History and Systems of Psychology

Psychology 314 Henry Minton
Winter 1995
Department of Psychology
University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario

Texts: Hergenhahn ­ An Introduction to the History of Psychology (2nd edition)

Dates Topic Chapters
1/10 Preview
1/12 Introduction 1
1/17 Greek Philosophers 2, 3 (pp. 55­61)
1/19 Middle Ages and Renaissance 3 (pp, 61­77), 4
1/24 Empiricism (Hand in topic preference) 5
1/26 Rationalism 6
1/31 Romanticism 7
2/2 EXAM 1
2/7 Physiology (Group Meetings) 8
2/9 Wundt 9 (pp. 235­245)
2/14 Titchener 9 (pp. 245­259)
2/16 Darwin and Galton 10 (pp. 263­276)
2/21 The Testing Movement 10 (pp. 276­293)
2/23 James 11 (pp. 298­311)
3/7 Functionalism 11 (pp. 311­331)
3/9 EXAM 2
3/14 Pavlov (Group Meetings) 12 (pp. 335­346)
3/16 Watson 12 (pp. 346­366)
3/21 Tolman and Hull 13 (pp. 370­384) 3/23 Skinner 13 (pp, 384­393)
3/28 Gestalt Psychology 14
3/30 Antecedents of Psychoanalysis 15
4/4 Psychoanalysis (Group Meetings) 16
4/6 Panel Presentations: 1910s, 1920s, 1930s
4/11 Panel Presentations: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s
4/13 Panel Presentations: 1970s, 1980s
(hand in term papers)
4/20 FINAL EXAM

Course Requirements:

2 Term Exams ­ 20% each
Final Exam ­ 25% (note: class frequency distribution to be considered in assignment of exam grades)
Term Paper ­ 25%
Panel Presentation ­ 10% (group grade)
Cheating and plagiarizing will have disciplinary consequences.

Term Paper:

On January 24 hand in your tentative selection for a topic. Topic choices are listed on the last page of this handout, Turn in this form on the date indicated. Papers are to be handed in on last day of class (April 13).


For your paper, you will choose a topic area and historical period (see attached list) and answer the question­­To what extent has research and theory in the area been influenced by the cultural, economic, and political conditions of North American society during the era considered. For example, if you choose to study "racial prejudice" in the 1930s, to what extent did the psychological research on race prejudice reflect such major events of the decade as the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, and the threat of global conflict?

In order to write your paper, you will need to review the psychological literature in American and Canadian sources for the period in question, Thus, you will have to consult periodicals, textbooks, and other books published during the period in question, Secondary sources, i.e., works published later that review the literature of the period will also be useful.

The Resource List (separate handout) will be helpful for your literature review, especially Section II B (Topical Bibliographies). Biographical sources (see Section I) may also be of some help if you determine the influence of particular psychologists who were important at the time (e.g., J.B, Watson on learning during the 1910s).

Note that your concern is with the United States and Canada. Thus, if you choose a topic such as psychoanalysis, which developed in Europe, you will need to investigate what was written in North America from a psychoanalytic viewpoint.

Your paper will also be based on what you investigate about the sociocultural, economic, and political conditions of the time. For this part of the paper you will be able to draw from the group you will be assigned to for the panel presentation (see below). Also see sections III, IV, 2nd V of Resource List.

Your paper should be about 12­15 double­spaced typed pages plus a bibliography.

Panel Presentation

Based on your preference, you will be assigned to a group dealing with a particular decade. The task for each group is to develop a cultural history that members can make use of in their individual papers. In other words, as an example, what were the major events, lifestyles, outlooks of North American society during the 1960s. There are many sources for this project and these can be divided among the group. Some suggestions are included under Section III of the Resource List. Other sources are popular periodicals, e.g., Time, Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, etc. (See Sections IV and V), Interviewing parents, grandparents, etc. may also be helpful. Class time will be set aside for group meetings (see class schedule).

Each panel will be asked to give an oral presentation of what the members' conclusions were from each of their papers. Each group can decide on how to conduct the oral presentation, Some suggestions: (a) each member of the group gives a brief summary of their own conclusions, (b) one member of the group acts as a "talk­show" host and interviews the group members, (c) two or three members act as spokespersons summarizing the conclusions of each member or common findings across group. Each group will have about 25 minutes to present. At the time of the panel presentation, a brief written outline (1 or 2 pages) should be handed in to document the presentation.
History and Systems Topics

Rank your preferences for historical period­­l next to your first choice, then 2 and 3,

_____1910S _____1950s
_____1920s _____1960s
_____1930s _____1970s
_____1940s _____1980s

Rank your 3 preferences for topics using the same notation as above. These topics are suggestive; you may also choose other topics by writing these in on blank spaces provided. Hand this sheet in on January 24. I will return this to you to confirm your choices.

_____ Early Childhood _____ Adolescence
_____ Aging _____ Child­Rearing Practices
_____ Moral Development _____ Animal Behavior
_____ Emotion _____ Motivation
_____ Learning _____ Memory
_____ Cognition _____ Psycholinguistics
_____ Small Groups _____ Attitudes
_____ Racial Prejudice _____ Aggression
_____ Conformity _____ Sex Differences
_____ Psychology of Women _____ Homosexuality
_____ Schizophrenia _____ Neurosis
_____ Psychotherapy _____ Psychoanalysis
_____ Personality _____ Intelligence Testing
_____ Industrial Psychology _____ Community Psychology
_____ Educational Psychology _____ Military Psychology
_____ _______________________ _____ _______________________
_____ _______________________ _____ _______________________