History and Systems of Psychology

ASSIGNMENT #2
USE YOUR OWN WORDS – DO NOT COPY DIRECTLY FROM THE TEXT!!!!
However, you may repeat the text for items that request a “list” from the textbook.
Place your first and last name at the top of page 1. List number and your response.
Each response should be 4-5 sentences single spaced
The following questions are based on Benjamin’s A Brief History of Psychology.
ISBN: 978-1-4051-3206-0
USE YOUR OWN WORDS – DO NOT COPY DIRECTLY FROM THE TEXT!!
1. Phrenology is often described as a pre-scientific approach used by unscrupulous quacks seeking “easy money.” However, Sokal (2017) argued that phrenology may be considered to be an early form of psychological assessment. Briefly provide two examples that supports Sokal’s contention that phrenologists did more than take a quick reading of the “bumps & indentations” on a person’s head.
2. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby was one of the founders of the “mental healing” movement that was popular in America after 1850. Imagine that you are Mr. Quimby and a new patient expresses an interest in mental healing because she has had considerable depression and digestive problems (upset stomach) over the past two years. Your new patient is frustrated because her family physician has been unable to cure the depression and recurrent upset stomach. What would you tell the new patient when she asks “what is causing these problems?” and “how can they be fixed?”
3. In 1827, Thomas Upham published the first textbook in psychology. What was the title of the 1827 text? (OK to quote the text on the title.)
4. In phrenology textbooks, Gall claimed that the cerebellum controlled sexual behavior. How did Flourens, a French neurophysiologist, prove that Gall was wrong?
5. Imagine that you have an auditory “humming sound device” that has a dial control that can change the volume level from “0=OFF No humming sound” to “120 decibels extremely loud humming sound. Define absolute threshold and describe how Fechner could use your sound device to determine absolute threshold.
6. Franz Brentano disagreed with Wilhelm Wundt in several areas. Briefly describe any two ways in which Brentano’s Act Psychology differed from Wundt.
7. Briefly describe any one of the barriers Mary Whiton Calkins confronted as one of the first women psychologists.
8. List any one of the research or professional contributions made by Mary Whiton Calkins (acceptable to quote the book).
The following questions are based on the Benjamin’s A History of Psychology: Original Sources and Contemporary Readings textbook.
ISBN: 978-1-4051-7710-8
USE YOUR OWN WORDS – DO NOT COPY DIRECTLY FROM THE TEXT!!
9. In Chapter 1, Historiography – Asking and Answering Historical Questions, Benjamin discusses the importance of external histories under “The New History of Psychology.” Imagine that you plan to use the external history approach to explain how Sigmund Freud developed his controversial ideas on childhood incest representing a repressed unconscious fantasy. Briefly describe any two factors that you might explore to demonstrate Freud’s ideas on childhood incest “did not develop in a vacuum.”
10. Application. John Locke (1690) argued that “all ideas come from sensation of perception.” He then described the tabula rasa, or “blank sheet concept.” Dr. Cordova, a developmental psychologist, is currently studying adult sibling pairs (two persons with the same biological parents who were raised in the same household). She discovers that her adult sibling pairs often differ in attitudes, political beliefs, and behaviors. How might Locke’s tabula rasa concept help explain why there are so many differences in two siblings that were raised in the same family?
11. Application. In Introductory Psychology classes, instructors sometimes disparage the value of case studies in conducting psychological research. After reading Broca’s (1861) excerpt, “On the Speech Center,” briefly discuss why you agree or disagree with the statement that “case studies should never be used in psychological research.”
12. Finger (1994) notes that Broca argued that speech is always mediated by the right hemisphere in left handed people. Based on the later Franz (1914) review, explain why Broca was incorrect.
13. Blumenthal (1975) suggests that six of Wundt’s ideas have been “reconstructed in modern clothing” by 20th century researchers. Briefly explain what the author means when states that Wundt’s views on attention are important to contemporary research in schizophrenia.
14. Briefly explain why Blumenthal’s (1975) discussion of “Wundt’s Historical Contexts” reflects a scholar’s use of the naturalistic framework that was presented in our first historiography lecture.
15. William James (1890) provides an example of four men who took separate vacations to travel through Europe. Briefly explain why James’s example is still relevant today for psychologists interested in human memory (selective recall).