Chapter 5 Psychology and the Mass Society at the beginning of the 20 th Century

Transcription

1 Chapter 5 Psychology and the Mass Society at the beginning of the 20 th Century PSK301-History of Psychology Assoc. Prof. Okan Cem Çırakoğlu okanc@baskent.edu.tr

2 The Social and Cultural Landscape Historians refer to the transition from the late 19 th to the beginning of the 20 th century as the emergence of mass society and modernity. Mass education, mass information, and mass consumption were emerging as the distinct attributes of the new century. Embracing Bias Irrationality Economic and Political Transitions Expansion of Education and Training Progressivism Changing Perceptions of Women Practicality

3 Practicality A major force for change Looking for better lives led to migration to metroplitan areas Democratic laws encouraged common sense and reason Math and science had a growing influence on schools Expanding market encouraged individual effort, initiative and competition

4 Embracing Bias Belief that some civilizations were «inferior» because of their «innate» inability to compete with «higher» cultures. Nationalistic ideas rised Belief that Western standarts are better than everything

5 Social policy Wealth distribution Guaranteed pay Shorter workday Disability insurance Affordable health care Progressivism

6 The Social and Cultural Landscape

7 Scientific Disciplines Contributing to Psychology

8 Scientific Discoveries Working on university campuses side by side, physicists, chemists, engineers, biologists, and sociologists, most academic psychologists also wanted to advance their studies following the three common, accepted by many university scholars, paths: 1. They wanted to advance psychological knowledge through the use of objective methods. 2. They were increasingly concerned about promoting their knowledge thorough peer reviewed publications and scientific conferences. 3. They were increasingly concerned about the practical application of their work.

9 Utilitarianism James Mill and John Stuart Mill The value of an object or action is defined by its utility or usefulness The consequences of a behavioral act is important Drugs?

10 Pragmatism John Dewey, Charles Sanders Pierce and William James A way of appraoching situations or solving problems that emphasizes practical applications and consequences Dewey: Facts depend on thought The world is not perceived passively Human perception is an active manipulation of the environment

11 More Psychologists Become Practitioners Psychology enthusiasts believed that their discipline was ready to serve its progressive and practical role. Three interconnected goals had to be pursued: 1. Public visibility: To attract more students to take psychology classes or select psychology as their major, psychologists had to be concerned about the public visibility of their research. 2. Building reputation: Psychologists had to earn reputation and status among private businesses and financial corporations. This could secure new private funding and employment opportunities. 3. Seeking funding: Because of government s increasing involvement in education, business regulations, military training, health and child care, government could be a potentially generous sponsor of new psychological studies.

12 Three Areas of Research in Psychology Experimental studies of sensation, perception, memory, etc. Measurement of psychological abilities Studies of abnormal psychological symptoms

13 Some Popular Beliefs in the End of the 19 th century Heredity is mainly responsible for most antisocial and criminal acts. Actions and feelings are associated with brain activities Ethnic groups differ in their mental abilities Homosexuality and masturbation are immoral practices Women were generally inferior to men in their intellectual capacities Human beings pursue rational objectives

14 Functionalism: Connecting the Individual and the Social Environment William James ( ) Functionalism, commonly associated with the name of William James, was focusing on the dynamic purposes of psychological experience rather than on its structure: mental states are interrelated and influenced by everchanging behavior within a complex environment.

15 William James Views of Psychology PSYCHOLOGY: The science of mental life focusing on its phenomena (such as feelings, desires, cognitions, reasoning, and decisions) and on the conditions in which these phenomena take place. Introspection James s interests were extremely diverse, ranging from experimental psychology to studies of telepathy, from psychic experiences to the psychological analysis of war. He was criticized by his contemporaries for doing too much in too many fields. Measurements Methods Comparative Methods

16 Mary Calkins Mary Calkins ( ) Developed a branch called self-psychology Struggled for women s recognition in science In 1905, became the first female president of the APA Attempted to reconcile structural and functional psychology

17 Evolutionary Theories and Their Impact on Psychology Psychological processes appeared as adaptive mechanisms allowing individuals to adjust to the changing environmental and social conditions. Research was shifting to the study of adaptive functions of emotions, thinking, consciousness, and learning. By studying a developing child psychologists believed they could study the origins of human civilization Human beings and animals appeared to have the same natural origin. Psychologists assumed that the principles of natural selection could be used to improve human society.

18 Social Engineering The controversial impact of evolutionary ideas was especially noticeable in the development of the principles of social engineering, a general concept to describe the use of science by the government or other social institutions to improve society through policies.

19 Assumptions about Psychology s Role in Social Engineering

20 Francis Galton ( ) Galton coined the term eugenics in It was the name of a theory that proposed a way of improving societal by improving people s hereditary features Galton studied of mental abilities, which he defined as the psychological functions associated with social success Galton was among the first to attempt to measure intelligence. Galton was the first to conduct an empirical study of twins

21 Alfred Binet Binet studied with similar passion several unrelated subjects such as hypnotism, cognitive skills, neurology, decision strategies of chess players, memory, child development, attention span, and suggestibility. Alfred Binet Binet s main contribution to psychology was his research of mental abilities of children.

22 Binet and Simon: Description of Tasks for Age Groups (1913)

23 Binet and Simon: Description of Tasks for Age Groups (1913) For example, 15-year-olds were expected to explain the following situation: My neighbor has just received some singular visitors. He received one after the other a doctor, a lawyer, and a priest. What is going on at my neighbor s?

24 Mental Tests: Possibilities and Concerns First, psychologists could not reach an agreement about which tests should be used by schools and businesses. Third, reliability and validity of mental tests were problematic. Second, serious concerns were raised about nonpsychologists, or people with little knowledge of research methodology, using mental tests to make assessments.

25 G. Stanley Hall Hall was the founder of the first psychological laboratory in the United States. He maintained that the growing child naturally repeats the development of humankind. (the recapitulation theory) G. Stanley Hall He was among the first to focus on the child s behavior in everyday situations: at school, at home, or during play He was a pioneer in studies of adolescence

26 G. Stanley Hall s Developmental Stages

27 Industrial and Consumer Studies Psychologists offered a seemingly powerful tool for solving many work-related, organizational problems: the test. Psychologists message to businesses was clear: Allow professionals to conduct tests and they would make necessary scientific evaluations that could help in many organizational and professional decisions. Hugo Münsterberg ( ) made a contribution to psychology as a specialist in work efficiency. His passion for applied psychology and organizational skills translated into developing psychological studies of business management, efficiency, and work satisfaction.

28 Industrial Efficiency and Taylorism Frederick Taylor ( ) emphasized that human effort in manufacturing was continuously wasted due to poorly planned operations, badly designed rules, and awkward movements of workers making products and operating machines. Workers tend to perform more slowly than they could because of a natural inclination of people to do less when they are unsupervised. Second, people slow down because they talk to one another too much and learn bad habits. Taylorism : Everything must be regulated: every operation, movement, and step. Every break was reduced to a minimum. Conversations among workers on anything unrelated to work were disallowed.

29 Psychology of Criminal Behavior Cesare Lombroso ( ) wrote that criminal behavior has different types: some individuals have serious predispositions to break the law and be violent, others are less predisposed, yet others would break the law but without resorting to violence (a certain prototype of what we now refer to as whitecollar crime). His two famous books are: Criminal Man The Female Offender

30 Criminal Physiognomy. Source: Lombroso (1911)