Press coverage of the new psychology by the New York Times during the progressive era

Press coverage of psychology by the New York Times was examined for the Progressive Era. Following a period in which psychology was associated with spiritualism, psychoanalysis, and the Emmanuel movement, the Times gave editorial preference to reports about psychology's applications. Reaching an audience that was both affluent and influential, the topics emphasized by the Times included the lie detector, psychological applications in the work place, mental tests, and child psychology. These areas reflected issues of social concern to Progressives, publicized the rise of the psychologist as expert, and aided psychology in its challenge to common sense.     

Psychology in the human sciences in France, 1920-1940: Ignace Meyerson's historical psychology

Between World War I and World War II, psychology adopted a direction open to human sciences; I. Meyerson was the main organizer of this choice. Leading the Societe de Psychologie and the Journal de Psychologie Normale et Pathologique, he tried to construct an individual and collective psychology that reflected not only the scientific preoccupations of his masters and friends but also their political choices: They had been the founders of the Human Rights League at the end of the 19th century. Behind Durkheim and Seignobos, with Mauss, Levy-Bruhl, and Blondel, Meyerson answered the new historians' call for a unified science of "mentalities," a historical psychology of collective representations. Meyerson offered to sociologists, anthropologists, linguists, and historians several forums to debate in which psychology was the unifying science. But at the end of the World War II, his psychology was marginalized, and a postivistic and behavioristic way was preferred. Meyerson's historical psychology disappeared from academic psychology, but historians have preserved its legacy.     

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and the future of psychology

Psychology responded to the national needs in World War I and World War II and was itself transformed. National need calls a third time: unprecedented levels of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide, and anxiety along with a need for a resilient Army capable of meeting the persistent warfare of the foreseeable future. As a large part of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, positive psychology is meeting this need with new tests, with new fitness courses, and with resilience training. These developments may transform the practice of psychology and psychology's relation to medicine and education.     

"Be the love of god rather than talk about it": ministers study psychology

After World War II, American ministers successfully drew on training in psychology to nurture their spiritual and vocational development. Contrary to what critics of a therapeutic ethos in American culture have asserted, this social history of ministers shows that their adoption of psychological modes of thinking was neither atomizing nor secularizing. Rather, it helped them become better people and better ministers. It nurtured their faith as well as their social connections. Thus, I argue against critics who have feared the civically enervating effects of psychological outlooks in American society.     

Reflections on intersections between cognitive and social psychology: A personal exploration

I appreciate the opportunity offered by the editor to reflect on the relationship between cognitive and social psychology. This topic has interested me my entire professional life, because I was admitted to graduate school to study social psychology and then eventually migrated to cognitive psychology. The organization of this paper is as follows: I first relate my (somewhat puzzling) personal experiences that led me to wonder about relations between cognitive and social psychology. I suggest that, for many topics, the placement of a topic of study in one field or the other is arbitrary. Next I selectively review some common historical influences on the development of both fields, ones that have made them similar. Both grew from common seeds, which include Gestalt psychology as it became applied to a wider array of topics, experimental psychologists becoming interested in attitude change during and after World War II, and Bartlett's famous book on Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Next I review some research from my lab that picked up themes from Bartlett's work and that, in some aspects, combines cognitive and social approaches. I also discuss the issue of memory conformity or the social contagion of memory, and conclude with thoughts about how social and cognitive psychologists might collaborate on an exciting new arena, creating empirical studies of collective memory. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

"Panic": the impact of Le Bon's crowd psychology on U.S. military thought

The controversial crowd psychology of Gustave Le Bon has been both praised as an incisive contribution to social theory and also condemned as a doctrine of irrationality and mass manipulation associated with fascism. New archival documentation now demonstrates that Le Bon exercised significant influence on U.S. military thinking and practice through World War II. Army writings and officer training on morale, leadership, and battlefield psychology rested substantially on his theory of crowds, particularly regarding races and panic. Le Bon's racial psychology took on additional importance when the African-American 92 nd Infantry Division panicked during combat in Italy. This new evidence offers an excellent case study of the direct and enduring impact of a peculiar type of social psychology on the institutional culture of the army from the classrooms at the Army War College to the battlefield itself.     

The long past and the short history of social psychology

In 1908 Ebbinghaus distinguished between the long past and the short history of psychology. The short history dated from 1879 when Wundt established a psychological laboratory at Leipzig. The long past concerns the time when psychology was a branch of philosophy. Implicit in such a break with the past is a positivist philosophy of science. I show how this philosophy of science distorts the historical record. I then analyse the history of social psychology. Unwittingly Lindzey and Aronson (1985) distinguish between the long past of social psychology as part of the Western intellectual tradition and its short history as an experimental science that is mainly American. Murchison's Handbook of Social Psychology (1935), whilst marking the boundary between the long past and the short history, belongs to the long past. The break with tradition came in 1954, when Lindzey published the first Handbook in the modern series. There is a self-conscious need, in the post World War II era, to train a whole new generation of social psychologists. The Lindzey series of Handbooks meets that need. The ‘progress’ of modern social psychology is now measured in terms of its distance from the Murchison milestone of 1935.     

The trials of theory: Psychology and institutionalist economics, 1910–1931

The rise of the institutionalist school of economics, in the 1910s and 1920s, has recently been given the historical attention it deserves. However, historical studies of the school have left two questions unanswered. First, to what extent was the institutionalist's interest in academic psychology (frequently declared in their meta‐economic writings) realized in their economic writings? Second, what evidence of a fruitful collaboration with institutional economics can be found in the work of psychologists? In this paper I consider the meta‐economic statements of three key institutionalists, Wesley C. Mitchell, John M. Clark, and Walton H. Hamilton, and two key economic works by Mitchell and Clark. I contend that these works show little systematic engagement of academic psychology. A study of psychological literature of the period yields the same conclusion; in particular, industrial psychology did not come into fruitful contact with institutional economics, despite the parallel interests of the two fields and their parallel rise after World War I. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Max Weber as outsider: His nominal influence on German sociology in the twenties

An assessment of the influence which Max Weber's writings had on the growth of German sociology after World War I. The author isolates those themes which were of major importance during the Weimar Republic: the concern with social integration; the shattered faith in reason; and the attempt to create a uniquely “German” sociology. It becomes clear that neither Weber's conception of sociology nor his methodological formulations had much impact on the next generation. These findings can be accounted for in three different ways: (1) that he died too early; (2) that German sociology lacked the necessary institutionalization; or (3) that there was a reorientation in scholarship following World War I, which Weber's opus could not bridge.     

IS THERE A FUTURE FOR THE DIALOGUE?

The title question was raised by Philip Hefner in an editorial in the March 2007 issue of Zygon, and answered in various ways in sixteen guest editorials in the June, September, and December 2007 issues. In this article, after defining some pertinent concepts, I comment on these essays. I review critical statements made by the guest editorialists and survey their proposals for further dialogue topics. I conclude with my own views on the future of the dialogue and the role of Zygon therein.     

Bion’s discovery of alpha function: Thinking under fire on the battlefield and in the consulting room

This paper has traced Bion’s discovery of alpha function and its subsequent elaboration. His traumatic experiences as a young tank commander in World War I (overlaid on, and intertwined with, childhood conflicts) gave him firsthand exposure to very painful emotions that tested his capacity to manage. Later, in the 1950s, after his analysis with Melanie Klein and marriage to Francesca Bion, he undertook the analysis of psychotic patients and learned how they disassembled their ability to know reality as a defense against unbearable emotional truths in their lives. This led Bion to identify an aspect of dreaming that was necessary in order for reality experience to be given personal meaning so that one may learn from experience. Simultaneous with working out this new theory of dreaming, Bion also revisited his World War I experiences that had remained undigested and all these elements coalesced into a selected fact – his discovery of alpha function. In subsequent writings, Bion explored the constituent factors of alpha function, including the container/contained relationship, the PS?D balance, reverie, tolerated doubt and other factors which I have termed the ‘Constellation for Thinking’.     

Impacts of psychological science on national security agencies post-9/11

Psychologists have been an integral part of national security agencies since World War I, when psychological science helped in personnel selection. A robust infrastructure supporting wider applications of psychology to military and intelligence problems developed further during World War II and the years following, primarily in the areas of testing, human factors, perception, and the decision sciences. Although the nature of the attacks on 9/11 raised the level of perceived need for increased human-based intelligence, the impacts of psychologists on the policies and practices of national security agencies in the decade since have not increased significantly.     

The study of religion(s) in Western Europe (II): Institutional developments after World War II

This essay discusses main features and developments of the study of religion(s) in Western Europe. It attempts a historical, geographical, and thematic synthesis. Part II sketches institutional developments after World War II in several countries and the emergence of professional associations (international as well as national). In the post World War II growth of the field, social-scientific approaches to the study of religion(s) became increasingly prominent. The article sketches the institutional developments and main scholarly concerns of the psychology, sociology, and anthropology of religions respectively. It then moves on to consider the Eranos conferences as a specific forum for scholarship. The final sections discuss religious changes in Western Europe and their reflections in the study of religion(s).     

The history of psychology in former Yugoslavia: An overview

The development of psychology in the country formerly known as Yugoslavia reflects different paths in the three republics of Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia due to their distinct cultural and historical backgrounds. Although Marko Marulić, a Croatian Renaissance humanist, was credited with the introduction of the term “psychology” in the sixteenth century, psychology as a discipline was not introduced until the late nineteenth century. The establishment of psychology in academe and experimental work between the two World Wars were initiated by Yugoslavian students who were educated in prestigious laboratories in the West–Austria, England, France, and Germany. Immediately after World War II Yugoslavian psychology was influenced by Soviet experiences, but a “westward” shift followed Tito's breakup with Stalin. In the context of a unique nonaligned and nondogmatic form of communism, Yugoslavian psychology grew rapidly, providing contributions to diverse and primarily applied fields.     

The Psychology of Religion in Australia

Reasons for the late emergence of the psychology of religion in Australia include the history and growth of psychology, early resistance of institutional religion to a scientific study of religion, changes in direction of psychology in the 1960s, and renewed interest in the study of religion after World War 2. Research in Australia between 1960 and 1990 reveals three trends: theory-based, phenomena-based, and combined approaches. Contemporary cultural influences, including secularization, urbanization, multiculturalism, and the changing status of women and Aboriginals, challenge and present opportuni- ties for the psychology of religion in Australia.     

The real F. M. Urban

F.M. Urban made important contributions in psychometry and is best known for his introduction of a correction in the "Müller-Urban weights." Born in Austria, he came to the University of Pennsylvania where he made most of his contributions in psychology. He was trapped in Europe by World War I and never returned to the United States. Myriad hardships forced him to abandon his original project of a study of the entire field of probability and its application to other sciences. Whenever possible, however, he pursued his interests in psychometry and psychophysics and strove to remain active in psychology.     

A tale of four countries: How Bowlby used his trip through Europe to write the WHO report and spread his ideas

Attachment theory, developed by child psychiatrist John Bowlby, is considered a major theory in developmental psychology. Attachment theory can be seen as resulting from Bowlby's personal experiences, his psychoanalytic education, his subsequent study of ethology, and societal developments during the 1930s and 1940s. One of those developments was the outbreak of World War II and its effects on children's psychological wellbeing. In 1950, Bowlby was appointed WHO consultant to study the needs of children who were orphaned or separated from their families for other reasons and needed care in foster homes or institutions. The resulting report is generally considered a landmark publication in psychology, although it subsequently met with methodological criticism. In this paper, by reconstructing Bowlby's visit to several European countries, on the basis of notebooks and letters, the authors shed light on the background of this report and the way Bowlby used or neglected the findings he gathered.     

Gestalt psychology in Italy

Graz gestalt psychology was introduced into Italy after World War I with Vittorio Benussi's emigration to Padua. His earliest adherent, Cesare Musatti, defended Graz theory, but after Benussi's premature death became an adherent of the Berlin gestalt psychology of Wertheimer-K?hler-Koffka. He trained his two most important students, Fabio Metelli and Gaetano Kanizsa, in orthodox Berlin theory. They established rigid "schools" in Padua and Trieste. The structure of Italian academics allowed for such strict orthodoxy, quite unlike the situation in America, where scientific objectivity mitigated against schools. In the 1960s, some of the students of Metelli and Kanizsa (above all Bozzi) initiated a realist movement-felt in Kanizsa's late work-that was quite independent of that of J. J. Gibson. Finally, more recently, Benussi and Graz theorizing have been embraced again, sentimentally, as a predecedent to Kanizsa-Bozzi.     

The development of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was constructed at the University of Minnesota before and during World War II. In its developmental phase, the MMPI was conceputalized as an efficient way of detecting psychiatric disturbance. The test's construction was made possible by atypical cooperation between psychologists and psychiatrists, within the context of a crisis in the U.S. public mental health care system. The MMPI was designed to meet the diagnostic needs of psychiatrists. As such, it represented the operationalization of medical hegemony. However, the interpretation of the MMPI shifted significantly after the war, reflecting organizational reform in clinical psychology and changing professional relationships between psychologists and psychiatrists.     

Some Lasting Consequences of US Psychology Programs in World Wars I and II

Applied research in psychology not only has contributed directly to societal advances but often has fostered basic research as well. Prominent examples are the programs directed by Yerkes in World War I to develop the Army Alpha test and several programs in World War II, including The American Soldier that assessed soldiers' attitudes during the war; a program for selecting agents for the Office of Strategic Services; and the Aviation Psychology Program to select and classify applicants for flight training in the Army Air Forces. Highlights of these programs are presented here, with special attention given to by far the largest, the Air Forces program. After World War II, many of the hundreds of psychologist veterans became prominent research psychologists. Most became university professors. Among those who continued to work in applied settings was John Flanagan who had served as Chief of the Army Air Forces Psychology Branch. (After the war, Saul Sells succeeded Flanagan as Head of the Aviation Psychology program.) Flanagan founded the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the earliest mission of which was to select flight personnel for civilian airlines. Another part of the AIR mission was to enhance civilian air safety by assuring the widespread use of Flanagan's critical-incident procedures (or near-accident reports) that now serve to reduce accident rates in a variety of industries as well as in aviation.