History and Philosophy of Modern Psychology

Curriculum Guideline

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Course
PSYC 3308
Discontinued
No
Course Code
PSYC 3308
Descriptive
History and Philosophy of Modern Psychology
Department
Psychology
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
201420
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
35
Contact Hours
Lecture: 4 hours per week
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Learning Activities

The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:

  1. Lectures, audio visual presentations and demonstrations.
  2. The student will present a seminar from topics selected by the instructor on certain authors, themes, issues, and will relate these to historical changes within psychology.
  3. Small group discussion on assigned topics.

Course Description
This course examines the development of modern psychology from its founding to the present. Attention will be paid to the work of philosophers, physiologists, and physicists of the 17th to 19th centuries who influenced the beginnings of psychology in the late 19th century. The growth of psychology will be traced from its early focus on the study of sensation and human conscious experience, through the proliferation of schools, up to today’s diverse and complex discipline.
Course Content
  1. The Study of the History of Psychology
    • Overview
    • Evolution of psychology: the ancient world to the present
    • Schools of thought: important landmarks
    • Major issues in psychology (mind/body, nature/nurture)
  2. Philosophical Influences on Psychology
    • The beginnings of modern science.  Rene Descartes: the mind/body issue
    • British empiricism and associationism.  Knowledge through experience: John Locke, George            Berkeley, David Hume, David Hartley, James Mill
    • Contributions of empiricism
  3. Physiological Influence on Psychology
    • Development of early physiology
    • The beginnings of experimental psychology: Helmholtz, Weber, Fechner
    • The formal founding of the new science
  4. The New Psychology
    • Wilhelm Wundt
      • The nature of conscious experience
      • The method of introspection
      • The elements of experience
      • Research topics at Leipzig
    • Other early psychologists: Ebbinghaus, Muller, Brentano, Stumpf, Kulpa  
  5. Structuralism
    • Titchener
      • The content of conscious experience
      • The method of study: introspection
      • Elements of consciousness
    • The fate of structuralism
      • Criticisms and contributions
  6. Functionalism
    • Antecedent Influences
      • Charles Darwin, Sir Francis Galton
      • Animal psychology
    • American Pioneers
      • Spencer, James, Hall, Cattell
    • Formal Development
      • The Chicago School
      • Dewey, Angell, Carr
      • Columbia University
      • R. S. Woodsworth
    • Criticisms and contributions of functionalism
  7. Behaviourism
    • Antecedent Influences
      • Animal psychology
      • Thorndike, Pavlov, Bekhterev
    • The Influence of Functionalism
      • Forming the bridge between structuralism and behaviour
    • The Founding of Behaviourism
      • John B. Watson
      • Methods
      • Subject matter
      • Criticism and contributions of Watsonian behaviourism
  8. Gestalt Psychology
    • Antecedent influences
    • Founding of Gestalt psychology: Wertheimer, Koffka, Kohler
      • Principles of perceptual organization
      • Principles of learning and isomorphism
      • The mentality of apes
      • Kurt Lewin
    • Contributions
  9. Psychoanalysis
    • Antecedent influences
      • Early theories of the unconscious
    • Sigmund Freud
      • Therapy
      • Research
      • Theory of personality
      • Stages of development
    • Criticisms and contributions
    • Dissenters and Descendants
      • Jung, Adler, Horney, Allport, Murray, Erikson
  10. Recent Development in Psychology
    • Applied psychology
      • Psychology testing
      • Industrial/organizational psychology
      • Clinical psychology
    • Women in the history of psychology
      • Hollingsworth, Washburn, Calkins, Zeigarnik, Anna Freud, Horney
    • Humanistic psychology: The third force
      • Maslow, Rogers
      • Humanistic psychotherapies
    • The cognitive movement in psychology
      • Influence of the Zeitgeist
      • Role of computers and artificial intelligence

 

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the student will be able to:

  1. List the major influential figures in the history of modern psychology and describe their contributions to the development of psychology.
  2. Discuss the philosophical and scientific origins of research methodology and theoretical formulations in  contemporary psychology and critically analyze the underlying assumptions.
  3. Explain how present day psychology became such a diverse and complex discipline.  List the major perspectives that exist in psychology today and analyze their philosophical and historical origins.
  4. List, discuss and critically analyze major issues in psychology (eg. The mind/body issue, free will/determinism, nature/nurture, objectivity/subjectivity) and explain how past and present psychologists have dealt with these issues.
  5. Discuss the relative merits of the personalistic and naturalistic (or Zeitgeist) approaches to the study of history and more specifically the history of psychology.
  6. Describe the major schools that have evolved in the history of psychology, name their main leader of proponents and discuss the criticisms and contributions to psychology of each school.
  7. Demonstrate an ability to research a relevant topic in the history of psychology and organize and present the information in a systematic and coherent manner.

Means of Assessment

Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College policy.  Evaluation will be based on course objectives and may include some of the following: quizzes, multiple choice exams, essay type exams, term paper or research project, class participation, seminar discussions, oral presentations etc.  The instructor will specify the evaluation scheme to be used at the beginning of the semester.

An example of one evaluation scheme:

Five quizzes 50%
Term paper 20%
Oral presentation 5%
Seminar attendance and participation 5%
Final exam 20%
  100%
Textbook Materials

Texts will be updated periodically. Typical examples are:

  • Goodwin, C. J. (1999) A History of Modern Psychology.  New York: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Schultz, D. & Schultz S.E. (2000) (7th Ed.)  A History of Contemporary Psychology New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Text will be updated periodically.

Prerequisites

PSYC 1200