Reading Activity Week #7 (Due Tuesday)

After reading chapter 6 what I found interesting was the discussion of Education for Women and Minorities. The reason I find this to be interesting because I like learning about how women have fought for their place in the world and in school and enjoy reading about what differences they made in their lifetime. I think we are all familiar with the fact that opportunities were not available for women were not high back in the 19th century, especially getting into a good school. Women were looked at being a mother, wife, and homemaker; this was known as the “women’s sphere”. It was not only discouraged that women pursue any type of education but it would have unpleasant medical consequences. A Harvard medical school professor actually recommended that women quit school once they hit puberty because too much mental activity could retard the development of their reproductive organs. This unfortunately is not surprising to me; women have come a long way since then but women to this day have to fight for their rights and fight to advancement. Women still don’t have the same rights as men, for example most men and women who start a job at the same time and with amount of education it is more likely for men to advance with a pay raise when compared to women. Another topic I found interesting was the discussion of consciousness, habit, and emotion; these were all studied by William James. Consciousness is all personal and that thoughts do not exist independently. Habits are an adaptive function, meaning they may occur automatically because they are enabled by our conscious. Emotion is a form of perception either positive or negative that can cause bodily functions (trembling, heart rate, smile, frown, etc.). I found this interesting because I never really thought one caused or can cause another and that they kind of all work together. Another topic I found interesting throughout the chapter was the discussion of In Perspective: The New Psychology At The Millennium. During the last twenty years of the 19th century psychology changed considerably. It was taught traditionally and as moral or mental psychology but by the end of the century it influenced new psychology and the ideas of Charles Darwin. There was more laboratory research and more students were earning their doctorates in the United States instead of Germany. This I found interesting because Charles Darwin was discussed in the previous chapter and it was nice to know more about his background and what he accomplished while I read about this. It was really useful to know where he stood with his theories and what theories he had, Chapter 5 lead up to this part in the book for sure. One topic I found not to be as interesting was the discussion on G. Stanley Hall: Professionalizing The New Psychology. I found this to be more of a drag, what I read was interesting but I thought it repeated a lot making it sound as if he did a lot more. He did accomplish a lot, the child study movement, and studied the adolescence of aging, and demonstrated the importance of psychology to education. I wish they would have gone more into detail about each of these. I find what he studied interesting but they just didn't go into detail about them. I’m glad I knew who Freud was because it did say that he introduced Freud and psychoanalysis to America, I feel as if this is something important to know. The few ideas I had as I read through this chapter were of William James, I feel after what I read he has accomplished a great deal but I don’t remember hearing much about him, why is that? I really enjoyed reading about him also, and would find it interesting to learn more, I wish the book talked about him more.

The first thing that I found interesting in this chapter was the brief description of the first ever psychology textbook. Looking through the table of contents provided it was very interesting to me how much psychology has changed. You can really tell by looking through some of the chapter names (such as on the power of will and the moral sensibilities or conscious) that our science really did originate from philosophy and was directly connected to it in a lot of ways.
The second thing I found interesting was how far people actually took Darwin's theory of evolution. I know Darwin didn't forsee all of these consequences that his thoughts would bring. Such as the variability hypothesis which separates women and men into different categories, putting men on top.
The final thing that I found interesting in this chapter was William Jame's thoughts on the present and free will. Although I may not have understood all of it I think basically what James was trying to say was that although we can't know that the present isn't just some kind of illusion we might as well accept it for what it is. That was similar to his mindset on free will. He thought that free will may be an illusion but by choosing to believe in it the concept of free will became "useful" as the book puts it and created a sense of freedom so that James didn't have to question his scientific research as much.
One thing that i really disliked about this chapter was the what I consider the way-too-indepth portion about Clark University and it's struggles. All of the other American Pioneers were mentioned in brief and for the most part it was about their contributions to the science, but the long portion about Clark University was just too much about nothing that really mattered in the end. Just a tale of a struggling school.
I think that the whole part about women and minorities in the field of psychology and other academic settings was very useful because it mentioned the hardships that were happening and explained why almost all of the pioneers we usually hear about are white men. It's not that women and minorities weren't attempting or weren't as smart they just weren't often given or allowed the opportunity.
This chapter was all about individuals who contributed to psychology and explained many of them in detail. I found this to be very helpful because most of the rest of the book is simply concepts and very little do they talk about the people that controlled or came up with the concept.
I would really like to learn more on the topic that the book called recapitulation. The idea that proposed that an organism's stages of development, can be seen as a recapitulation of the evolution of the species. Such as when we're small and look very no-so-human, it may mean that we are then looking similar to some other species we evolved from, such as a monkey or a fish. I think this topic, although kind of farfetched would be a great one to research on and see if there is any actually evidence supporting this theory or something similar.
A lot of what I thought through this chapter was based on the fact that although these people did great things in psychology they all really didn't seem to admire the science as much as I would have hoped. Take William James. He is taught as a psychologist everywhere and in every textbook now a days and considered very influential to the field but he himself didn't want to be considered a psychologist, instead he wanted to be a philosopher. I guess a general lack of respect for the science was what I thought while reading this chapter.

The first thing that really caught my attention was the material on education for women and minorities. For the longest time, the only Americans who were available to education were middle and upper class white males. During this time, women had set beliefs known as the “women’s sphere”, which basically stated that women were supposed to be just a wife and mother. Women who wanted to receive a higher education were discouraged from doing so. One Harvard professor even said women should stop receiving education once they reach puberty as too much mental activity could damage their reproductive organs. This finally all began to change in the 1850’s when land grant universities admitted women to meet the need of teachers. Then, women-only schools were created. However, education opportunities were even worse for minorities, especially blacks. The Civil War and slave era were huge in the fight for minorities to have the same opportunities as whites. During this time, whites felt they were superior to blacks. They weren’t allowed higher education, because whites didn’t want them to think “freedom” was next. In the 1850’s colleges and universities were formed for blacks only. Many of these colleges didn’t study psychology, and only four of them offered it as a major. A man named Francis Sumner was very passionate about psychology, and he was actually the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in psychology. During this time, the opportunities in education for both women and minorities weren’t the greatest, but at least they got their foot in the door. A start is all they would need, because the opportunities kept growing as time went on. It’s a shame it took so long for everyone in the United States to have equal opportunities in education, work, etc., but I guess it’s better late than never. It’s a good thing equal opportunities eventually came about, because there have been a lot of women and minorities who have done great things for America, and there will be more who continue to do so.
The next thing that really interested me was the information provided about William James and his wife writing psychology’s most famous textbook. There was a lot of information provided regarding William James, but I became most interested in the book he wrote with his wife. In 1878, James married Alice Howe Gibbens, who was a teacher at an all girls’ school in Boston. It was actually on their honeymoon when they began to write the book together. The book was titled, The Principles of Psychology, and its purpose was to be a manual of psychology. The publisher, Henry Holt, wanted the book to be written in one year, but he eventually agreed to James’ request of two years. It ended up taking 12 years to write, and it was in two volumes totaling almost 1,400 pages. It was released in 1890. However, he wrote a brief version in 1892 titled, Psychology: The Briefer Course. In the book, James defined psychology as “the Science of Mental Life, both of its phenomena and their conditions.” This book alone shows the importance of the theories and ideas of past psychologists. This was from the late 1800’s, and it had and still has a great impact in the field of psychology. This helps show me the importance the history of psychology really has on the study of psychology today. If things like this hadn’t been created, we might not be where we are today in psychology.
Another thing that interested me was the material on G. Stanley Hall and his work related to developmental psychology. Hall was a pioneer in this field as he promoted the child study movement. He actually wrote the first textbook on adolescent psychology, and he later wrote a book on aging. He did a research project, and then wrote a paper called “The Contents of Children’s Minds”. In this project, he had 200 children tested to see what they knew about various subjects. The level of knowledge wasn’t high. About 75% couldn’t identify what season it was, about 87% of the children didn’t know what an island was, and about 90% of the children couldn’t locate their ribs. His goal was to educate the teachers of what to teach and how to teach it. He is the person most responsible for identifying adolescence as a distinct stage of development. It seems as though G. Stanley Hall was very important not only in psychology, but education as well. The teaching methods used during his study were obviously very ineffective as most of the children couldn’t answer the most basic questions correctly. I think this research study was huge, because it showed the ineffectiveness of the methods used during this time. I feel that his research helped teachers find their way to make sure their students were learning and growing at a normal rate.
The material in the chapter I found to be the least interesting was the information provided on George Trumbull Ladd. Like many other individuals introduced in this chapter, it seems like he’s best known for writing textbooks. The information provided about him was just a little too boring for me. The material was very brief, so maybe I’d be more interested if I were to take a more in-depth look at his work. None of the material really focused on one thing. Rather, it was a short article focusing on many of his works that didn’t really teach me anything.
The thing I read that will be most useful to me in understanding the history of psychology would be the material was the book written by William James and his wife. Reading about this helped me realize more the importance the history of psychology has on modern psychology. His book was a pivotal piece that more than likely helped other individuals come up with their own ideas and theories in different areas of psychology. Also, the material on women and minorities will help a lot. It taught me when they were finally able to receive equal opportunities in education. Also, it was very shocking to see the lack of interest in psychology by blacks once they formed their own colleges and universities.
This builds on the previous chapters by continuing to introduce new individuals who also had a big impact in the history of psychology. It almost seems like the history of psychology is a big puzzle, and the textbook is slowly putting the pieces in order. Also, it shows different factors during the time period. An example of this would be the education opportunities of women and minorities. I would like to learn more about William James and his textbook that is considered the manual of psychology. The popularity of his book proves that he was very important in the history of psychology. He’s a very interesting individual, and I think I’d enjoy learning more about him. While I was reading this chapter, I kept thinking about how the United States would have been if the segregation of minorities would never have been resolved. Also, I wondered what the country would have been like if women weren’t allowed the opportunity of higher education, and the opportunity to be whatever they wanted to be. There have been a lot of different minorities and women who have done a lot of great things for this country, and it’s interesting to wonder if these great things would have happened if they weren’t granted the opportunity.

This chapter looked into psychology in America during the 19th century. Within the first few pages, it introduced the first American psychological textbook, created by Thomas Upham. It was divided into 3 categories: the intellect (cognition), the sensibilities (emotion), and the will (action, which may mean behavior). All of which mirrors the content that is presented in modern textbooks. During this time period, there was an expanding college student population, that had nearly tripled between 1870 and 1910, which meant that there was a greater need for graduate programs.
However, women were still seen as intellectually inferior to their male counterparts, and were still expected to become a wife and mother. In this sense they could only achieve so much because of the social expectations for being a woman, which meant many didn’t even move beyond the high school level. One concept that was both appalling and interesting was periodic function, the idea that women are intellectually incapacitated during menstruation. In essence, it is a “reason” for woman’s inferiority, but a the same time mirrors what people still believe today. In today’s terms, if a woman shows any discomfort or pain during this time it may target them as weak.
The James-Lange Theory of Emotion was also interesting, because as much as it was based in research it’s still a very flowery version of psychology. The theory states that “strong emotions were in essence the physiological reaction that followed the perception of some emotion-eliciting event.” It is a concept created by Dutch physiologist Carl Lange, and adapted fit the psychological field by William James. To James, emotions weren’t an action-response events, but based in things that were much more rooted.
I think the section that didn’t capture my interest quite like the ones I mentioned previously was the work of G.Stanley Hall, maybe because it was much more analytical.

After reading chapter 6 one thing that interested me was the topic on women/minoritites and education. They discussed the women sphere which was the belief that women were meant for being wifes and mothers. ive known about women having less rights and being thought of as inferior to men but never really knew they had terms for it. The most interesting part was the Harvard professor that stated women should abandon education after puberty because to much mental activity could retard the development of their reproductive organs. After reading this i couldnt help but smile because of the fact that the man who said it was a Harvard professor. It seems that even well educated people had bias' towards women during the early years of education.
Another thing i found interesting in the chapter was william James. after reading the first section and realizing that william james did not want to be referred to as a psychologist but he was named to presidency of the APA twice and voted by his peers as the famed or recognized he was ranked first by all. I found this to be very interesting becuase he didnt consider himself a psychologist yet everyone around him did. He even made statements in his speech on how psychology isnt a science yet but rather the hope of a science. I found it unique that a man with other ideas of himself was looked at totally differently by the psychology community.
The third thing i found interesting was the "tip of the tongue phenomenon. William james proposed this idea. Upon reading this i instantly thought of numerous times in my recent memeory that this so called phenomenon has happened to me. his theory totally linked with past occurences. Im sure that there is more of a concept for this now but for that time in history it really shocked me to read about this. Things such as peoples names, song names, music atrists are just a few of the things that have been on the tip of my tongue but i couldnt recall. I just found it very interesting that he went into some depth about that concept during his time.
One thing i didnt find to be very interesting was all the excess background information on James. There were several parts that were very valuable but there were some parts that made it less appealing to read. The book discussed his childhood and long road that eventually lead him to the psychology contributions. these parts all contributed to his eventual success but to me it drug out longer than it needed to be. I didnt really related the suicide contemplations with any relevence to why he was considered top of the class to his peers.
One thing i would like to learn more about is the tip of the tongue theory William james had. Im pretty sure im not the only one to have experienced this at one point or another. It gave a brief description of it and then some words from him but after that it didnt go much in depth. This got my attention because its a fairly common occurence when people ask me questions on the spot. I would like to learn more that what the book had. Maybe ned advancements or theories that build of james original idea. Any other research that has been found or data collected. It was just a really intriguing concept for me.Some of the ideas that crossed my mind were how far women have come since this time. It was discussed that women either should be a wife or mother and stop education by the time puberty hits so they dont jeopardise their sex organs. It really made me think how difficult that would have been for women considering how things are now. Women have equal rights, equal qulifications and are more successful than ever. Another thing that made me think more in depth was how william james was regarded by his peers.I found it ironic that he didnt consider himself a psychologist but his peers considered him the top ranked noted man of his time. Also they voted him to presidency twice for the APA the same field that he said was only "the hope of a science".
The things i feel is most useful in this chapter is the topic of William James. He seemed to be a ground breaking man in the field of science. First his ideas and theories on consciousness. This helped pave the way for future concepts and ideas. Also His book the principles of psychology which was the first book of its time and was an instant classic. This book was a ground breaking event for this time and was used and studied so widely. The thing that this chapter build on was the American pioneers of psychology. the previous chapters discussed other pioneers but never from america. This was the first American pioneer that was discussed which helped to link all the pioneers of that time from each region of the world.

After the establishment of the modern university in America, several people became influential in the field of psychology including William James, G. Stanley Hall and Mary Whiton Calkins.
William James was a boss from the start. Born into a rich family, he was able to travel to Europe many times before the age of 18, he was exposed to and had a general understanding of several languages, and he was able to pursue a number of interests. These experiences caused an expansion of his mind and understanding to the point that he didn't know which road to take! He loved art but because of his father, he "chose" to enroll at university to become a scientist. He was able to study with the great minds in science even attending exhibitions to foreign lands. But all of the time he spent with scientists only heightened his disregard for the tedious and monotonous nature of laboratory work. I believe that James was a skeptic and was unsure about all of the things these scientists were so sure about. The worldview that he developed while studying science nearly drove him to suicide. He was able to shift his mindset by choosing to believe in free will and from there was able to jumpstart his new life in the direction that he wanted to go. He published The Principles of Psychology which came to be known as psychology's most famous textbook and came up with theories on concepts still debated today. He held a strong belief that the methodology at the time was too uniform and material to discover truths in psychology. Instead, he championed the idea that introspection and self reflection were better methods to find psychological truth. He advocated the importance of forming good habits stating that habits are what get people through the worst of situations in life. He also was the front-runner for the idea that physiological reactions to stimuli produce emotion not the other way around. This means that by observing the bodily reactions we have when we feel good, we can elicit them consciously to help us feel good in the future. All of this introspection and reflection doesn't much sound like science but more like philosophy right? That's what James thought too so he eventually gave up on psych and pursued philosophy in his later years thus returning psychology to its roots.
G. Stanley Hall was also a great contributor to the field of psychology at the beginning of modern university. After escaping from Massachusetts farm life, Hall was able to enroll in school and eventually travel to Europe to expand his knowledge base. From there his life really began to take shape. He established so many things I can't even name them all! He established the first research laboratory for experimental psychology and shortly thereafter he founded the American Journal of Psychology. He encouraged Jonas Clark to create a Graduate school and ran the psych department like a boss. He would hold study groups at his house for students to attend that ended up being so riveting and inspiring that students needed to actively relax (if that makes sense) in order to calm down afterwards. He helped spawn maze research and was one of the first to promote developmental psychology. His take on recapitulation was pretty interesting arguing that human development was similar to evolution of mankind itself.
Mary Calkins was interesting to study but the book didn't spend as much time talking about her endeavors. Born in Buffalo, she realized early that she was an academic. Even though education was limited for women, she was ballsy enough to go to Harvard and was even allowed to attend seminars. She dabbled in this and that including memory and self psychology. She argued that at the basis of consciousness is the self.
I was so burnt out by the beginning of the chapter that I didn't dwell very long on the other pioneers listed at the end.
The application of scientific method to the field of psychology is important to understand when contemplating the history of psychology and how it has become what it is today. This scientific base would not exist if it weren't for the enthusiasm of the people such as Hall and Wundt. If James were in charge of psychology, it would have remained a reflective, speculative branch of philosophy.
This chapter is the accumulation of thoughts proposed by psychologists of past chapters. When before thoughts, theories, and ideas were spread informally through word-of-mouth (and some schools) these ideas could now be promoted more formally and across more space through the medium of the modern graduate university.
I would like to know more about the struggles of James and how he was able to escape the hopeless abyss he was spiraling into. When you are caught in negative thought and stagnant consciousness it is not easy to find salvation. It would be interesting to read his journals to discover how he was able to shift his dismal paradigm.
I thought about how trips to Europe were featured in both the lives of Hall and James. I thought about how influence was able to afford Hall and James the opportunities they experienced as children. I thought about the kind of balls women at the time had to have in order to pursue anything academic.

Education for women and minorities- In chapter 6 this was one of the main topics that I had interest in. In this time era, women and minorities were limited to the amount of education that was “allowed.” Most of the education that was persuade were upper class white males. Women were discouraged from furthering their education beyond puberty. One of the most bizarre quotes from a medical school professor stated that after puberty if a woman tried to gain more knowledge they would “retard their development of their reproductive organs.” That quote was one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. Women were told that their purpose of life was to raise a family and be a good wife and mother. Another great interest in this section was the periodic function that occurred once a month for women. Men thought that because of the biblical sense of a woman came from a man’s rib and had their monthly menstruation, that they were inferior. Moreover, had very few rights at this time. I thought this was interesting because as a modern woman, it is hard to believe the cruel things that were done to “hold them back.”



G. Stanley Hall and Developmental Psychology- I have always been interested in developmental psychology, and Hall was one of the founders of child study. Hall related child development in education and found that city children knew more about subjects then country boys. Hall made surveys and books on how the child mind works. Hall also was the one to determine that there is a stage of development called adolescence that is a period of stress. I never knew that Hall was one of the first people in psychology to take on the interest on children and the stages of life.



Mary Whiton Calkins graduate education for females- Once again the education of women at this time is interesting to me, and Calkin was a fighter. Calkin was determine to further her education and decided to attend some seminars at Harvard and Clark. Both of the schools did not recognize her as a student, but that did not stop her. I really liked her determination and her “feisty” attitude. Calkin then enrolled in Harvard at last, and was in classes with male students. The male students were very intimidated by her, and dropped out of the class. Calkins story is very interesting because even though the women of her time were rejected and “left in the dark,” that did not stop her from researching and going to graduate school for psychology.



One thing that was hard for me to read was how the minorities were denied most education. Slaves and other African Americans had worse time trying to find education, just because of their skin color. This was one part of the chapter, that caused many emotions. 



The most useful thing that I will remember after reading this chapter is that women and minorities have came a long way in the past 100 years. However, it still amazes me that women and minorities are still fighting for equal rights.



The chapter relates on the previous chapters in telling the lives of the founders that made important concepts in psychology. This chapter builds on the people that helped make psychology available to women and minorities, and some of the first people to study children.



The topic I would like to learn more about is Mary Calkin’s journey at her graduate schools. I thought it was interesting how much she had to go through, just to get into a college to learn more about philosophy and psychology.



One idea I had was: If these psychologists were so “smart” why didn’t they realize that women and minorities have the same learning capability as them?


The very beginning of the chapter describes what is considered to be America’s first Psychology textbook. As I read about Thomas Upham’s “trilogy of mind” I was struck by how many topics were lumped into one book. It seems that Psychology was simply a class. Looking at the divisions it occurred to me that each subdivision is now its own course at most of our Universities today. It is interesting how specialized this has become just in the last 150 or so years.
I find it mind boggling and yet fascinating, how white men seemed to think they were the definition of intelligence. It is unreal to me that educated men could believe that women and minorities were intellectually inferior, because of sex or skin color. I realize this is a different time, but I cannot wrap my head around this thought.
On these same lines I found Mary Whiton Calkins to be extremely interesting. I thought while reading how interesting it would be to hear things from her perspective in a modern setting! It was funny that she was good enough to be trusted as their “guest” to do much of the work but not quite enough to be considered a serious graduate student. I admire her tenacity to not accept a doctorate unless it was where she earned it as a matter of principle. That must have been very difficult to have done all of the work and yet not be recognized.
I was not at all interested in Hall’s interest in psychics. In my opinion he was wrong to oppose licensure procedures for professionals.
While reading I must admit I was a bit riled up concerning the attitudes toward women. I sometimes wonder if many of these men really believed the theories of physical superiority or rather simply enjoyed a dominant role over women and minorities. I thought it interesting that we tend to attribute the Civil War with the liberation of minorities and yet the aftermath of the war was increased educational opportunities for mainly white males.
I felt that this chapter continued with how the United States developed in the study of Psychology and how we were influenced by the various schools in European countries.
I stated earlier that I would like to converse with Calkins, but it would also be interesting to get the perspective of other women who broke the educational barriers in the study of Psychology.

The first section that I found interesting in Chapter 6 was the section about education for women and minorities. Education was not something that was equal for all sectors of social classes. It was most available for middle and upper class white males. Women and minority groups faced large barriers when it came to getting an education. Women faced what was called the “women sphere” which was an integrated set of concepts that centered on the idea of women as wife and mother. In the 19th century women were only seen for purposes of creating and caring for the family. Women who wanted to pursue a high education or career were discouraged to do so, the book even points out that it was believed at one time that if you pursued an education beyond high school, you are putting yourself at risk for adverse medical conditions. Another widespread belief was that women were intellectually inferior to men. The periodic function was a belief that women were intellectually incapacitated during their menstrual cycle, another widespread belief. In the second half of the 19th century, women were finally able to enroll in universities, although they tended to be enrolled into programs that suited women. But they were being trained to meet the need for teachers. In 1865, the first ever exclusively women college was created, making a college education very available and possible for women. Although women were facing very difficult barriers to gaining an education, minorities were having an even more difficult time, especially after the Civil War. The slavery era created a widespread belief that the African American race were overall an inferior race. Discrimination against all races, including African Americans, were discouraged to get an education, in fear that the idea of freedom would be put into their heads. Furthermore, segregation in schools and society made the idea of an education among African Americans almost impossible. For those African Americans that were privlidged and gained a higher education, the job market and jobs were very bleak. Francis Sumner was one of those lucky African Americans who gained a higher education and made a very good living for himself. He gained his bachelors degree in 1915 in psychology and went back and taught in Lincoln. Sumner’s opportunities were limited to teaching at black colleges he began and remained the psychology department chair at Howard College, until his untimely death. The explosive growth of higher education at the end of the 19th century, accompanied by willingness to experiment new ideas and methods, made universities an amazing place for creation of novel approaches to old problems.

The second section I found interesting was the one about creating American Psychology’s most famous textbook. William James signed a contract with Henry Holt for what he called a “manual” of psychology to be written in a year. After some bartering, James got Holt to agree to two years. The book seemed to come to life but required a total of twelve years to be completed, making its appearance on shelves in 1890. The book contained 1400 pages and broken down into two volumes. Soon after publication, James agreed to write a more condensed version. James coined a term called “introspective observation” meaning careful self-observation, a n internal investigation and reflection on the states of consciousness that characterize one’s mental health. He soon recognized the problem with this method, seeing that it would be biased. Nonetheless he believed that careful self-reflection was essential to gain insight into the workings of the human mind. In addition to introspective and experimental bias, James listed “comparative method as the third approach. This involved learining about mental life by comparing normal human consciousness with that of other living things and animals. These chapters included consciousness, habit, and emotion.

The third section I found interesting was the section on Hall and Psychoanalysis. Hall wrote a book called “Adolescence”, which had a 50 page chapter entitled “adolescent love”, and Hall offered a course at Clark entitled “the psychology of sex”, and consistent with his ideas on education, he believed in the natural expression of sexual behavior. This attitude raised eyebrows among Hall’s colleagues. Hall’s preoccupation with sex, combined with the interested in abnormal behavior, drew Hall immediately to Freud’s theories.

There really wasn’t a section in this chapter that I didn’t find interesting. I thought that the introduction of all these people that I had never heard of was really interesting. It was cool reading about all of them and how the contributed to early 19th century psychology. The thing that I think will be useful to the history of psychology was the section on how women and minorities were not given the ability to get a good education until the late 19th century. It was interesting and prominent because women and minorities gave us a much better insight into psychology. This chapter relates to the other chapters in the way that we have already considered the philosophical and scientific contexts out of which modern psychology has been developed, its early origins in Germany, and the far-reaching ideals of Darwin, it was now time to gain an understanding of the development of psychology in the U.S. in the 19th century. Especially around the time of the Civil War, and an insight into America’s first major psychologist William James. I thought that the excuses that people made for women to not get a high education after high school were interesting and a bit strange. But then I remembered that we still make an excuse like that today saying that a Liberal Arts degree is a “MRS” degree. So I think in some way, a few of those ideals are still in action today, obviously not to that extreme but somewhat to that degree.

While reading chapter six, right away I came across something I found interesting. It was about women’s rights and roles and how restricted they were educationally. One “Harvard” professor even went as far as saying women should forget about education when they reach puberty. The explanation behind this was that the extra stress would create dysfunctional reproductive organs. This is interesting to me because I find it absolutely absurd that people could’ve thought that women were only capable of traditional roles.
I found the most famous psychology textbook, “The Principles of Psychology” to be rather interesting. William James wrote this book and it took him a total of twelve years to complete. It was highly sought after and quickly became a best-seller. It’s interesting to me because the book was released in 1890 and it’s still considered to be a big deal to this day.
William James all of the sudden took a turn from his magnificent work in psychology and devoted himself to philosophy. To take it a bit further, he then moved on to spiritualism and considered that it could be very beneficial if found valid. This is shockingly interesting because I don’t understand how someone can go from being such an asset to the field of psychology and then ultimately end up in spiritualism.
I found the section on faculties to be the least interesting. Mainly because we covered a lot of that ideology in chapter three. I also did a topical blog over phrenology so it was kind of review from what I had learned previously. It wasn’t interesting because I already knew the conceptual idea.
This chapter builds on the previous chapters by showing the shift from psychology in European countries to America. German psychological practices are starting to be introduced and practiced in America during this time.
I would like to learn more about the concept of recapitulation. This is the theory that a species can be seen going through the individual stages of evolution as it develops from one cell all the way to a fully mature organism.

One interesting topic discussed in this chapter was the creation of modern universities in the United States. The growth of colleges prior to the Civil War couldn’t meet the demands of higher education. One factor leading to the demand of higher education was the emergence of public high schools, which heightened the expectation that education was a key to a successful career. However, an increase in high school graduates meant there were a greater number of students eligible to attend college. There was an estimated 67,000 students in college in 1870, by 1910 that number had increased to 335,000. This increase created a need for teachers who had degrees beyond the bachelor’s level, which also created a demand for graduate education. The initial lack of graduate education in the United States was one reason why students went to Germany to continue their education in the late nineteenth century. The 1880s marked the high point for Americans studying in Germany, but by the 1890s several notable American universities were available.

Another interesting topic in this chapter was the barriers women faced while trying to become educated. At this time, higher education was mostly limited to middle and upper class white males. Nineteenth century women were socialized to believe that they were created for the purpose of raising a family and the duties that went along with it (e.g. getting married, raising children). Women who wanted to pursue higher education were discouraged from doing so. One Harvard medical school professor even urged women to abandon education after reaching puberty because too much mental activity after this point could result in having a negative effect on the development of reproductive organs. It was considered out of the question for women to be both married and have a career; it was either one or the other. Despite these barriers, opportunities for women to become educated began to arise in the second half of the nineteenth century.

William James was also an interesting figure covered in this chapter. He was reluctant to consider himself a psychologist but arguably one of the most important individuals in the history of the field. One interesting thing about James that stuck out to me was the psychology course he taught during his time at Harvard. He was offered a teaching position at Harvard in 1873 by his former chemistry professor and then president of Harvard, Charles Eliot. James first taught a course in physiology before switching to a course teaching the relationship between physiology and psychology. He incorporated the latest research from Germany in his teaching, which differed radically compared to any other course being taught at this time and lead to a new approach of teaching psychology in America. This method of teaching was so new that James claimed the first psychology class he ever attended was also the first one he taught.

I found the least interesting topic covered in this chapter to be the section on James Mark Baldwin. Despite some contributions he made to experimental psychology his publications were mostly theoretical and seldom empirical. This made me think that a lot of what he did was speculation and never really had much evidence behind his theories, which made a lot of the information seem irrelevant. He was also forced out of academia due to a prostitution scandal, which also put a bad taste in my mouth about him.

One of the most useful things in this chapter in regards to better understanding the history of psychology is realizing the role education in America played. It was during this era that America’s universities really began separating themselves from Germany. People in America no longer had to travel to Germany to further their education, it was now being offered to them. The expansion of Universities along with new teaching methods introduced by James resulted in a major contribution in regards to American psychology.

Previous chapters have discussed the philosophical and scientific contexts out of which modern psychology has evolved as well as its origins and early development in Germany which leads us to psychology in the United States. Chapter 6 reveals how Americans are starting to become more and more familiar with the study of psychology and less dependent on Germany during the nineteenth century.

I would like to learn more about William James and how he was able to overcome his lifelong battles with depression. The text stated that at one point he was even considering suicide. This was intriguing to me and made me wonder how he was able to overcome such dark thoughts and continue making contributions in not only academia but in psychology as well.

One thing I found interesting was where it discussed Titchener’s laboratory science that was focused on finding “the basic structure of human consciousness.” He used systematic experimental introspection as the main method used, because it needs much training. The issue was that he was not interested in the differences of minds and left out “children, animals, and the insane.” The text also went on to say that it became “isolated from American psychology,” because of the “shortcomings” and because of how he thought there was no other way but his. I found this interesting because it obviously told that Tichener was no open to other views or methods.
I also found interesting where it talked about Thorndike’s puzzle box learning. He came up with a more systematic way to “test claims for animal intelligence.” I guess I just found it interesting that he used hungry animals as a way to test his experiment. The book told how he used pulling a loop cord, pressing a lever, or stepping on a plat form as part of his experiment for the animals. He watched how long it took them to figure out and complete this and created a box construction to do so.
The third thing I found interesting was also I thought to be absolutely ridiculous. This was where it told that a professor from Harvard told that women should not continue on with their education after they get to puberty. He said that too much mental activities could slow down or stop the development of their reproductive organs. I just think this is ridiculous because males have reproductive organs too, even though they are different, they still have them.
To me the least interesting was the part about the three types of elementary process. I guess this was the least interesting for me because I already knew about sensations, images, and affections.
I think there were many most useful parts of this chapter in understanding the history of psychology for example the different theories and experiments that were used such as Thorndikes’s puzzle box learning on animals.
This built on from previous chapters by giving more theories and also by more experimenting on animals to test their intelligence and behaviors.
I would like to learn more about why the Harvard professor thought that women continuing education after they hit puberty would be harmful to their reproductive organs, when men go through puberty and also have a reproductive organ.
One idea that I had in this chapter was that it was completely shocking to hear that women should stop education after puberty comes, I think this is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard, but I guess there are always going to be a few crazy ideas out there.

The main thing that I thought was interesting was the topic of women trying to obtain education. The majority of the education was limited to white males, and out of those white males were males of middle and upper class. Women who wanted to get educated had to fight the idea that they were more than just there to be a mother and a wife. I thought it was weird that a professor told women that higher education beyond high school could hurt the chances of having children. I also found it amusing that people once thought that women were incompetent during their “periodic function”. The book showed little to no reason why this stated. Although it was rare, and everyone still thought that men were overall more intelligent, women were eventually allowed to attend college. The majority who did were attending classes like home ec and other mother-wife kind of things, but in the second half of the 19th century, they began to become teachers as well as other things. Not only were opportunities bad for women to encounter higher education, it was even worse and harder for minority groups to attend college. During the civil war, there were slavery going on that was showing the belief that they were inferior to all whites, even women. It was interesting to read about how William James thought that spiritualism was real. I personally don’t believe in the sort of Middle interaction but was interesting to read that a philosopher and a psychologist in one could also believe in this sort of “make belief” idea. The ideas I was having during this chapter was towards William James. The fact that he is a philosopher but a psychologist and believes in spiritualism makes me think about how in one of the last chapters Darwin’s evolutionary theory was discussed. I think it is very bizarre that evolutionists can also be of a certain faith. To me, it has always been one or the other. There couldn’t really be a blend of the two because they contradict each other.

I never have really put much thought into the world prior to textbooks or even psychology textbooks. It was interesting to read about the first psychology textbook. It was a little mind boggling simply because I didn’t realize that the first textbook would have been a “big” moment in the history of psychology. This is also interesting because it is a wonderful reference for how much psychology has changed over the years. It would also show just how far we have come! I think it would be an amazing historical piece. I also like how the text on psychology seemed to include many explorations into the world of morals and our moral sensibility. It appeared that the original psychology book was as much a philosophy book as it was a psychology book. It’s interesting that philosophy keeps popping up in the studies of early psychology.

Consciousness, habits, and emotions are all individually interesting. Since these were all studied by William James, that makes me believe that he’s probably a pretty interesting guy.

I would like to learn more about William James because I believe that all of his topics or study are pretty interesting. They are also present in our everyday lives which may be another reason I find them so interesting. I don’t know that William James is someone that I think of when someone references historical psychologist (that is I usually think of Pavlov, Freud, or someone more along those lines). I like how James talked about how personal things are and he seemed to look in greater detail at his topics. I like how he stated that thoughts are independent, habits are adaptations or adaptive functions that we have based on our independent thoughts (consciousness), and emotion is all about perception. In general, I found William James’ topics of study to be interesting.

I was also really interested in a connection between emotion (mental) and bodily functions (physical). I thought it was fascinating how positive or negative emotion and our perceptions can lead to so many different exterior, physical acts. I suppose I always realized that there was a connection as we can externally express our emotions, but I thought it was cool to think about how much our heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, facial expressions, and involuntary body shakes (tremble or shiver) are all directly related to our emotions. All of those details and little pieces and findings are very interesting to me.

I was no interested in, nor did I care to learn about Clark University. In all honest, I was so uninterested and annoyed by the length and seemingly complex/boring nature of the section and I chose to barely skim it at best. I wasn’t interested in Clark University and I didn’t feel that it was overly important.

The most useful thing I got from this chapter in terms of understanding the history of psychology was the fact that the importance of philosophy was pounded into my memory even more. It’s impossible to escape this connection with how much it has been brought up throughout this text. I think that it is most important to understand that without philosophy, psychology may not have been born, or at very least, it would not be the same that it is today. It is the philosophical analysis of the brain that has truly led to many of the empirically supported findings in the field.

This chapter relates to or builds on previous chapters as it continues to have subtle references to philosophy and the involvement of and relationship to psychology. Philosophy is ever present. In fact, I don’t think there is a single chapter in this book that does not reference the importance of philosophy to early psychology.

While reading I had one idea run through my head…who thought to write a textbook in the first place??? As in, why or what made someone decide to write a text? How many things were really included in the original text? Do you think some things were left out? How far back does it “really” go? I guess I really wanted to know the personal biases, philosophy, or morals that were brought up and present in the writing of that first text. My simple curiosity about people sparked many ideas as I read.

I would like to learn some more about the connection between our mental sets (specifically emotions) and our physical actions and responses. I think that research projects in this category would be incredibly fascinating. I would like to learn more as I feel like this would be incredibly complex and the challenge of trying to make empirically supported statements and findings would be exhilarating. I would also like to learn more about William James and his studies.

After reading chapter 6, “American Pioneers,” I was very interested in topic of women and education. The set of beliefs, also known as the “women’s sphere” put women at a severe disadvantage at gaining a higher education. It was believed that such higher mental activity would essentially damage their health and make them unable to bear children. As women tested the beliefs of society, it was still not accepted for a woman that has both a career and is married. I find this interesting because of how much those standards have been changed. Francis Sumner was a person I found to be interesting as well. He attended the first black college in the United States and years later, after pursuing further education he became the first African-American to complete a Ph.D. in psychology. I found this intriguing because it shows that just because society has beliefs against a race or certain people, it can’t stop them from achieving their highest goals. The third topic I found most interesting was William James and his interest in spiritualism. Although other psychologists rejected his beliefs because they thought it was offensive to the science of psychology, he still found it very interesting. I liked this topic because after learning more about mediums, I also am interested in learning more about mediums and the validity of them. The topic I found to be least interesting was reading about America’s first psychology’s textbook because I found it rather boring and dry.
Learning about how psychology keeps evolving and all the new ideas and perspectives from other psychologists is important in understanding the history of psychology because then we can better realize why each concept and belief came to be.
This chapter relates to other chapters because it follows a timeline and introduces new people who have contributed to psychology in their own way.
I would like to learn more about spiritualism because after watching shows on it on television, it has really sparked my interest because of how real it seems. I am skeptical about mediums so I would like to learn more. I also am interested in learning more information and opinions on after life.