Discussion #4 History and Theories of Psychology
the Discussion is based on the topic of your choice from chapter 10 . Explain your understanding of the chapter, include examples, experiences, and theories.
Hergenhahn’s An Introduction to the History
of Psychology
Eighth Edition
Chapter 10
Evolution and
Individual Differences
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Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
After reading and discussing Chapter 10, students
should:
• Be familiar with the ideas regarding evolutionary
principles prior to Darwin’s theory.
• Be acquainted with the ideas of Herbert Spencer
including his views on evolution, the Spencer—Bain
principle, and the concept of social Darwinism.
• Be familiar with the ideas which influenced Darwin in
the development of his theory and understand the
tenets of the theory of evolution and its influence.
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Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
•
•
Be acquainted with Galton’s work in measurement of
human abilities, eugenics, the nature vs. nurture
controversy, and correlation.
Be familiar with the development of intelligence tests
and issues related to intelligence testing.
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Evolutionary Theory before Darwin (1 of 3)
•
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
– The theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics
stated that environmental changes during the lifetime
of the organism resulted in structural changes in
plants and animals
?
•
These changes would be passed on to the offspring,
which in turn enhanced their chance for survival.
Herbert Spencer
– Spencer applied his view of evolution to everything in
the universe, including the human mind and societies.
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Evolutionary Theory before Darwin (2 of 3)
– Through evolution, differentiation occurs and systems
become increasingly complex and move toward
perfection.
– Applied evolutionary theory to selection of behavior in
what was called the Spencer–Bain Principle.
– Proposed that the probability of a behavior occurring in
the future is a function of whether it is followed by a
pleasurable event or a painful event.
?
This became the cornerstone of Thorndike’s
connectionism and Skinner’s operant behavior.
– Went on to propose that these propensities for various
behavioral responses could be passed on to offspring.
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Evolutionary Theory before Darwin (3 of 3)
– Applied the notion of survival of the fittest to societies
and entities within societies. This is the concept of
social Darwinism.
?
?
Societies and entities within societies, for example,
businesses and companies, evolve and those which
are “more perfected” survive and those which do not,
do not survive.
This was obviously compatible with the capitalist and
individualistic philosophy in the United States at this
time in history and social Darwinism was accepted
wholeheartedly.
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Charles Darwin (1 of 6)
•
Influences
– The voyage of the Beagle
?
?
?
Darwin was hired as a naturalist/scientist for a fiveyear expedition to collect scientific facts to support the
Biblical account of the creation.
During the voyage he collected hundreds of specimens
and made hundreds of observations.
He also read the book Principles of Geology, which
made him start doubting the Biblical account.
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Charles Darwin (2 of 6)
– Thomas Malthus’s Essay on the Principles of Population
?
With all of these observations, his ideas of evolution were
in their infancy.
?
The reading of Thomas Malthus’s Essay on the Principles
of Population provided him with the mechanism/principle to
complete the formulation of the theory.
o
?
The essay proposed that food supply and populations size
were kept in balance by events such as war, starvation, and
disease.
In other words, natural events could and do select who will
survive and have children and who will not survive.
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Charles Darwin (3 of 6)
•
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
– Natural struggle for survival
?
Within a species there is variability, which produces
vast individual differences in characteristics.
o
Some of these characteristics are more conducive to the
organism’s survival within particular environmental
conditions (environmental pressure) than others.
– Struggle for survival results in the survival of the fittest
?
Therefore, a natural selection occurs.
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Charles Darwin (4 of 6)
?
Evolution, in other words, results from the natural
selection (selection by environmental pressures) of
those accidental variations among members of a
species that prove to have survival value.
– Fitness defined solely in terms of ability to survive and
reproduce
?
Darwin said nothing about progression toward a goal or
perfection; evolution just happens due to natural
environmental pressures
– Conflict with the church
?
Mainly due to Darwin’s estimates of the earth’s age.
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Charles Darwin (5 of 6)
– Evolution’s role in psychology
?
Darwin’s book, The Expressions of Emotions in Man
and Animals is most directly related to psychology.
o
o
In the book, he argues that human emotions are
remnants of animal emotions that had once been
necessary for survival.
These comparisons launched modern comparative
psychology.
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Charles Darwin (6 of 6)
•
Darwin’s influence
– The theory was revolutionary
– Still affects the behavior of scientists and philosophers
today
– Changed the traditional view of human nature and the
view of our place in the universe.
– The theory has influenced all areas of psychology.
– It also played a significant role in the development of
functionalism and subsequently behaviorism.
Evolutionary psychology has also used Darwin’s
definitions to account for human social behaviors.
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Sir Francis Galton (1 of 5)
• Darwin’s Cousin
– Became interested in studying the inheritance of
human abilities and individual differences.
• Many interesting achievements
– Invented the weather map
– Was the first to suggest using fingerprints for
identification.
•
The measurement of intelligence
– Believed that intelligence was inherited
– Led to the formation of the eugenics movement
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Sir Francis Galton (2 of 5)
•
The nature-nurture controversy
– Galton revised his position: the potential for high
intelligence was inherited but it must be nurtured by a
proper environment
?
•
Popularized research on twins
Words and images
– Developed the first word-association test
– Among the first to study imagery
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Sir Francis Galton (3 of 5)
•
Anthropometry
– Developed in response to his desire to measure the
individual differences among humans
– Collected data on more than 9,000 humans.
– Believed sensory acuity was related to intelligence
and could therefore be used as a means to measure
intelligence.
•
Developed data analytic techniques
– Collected vast amounts of data and needed a way to
analyze it.
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Sir Francis Galton (4 of 5)
– Initially looked at the data using scatter plots to
observe the correlation between variables.
?
?
Later, Karl Pearson developed the mathematical
formulation for the correlation coefficient to give a
mathematical expression of relationships between
variables.
With the data, he also observed a regression toward
the mean
o
This states that data points on a particular variable will
tend to cluster around the mean for that characteristic.
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Sir Francis Galton (5 of 5)
•
Contributions of Galton
– Include a list of firsts:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
The study of the nature-nurture question
The use of questionnaires in research
The use of word-association tests
The conduction of twin studies
The study of imagery
The development of correlational techniques
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Intelligence Testing after Galton
•
James Cattell
– Developed early Galtonian-type tests in the United
States
– First to use the term mental test
– Correlational analysis indicated little intercorrelation
among the tests and little correlation between the
tests and success in college
– With these negative findings, the interest in mental
testing faded.
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Individual Differences in Intelligence
(1 of 5)
•
Alfred Binet
– Interested in what makes people different, not their
similarities.
?
?
For Binet, the important variables on which people
differ are complex, higher-order processes that vary
according to age.
His study of these differences was called individual
psychology.
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Individual Differences in Intelligence
(2 of 5)
– He and Theodore Simon developed the Binet-Simon
intelligence scale as a valid means to distinguish
between normal children and children with mental
deficiencies.
?
?
The scale was revised several times.
Binet believed that intelligence is not a single ability
but several.
– William Stern introduced the term mental age, which
was to be divided by chronological age yielding the
intelligence quotient.
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Individual Differences in Intelligence
(3 of 5)
– Binet urged extreme caution in interpreting
intelligence test scores
– Believed that mental orthopedics could prepare
disadvantaged children for school.
?
The orthopedics consisted of exercises that improve a
child’s will, attention, and discipline—all abilities that
Binet thought were necessary for effective education.
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Individual Differences in Intelligence
(4 of 5)
• Charles Spearmen
– Using factor analysis (a complex statistical technique
based on correlations), he proposed a two-factor
theory of intelligence consisting of a specific factor
and a general factor.
– His conclusions about the nature of intelligence are
important for two main reasons:
1) He emphasized the unitary nature of intelligence in
contrast to Binet’s emphasis on diversity.
2) He was a pioneer in the area of statistics that are used
by psychologists
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Individual Differences in Intelligence
(5 of 5)
•
Cyril Burt
– His “research findings” caused a scandal in the area
of heritability of intelligence.
– He was accused of fabricating his data, although his
conclusions have been confirmed by others such as
Cattell and Bouchard.
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Intelligence Testing in the United
States (1 of 3)
•
The Binet–Simon Scale in the United States
– Henry Goddard
?
?
Translated the Binet–Simon scale into English.
He studied the relationship between family background
and intelligence. As a result of the research (which was
questionable), Goddard and several leading scientists
urged that those with mental deficiencies be sterilized
and/or segregated from the rest of society.
o
o
o
States actually passed sterilization laws and some had
them up until the 1970s.
This also led to the mental testing of immigrants, which in
turn was very controversial.
It also led to an increase in deportation.
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Intelligence Testing in the United
States (2 of 3)
– Lewis Terman
?
He and his colleagues adapted the Binet–Simon test to
develop the Stanford–Binet test.
o
o
?
?
The development resulted in an average score for
children of different ages to be 100.
Also suggested the intelligence ratio (mental
age/chronicle age) be multiplied by 100 to delete the
decimal and called it the intelligence Quotient (IQ).
Throughout his career he contended that intelligence
was largely inherited
Agreed with many of the ideas of Goddard.
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Intelligence Testing in the United
States (3 of 3)
?
Conducted a longitudinal study on gifted children that
continued for more than 80 years.
o
The primary results were: The gifted child becomes a
gifted adult.
– Leta Hollingworth
?
?
Challenged the belief that intelligence is largely
inherited and that women are intellectually inferior to
males
Proposed improved education for gifted children
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Intelligence Testing in the Army
•
Robert Yerkes
– Proposed that points be given for questions on the
intelligence test and analyzed in this manner without
respect to age.
– He organized the testing program for the army in
World War I.
?
Developed the Army Alpha test for literate people and
the Army Beta for those who were illiterate.
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The Deterioration of National Intelligence
(1 of 3)
•
Concern following WWI
– Nation’s intelligence level was deteriorating
– Yerkes, along with Goddard and Terman, thought that
this problem was caused by immigration and that
“intellectually inferior” people were reproducing at a
faster rate than normal or above-normal people.
?
This view was challenged
o
It was suggested that intelligence tests could be
measuring, at least partially, the effects of early
experience and education.
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The Deterioration of National Intelligence
(2 of 3)
•
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in
American Life
– Proposes six points that they claim are “beyond
dispute”
1) There is a general factor of cognitive ability on which
humans differ.
2) All standardized tests of academic aptitude or
achievement measure this general factor to some
degree. IQ tests designed for this purpose measure it
more accurately.
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The Deterioration of National Intelligence
(3 of 3)
3) IQ scores match, to a first degree, whatever people
mean when they use the word intelligence or smart in
ordinary language.
4) IQ scores are stable, although not perfectly so, over
much of the lifespan.
5) Properly administered IQ tests are not demonstrably
biased against social, economic, ethnic, or racial groups.
6) Cognitive ability is substantially heritable, apparently no
less than 40% and nor more than 80%.
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Modern Testing
•
Psychometrics
– Quinn McNemar
– Anne Anastasi
– Paul Meehl
•
David Wechsler
– Developed a new intelligence test to better
understand adult intelligence.
– WAIS and WISC
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History and Theories of Psychology
Class Book:
Hergenhahn’s An Introduction to the History
of Psychology
ISBN: 978-1-337-56415-1
Cengage