Psy 306 HISTORY OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY

Spring 2001

Instructor: Art Warmoth

Objectives:

• Understand the importance of the phenomenological concept of "intersubjectivity" as missing link in psychology and social science theory.
• Understand the worldview and basic empirical contribution of the Gestalt psychologists (Wertheimer, Koffka, Köhler).
• Understand the contemporary importance of cognitive psychology and cognitive science and the attractiveness of the computer as a tool for modeling the mind.
• Understand the basic epistemology of postmodern social constructionism & systems theory.

Readings:

306 READER NUMBER 2

Chapter 14. "Gestalt Psychology," from B. R. Hergenhahn. An Introduction to the History of Modern Psychology (Third ed.).

Chapter 1 from Wolfgang Köhler, Gestalt Psychology.

Chapter 15. "Humanistic Psychology and Cognitive Psychology," from Duane P. Schultz & Sydney Ellen Schultz. A History of Modern Psychology.

Chapter 14. "Cognitive Psychology," from Robert C. Bolles. The Story of Psychology.

Walter Truett Anderson. "The Constructivist Challenge to Humanistic Psychology"
Maureen O'Hara. "Constructing Emancipatory Realities"
Art Warmoth. "Humanistic Psychology's Contributions to Constructivism"
--From A.H.P. Perspective (the newsletter of the Association for Humanistic Psychology). Aug.-Sept. 1989; Feb. 1990.

Key Terms:

phenomenology epistemology natural attitude genetic subjectivity phenomenological objectivity/subjectivity Gestalt field theory holism isomorphism

Principles of perceptial organization: figure-ground closure similarity proximity continuity inclusiveness information cognition artificial intelligence

Group Assignment (CR/NC). Create a Glossary of the Key Terms of Gestalt and Cognitive Psychology. Include definitions and two examples of usage (one from a bibliographic source & one that is original). Cite references to definitions and examples using APA format.

Individual Assignment (Graded-15% of final letter grade). Discuss the following proposition: "Cognitive Psychology is the effort of consciousness to understand itself." Is this possible? How successful has 20th century psychology been in achieving this goal (particularly in terms of the contributions of Gestalt Psychology and Artificial Intelligence)?