A History of Modern Experimental Psychology: From James and Wundt to Cognitive Science

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MIT Press, 21 ene 2011 - 310 páginas
The evolution of cognitive psychology, traced from the beginnings of a rigorous experimental psychology at the end of the nineteenth century to the "cognitive revolution" at the end of the twentieth, and the social and cultural contexts of its theoretical developments.

Modern psychology began with the adoption of experimental methods at the end of the nineteenth century: Wilhelm Wundt established the first formal laboratory in 1879; universities created independent chairs in psychology shortly thereafter; and William James published the landmark work Principles of Psychology in 1890. In A History of Modern Experimental Psychology, George Mandler traces the evolution of modern experimental and theoretical psychology from these beginnings to the "cognitive revolution" of the late twentieth century. Throughout, he emphasizes the social and cultural context, showing how different theoretical developments reflect the characteristics and values of the society in which they occurred. Thus, Gestalt psychology can be seen to mirror the changes in visual and intellectual culture at the turn of the century, behaviorism to embody the parochial and puritanical concerns of early twentieth-century America, and contemporary cognitive psychology as a product of the postwar revolution in information and communication.

After discussing the meaning and history of the concept of mind, Mandler treats the history of the psychology of thought and memory from the late nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth, exploring, among other topics, the discovery of the unconscious, the destruction of psychology in Germany in the 1930s, and the relocation of the field's "center of gravity" to the United States. He then examines a more neglected part of the history of psychology—the emergence of a new and robust cognitive psychology under the umbrella of cognitive science.

 

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Índice

Its History and Current Use
1
Prolegomena of Modern Psychology
17
3 The Social Context for the New Psychology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
39
Wilhelm Wundt and William James
51
Imageless Thought
77
Consolidation in Europe and Behaviorism in America
93
Psychology Matures and Theories Abound
109
8 The Destruction of Psychology in Germany 1933 to 1945
125
10 A New Age of Psychology at the End of World War II
165
11 Two Case Histories from the New Psychology
189
12 Old Problems and New Directions at the End of the Century
205
Psychology Today and Tomorrow
225
References
247
Name Index
275
Subject Index
285
Página de créditos

9 The Success of Gestalt Theory and Its Translation to the United States
139

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Sobre el autor (2011)

George Mandler is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego, and Visiting Professor at University College London. He is the author of Mind and Emotion, Mind and Body: Psychology of Emotion and Stress, Human Nature Explored, Interesting Times: An Encounter with the Twentieth Century, and other books.

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