Journal
josely27
HS-15-PsychTodayweek14.pptxContemporary Issues: Historical Framework of Contemporary Psychology
Psychology in the
21st Century
Researchers & Practitioners
Before World War II
Researchers / academicians controlled APA
Those interested in the practice of psychology formed the American Association for Applied Psychology in 1937
After World War II
APA reorganized; division structure formed
APA gradually shifted toward interests of practitioners
Researchers felt increasingly marginalized
Psychonomic Society formed in late 1950s
APS, the Association for Psychological Science (originally, American Psychological Society) formed in 1988
Diversity in Psychology
Women in psychology’s history
Pioneers
Mary Calkins, Margaret Washburn, Christine Ladd-Franklin, Leta Hollingworth, Lillian Gilbreth, Bluma Zeigarnik, Eleanor Gibson, Mary Cover Jones, Dorothea Dix, Anna Freud
Today, women outnumber men as psychology majors, as graduate students, and as new PhDs
Non-Dominant Cultures in psych’s history
Difficulties for Jews in 1930s
Limited job market, perceived as “clannish”
Even more limited opportunities for African-Americans
Pioneers: Francis Sumner, Kenneth Clark, Mamie Clark
Cf: socio-economic class
Trends in Contemporary Psychology
Increased interest in brain and behavior
Neuroscience & its subdivisions
Return of evolutionary thinking
Evolutionary psychology
Impact of computers on research and statistics
e.g., multivariate analysis; modeling
Increased emphasis on professionalization of practitioners
e.g., the prescription privilege issue
Increased specialization among psychologists
Cognitive SCIENCES
Return of Consciousness
Embodied & Extended Cognition
The Future: Psychology or Psychologies
Not clear if psychology has ever been a unified discipline
e.g. era of the schools structuralism vs. functionalism vs. behaviorism vs. gestalt
Increased specialization
Sigmund Koch (Boston U)
"Psychology" or "The Psychological Studies”? (1993)
If there is a unifying force
It is psychology’s history
