of the superego (i.e. moral). According to Freud, psychological problems arise from problems in the unconscious and in order to solve the psychological problem, the latent cause must be addressed. The unconscious can be investigated using slips of the tongue (1), free association (2) and dream analysis (3).

There was a changing view on mental disorders:

• Before the 16^th century: insane people were possessed by the devil or ghosts
• From the 16^th century to 19^th century: asylums for insane people with ineffective ‘treatments’.
• From the 19^th century to present; a focus on the biological component of the disorder rather than attempting to teach the patient morality.
• Present: psychological therapy

Gestalt psychology states that the mind should be researched holistically, rather than by using reductionism and believed that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.