After watching the videolectures and reading the articles for Weeks 7 and 8, please answer the following in your Reflection 4.
Beginnings of Psychological Science Lecture
1. Before there was a “psychology” there were people laying the groundwork for psychological science. What areas of science were the earliest “psychological scientists” working in? Give some examples of these researchers.
2. What was “psychophysics”? Describe the work of Weber and Fechner.
3. What were some of the important contributions of Hermann von Helmholtz?
4. Wilhelm Wundt is sometimes called the “Father of Psychology” (sorry, Vives). Why do you think that is so?
5. What is introspection? What are some problems with this method?
6. What directions did the generation after Wundt go in? Describe two individuals who broke away from Wundt’s methods.
7. Describe the Wurzburg School. How was it different than the work going on in Leipzig in Wundt’s lab? What sort of insights came from this School?
von Helmholtz Article
1. What was this article about? What did von Helmholtz discover? How did he do this?
Wundt Article
1. What was Wundt’s purpose in this article? Do some of these ideas sound like those we have discussed before? Which ones? What sounds new?
Krauss Article on Wundt and Kulpe
1. Kulpe was one of the students who although trained in Wundt’s lab, broke away from his teachings. Describe what the difference was between Kulpe’s interests and thinking and that of Wundt.
Wertheimer Article
1. Describe Wertheimer’s article. What was his purpose? How is his style different from that of Wundt? Which do you think has the greatest influence on modern psychology? Where in psychology do you see work more like Wertheimer? Where do you see the influence of Wundt in modern psychology?
The Beginnings of the Study of the Unconscious Lecture
1. What ere some of the beliefs about mental illness prior to the 1750’s? How did that begin to change in the latter part of the 1700’s?
2. How was the term “Clinical Psychology” different before World War II? Who generally worked with patients with mental health issues before that time?
3. What did Lightner Witmer do? What areas of modern psychology do you believe he most influenced?
4. Describe three of the most important points of Freud’s theory about the unconscious. How were his ideas received? How did his followers deal with his ideas?
5. What led to the beginnings of clinical psychology as we now know it?
Pinel Article
1. What led Pinel to an interest in working with patients with mental illness?
2. Describe his treatment of one of the patients in the case studies in his article. How well did his treatment work?
Charcot Article
1. Describe Charcot’s beliefs about hysteria. Why would these have been controversial at the time?
Freud Article
1. How does Freud describe the influences on his theory of the unconscious? Why did he believe that psychoanalysis was the best treatment for mental illnesses like hysteria?
Hornstein Article
1. Freud often gets a negative reputation amongst scientists. What are some of their concerns about Freud’s theories and methods? What parts of his theory has science been more supportive of?