Contelllporary Theories and Systems in Psychology. SECOND EDITION, Expanded and Revised

Transcription

1 Contelllporary Theories and Systems in Psychology SECOND EDITION, Expanded and Revised

2 Contemporary Theories and Systems in Psychology SECOND EDITION, Expanded and Revised Benjamin B. Wolman Professor Emeritus Long Island University Brooklyn, New York IN COLLABORA TlON WITH Susan Knapp Postgraduate Center for Mental Health New York, New York PLENUM PRESS. NEW YORK AND LONDON

3 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Wolman, Benjamin B Contemporary theories and systems in psychology. Bibliography: p. Includes indexes. 1. Psychology-Philosophy. I. Knapp, Susan, joint author. II. Title. [DNLM: 1. Psychological theory. BF38 C761] BF38.W ' ISBN-13: e-isbn-13: DOl: / Plenum Press, New York Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1981 A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation 227 West 17th Street, New York, N.Y All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

4 Preface to the Second Edition Twenty years is a long time in the life of a science. While the historical roots of psychology have not changed since the first edition of this book, some of the offshoots of the various theories and systems discussed have been critically reexamined and have undergone far-reaching modifications. New and bold research has led to a broadening of perspectives, and recent developments in several areas required a considerable amount of rewriting. I have been fortunate in the last fifteen years to have worked with about 2,000 psychologists and other behavioral scientists who contributed to several collected volumes I have edited. As the editor-in-chief of the International Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Neurology, I have had the privilege of reading, scrutinizing, and editing the work of 1,500 experts in psychology and related disciplines. In addition, I have written several books and monographs and over one hundred scientific papers. Armed with all that experience, I have carefully examined the pages of the first edition. Chapter 8 required substantial rewriting and several new sections have been added to other chapters: "Current Soviet Psychology" (Chapter 2, Section 7); "New Ideas on Purposivism" (Chapter 5, Section 4); "Recent Developments in the Sociological School of Psychoanalysis" (Chapter 9, Section 4); and "Present Status of Gestalt Psychology" (Chapter 12, Section 4). Chapter 15 was omitted, and two new chapters were added: Chapter 14 ("Humanistic Psychology") and Chapter 16 ("Selected Research Areas"). I was fortunate in securing the help of Dr. Susan Knapp in this extensive rewriting. Dr. Knapp is my former student and research assistant in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at Long Island University. At the present time she teaches at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health in New York City. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude to all my colleagues who have used the first edition of this text in their classes in hundreds of colleges and universities. BENJAMIN B. WOLMAN New York May, 1980 v

5 Preface to the First Edition The objective of the present volume is to give a comprehensive picture of contemporary psychological theory. The emphasis is on a general psychological theory, and this is why the contributions of Piaget, Rorschach, Terman, and many other great psychologists have been omitted. Moreover, Thorndike's contribution to educational psychology and Freud's studies in psychotherapeutic techniques had to be left out also. Priority was given to methodological problems such as concept formation, relationship to other sciences, methods of research, and interpretation of empirical data. The entire volume is divided into four parts. The first three deal with the theories, grouped in accordance with the principle of "common roots." The first part includes all theories that started with the orientation toward natural sciences. Pavlov and Watson are the leading exponents of this trend. The second part deals with psychoanalytic theories. The third part discusses all the theories that have been influenced by Kant, Windelband, Husserl, Dilthey, and the cultural sciences. The last part, Part IV, devoted to the scientific method, is the expose of my own "philosophy" of psychology. It is divided into a discussion of methodological problems (Chapter 14) and into a series of theoretical proposals (Chapter 15). The various theories are presented, whenever possible, in a chronological order of their appearance, but the logical order of presentation has been given priority over the chronological one. Since this volume is written primarily for American universities, special attention.has been given to American psychology. It would have been rather easy to present all the theories in the same logical order, for example, what each of them has to say on a series of questions prepared by the author of the book; this would result in a greater uniformity of presentation but it would not do justice to the respective theorists. Each theorist developed his theory on certain assumptions and in a certain logical order, and there could be no justification for forcing all theories into a uniform frame of reference, foreign to the philosophy of the men who developed them. Each of the four parts of this book is followed by a summary which vii

6 viii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION highlights the main problems discussed in the respective parts. Each summary gives a bird's-eye view on the issues under consideration and may serve as an introductory statement of these issues. In a book of this type some repetitions have been inevitable. They have been kept at a reasonable minimum dictated by pedagogic considerations. In presenting the ideas and theories of the various psychological theorists, I tried to be as objective as possible. Hence extensive quotations were introduced in support of the descriptive parts and sometimes even instead of them. Thus the reader has first-hand contact with the creative work of the theorists. New and deviant theories received more attention than faithful elaborations of the works of the masters. For example, the rebellious Rank received several pages whereas the scholarly and orthodox psychoanalyst Fenichel did not. A mere presentation would, however, not do justice to the purpose of this book. Critical comments and evaluations were part of the thinking and working through the ideas of others. Moreover, the selection of authors, the assignment of space, the order, the emphasis on some of their works-all this was inevitably influenced by my preferences. An absolute impartiality could be accomplished only at the price of lack of analytic understanding. The way out was to be as impartial as possible while presenting the views of the various authors and then to make my own opinions explicit, which I did in my remarks at the end of each presentation. For the idea of this book and the initiative to write it, for the friendly encouragement and competent advice during the work, I am immensely indebted to the editor of their series, Gardner Murphy. It took six years to implement the idea. Hundreds of volumes and thousands of journal articles in seven languages have been read, scrutinized, abstracted, and elaborated. Quotations have been made, whenever available, from existing English sources or translations. An extensive bibliography, covering almost the entire relevant literature, has been prepared for each chapter or even for a part of it. Letters have been written to several authors for the sake of clarifying their ideas, but the presentation of their theories is my own responsibility. I am grateful for the advice of my distinguished colleagues, among them K. Goldstein, O. Klineberg, G. Razran, B. F. Skinner, and R. L. Thorndike, some of whom read parts of this book. BENJAMIN B. WOLMAN New York February, 1960

7 Contents PART I CONDITIONING, BEHAVIORISM, AND PURPOSIVISM 1 CHAPTER 1 THE GREAT BEGINNINGS 3 1. Psychophysical Parallelism and Introspectionism 3 2. Functionalism Edward L. Thorndike: Connectionism 31 CHAPTER 2 CONDITIONED REFLEXES The Objective Study of the Higher Nervous Processes Conditioning Theory of Personality Concluding Remarks on Pavlov Vladimir M. Bekhterev: Reflexology Under the Banner of Marx and Pavlov Current Soviet Psychology 73 CHAPTER 3 BEHAVIORISM AND REDUCTIONISM John B. Watson: Psychology as the Science of Behavior The Early Behaviorists Karl S. Lashley: Brain Mechanisms Donald O. Hebb: Organization of Behavior 92 CHAPTER 4 NEO-BEHAVIORISM AND LEARNING THEORY Edwin R. Guthrie: Learning by Contiguity Clark L. Hull: Deductive Behaviorism B. F. Skinner: Inductive Behaviorism Edward C. Tolman: Purposive Behaviorism Gregory Razran: Evolutionary Levels of Learning Learning Theory Influenced by Psychoanalysis Some Problems in the Theory of Learning The Current Status of Learning Theory 173 ix

8 x CONTENTS CHAPTER 5 HORMIC AND HOLISTIC THEORIES William McDougall: Hormic Psychology Kurt Goldstein: Holistic System Jacob R. Kantor: Organismic Psychology Some New Ideas on Purposivism 195 Summary of Part PART II PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RELATED SYSTEMS 201 CHAPTER 6 PSYCHOANALYSIS Methodology Postulates The Unconscious Theory of Instincts: Eros and Thanatos Developmental Stages Theory of Personality Society and Culture Psychoanalysis as a Philosophy of Life Concluding Remarks on Psychoanalysis 277 CHAPTER 7 INDIVIDUAL AND ANALYTIC PSYCHOLOGIES Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology Carl Gustav Jung: Analytic Psychology 297 CHAPTER 8 NEW THEORIES IN PSYCHOANALYSIS Psychoanalysis Modified by Clinical Experience: Orthodox and Unorthodox Early Modifications in Psychoanalytic Theory Ego Psychology Psychoanalysis and Studies of Culture Interactional Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis and Experimental Psychology Critical Analyses of Psychoanalytic Concepts 359 CHAPTER 9 AWAY FROM FREUD: THE SOCIOLOGICAL SCHOOL New Ways in Psychoanalysis Karen Horney: Psychoanalysis without Libido Erich Fromm: Historical and Ethical Psychoanalysis 373

9 CONTENTS xi 4. Harry S. Sullivan: A Theory of Interpersonal Relations Recent Developments in Homey's Theory 400 Summary of Part II 403 PART III UNDERSTANDING, GESTALT, AND FIELD PSYCHOLOGIES 407 CHAPTER 10 UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGY Kant's Heritage Wilhelm Dilthey: The Understanding Psychology 414 CHAPTER 11 PERSONALISTIC PSYCHOLOGY Edward Spranger: Psychology of Personality William Stem: Persons versus Things Gordon W. Allport: Personality Traits 433 CHAPTER 12 GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Opposition to Associationism Gestalt: Theoretical Foundations Gestalt: Perception, Learning, and Thinking Present Status of Gestalt Psychology 457 CHAPTER 13 FIELD THEORY Field Theory versus Class Theory Lewin's Mathematical Concepts Lewin's Logical Constructs Locomotion: Theory of Behavior Theory of Personality Group Dynamics Field Theory as an Experiment in Theory Construction 496 CHAPTER 14 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY The Humanistic Movement Andras Angyl Abraham Maslow Henry A. Murray J. F. T. Bugental Gardner Murphy Carl Rogers 514

10 xii CONTENTS Summary of Part III 516 PART IV PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD 519 CHAPTER 15 THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD First Principles Collection of Data Interpretation of Data and Theory Construction The Language of Sciences Some Current Methodological Problems 552 CHAPTER 16 SELECTED ISSUES The Mind-Body Dichotomy Beyond Pleasure and Pain Perception Personality 579 Summary of Part IV 586 BIBLIOGRAPHY 589 AUTHOR INDEX 627 SUBJECT INDEX 633