The Oxford Encyclopedia Of The History Of Modern Psychology

The history of psychology as a scholarly field has grown and diversified since the landmark volumes of E. G. Boring's A History of Experimental Psychology (1929, 1950). It is now a site of scholarly inquiry that attracts practitioners from a range of disciplines. Psychological concepts and practices hold interest for people from all walks of life and from around the globe. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Modern Psychology reflects the range of such interest. The essays explore topics from everyday subjective experiences to deep connections among esoteric laboratory sciences and Enlightenment philosophies. Authors seek to answer difficult questions about how psychology developed, not only in the Western world, but across the globe. Human history has many examples of how people have used knowledge about themselves, others, and their world to try and change or improve their lives. How did these experiences help make possible a science and profession of psychology? In turn, how has scientific and professional psychology shaped or influenced the psychology of everyday life? The reader will find key insights into the profound differences that have marked the growth of Western modernity-race, gender, sexuality among them-and what they reveal about selfhood, identity, and possibilities for human freedom and oppression. In our own time, we see the psychological, economic, and political legacy of past practices and the profound inequities that we now must address. These histories will help readers find or create counter-histories that help us move toward a more equitable world.

A fresh look at the history of psychology placed in its social, political, and cultural contexts A History of Modern Psychology in Context presents the history of modern psychology in the richness of its many contexts. The authors resist the traditional storylines of great achievements by eminent people, or schools of thought that rise and fall in the wake of scientific progress. Instead, psychology is portrayed as a network of scientific and professional practices embedded in specific temporal, social, political, and cultural contexts. The narrative is informed by three key concepts—indigenization, reflexivity, and social constructionism—and by the fascinating interplay between disciplinary Psychology and everyday psychology. The authors complicate the notion of who is at the center and who is at the periphery of the history of psychology by bringing in actors and events that are often overlooked in traditional accounts. They also highlight how the reflexive nature of Psychology—a science produced both by and about humans—accords history a prominent place in understanding the discipline and the theories it generates. Throughout the text, the authors show how Psychology and psychologists are embedded in cultures that indelibly shape how the discipline is defined and practiced, the kind of knowledge it creates, and how this knowledge is received. The text also moves beyond an exclusive focus on the development of North American and European psychologies to explore the development of psychologies in other indigenous contexts, especially from the mid-20th-century onward.

This accessible book explores the nature and importance of kinaesthesia, considering how action, agency and movement intertwine and are fundamental in feeling embodied in the world. Bringing together psychological, philosophical and cultural perspectives, the book examines the subjective feeling of movement in a cross-disciplinary manner. It discusses kinaesthesia through the framework of embodied cognition and outlines how contemporary discussion in psychology and phenomenology can inform our understanding of everyday experience. The book also sketches a framework for full appreciation of the sense of movement in performance and cultural life, discussing how a sense of movement is central to one’s agency. It is composed in four ‘movements’, aiming to achieve a connected and original argument for why movement matters, an argument exemplified in dance. The first movement explains the science of kinaesthesia and the history of the concept to a discussion of current thought informed by phenomenology and embodied cognition, the second quiet movement reflects on the psychological and philosophical dimensions of the sense of movement, the third movement turns to the culture of movement in dance and walking, and the fourth rests with the pleasures of movement, and emphasizes the social dimensions of movement in gesture and agency. This wide-ranging book is a must-read for all those interested in the psychology of movement, embodied cognition, performance studies and the interaction between psychology and dance. It will also be of interest to students and practitioners of embodied movement and dance practice therapies.

Modern psychology began with a rejection of the 'soul' as relevant for the science. How did that come about? The Soul in Soulless Psychology explores that question and details arguments for a soulless psychology. However, there was also opposition to this notion. This alternative history of psychology examines those who dissented from a 'psychology without a soul,' including Neoscholastic psychologists and others, such as Ladd, Münsterberg, and McDougall. Substitutions for the soul – such as self, personality, and the brain – show that even with the soul absent, its concerns were present. Innovative re-thinkings of the soul are addressed, as well as attempts at restoration of the soul into psychology. Moreover, historical psychologies of the soul kept the soul in view. In the twenty-first century, we find soul as a noun, an adjective, and a verb, all pointing to the necessity of the soul for psychology.

A History of Modern Psychology, Second Edition discusses the development and decline of schools of thought in modern psychology. The book presents the continuing refinement of the tools, techniques, and methods of psychology in order to achieve increased precision and objectivity. Chapters focus on relevant topics such as the beginning of the history of psychology; the philosophical and physiological influences on psychology; the details of various schools of thought in psychology; and the contemporary psychology of America and other countries. Undergraduate students of psychology and related fields will find the book invaluable in their pursuit of knowledge.

William James made many references to pluralism throughout his career. Interestingly, many contemporary psychologists also discuss pluralism and indeed call for pluralism as a corrective to the discipline's philosophical and methodological foundations. Yet, pluralism and the purposes to which it is applied are understood in a variety of ways, and the relation of contemporary pluralism to the pluralism(s) of William James is uncertain. This book offers conceptual clarification in both contexts, first distinguishing diverse senses of pluralism in psychology and then systematically examining different forms of pluralism across the writings of James. A comparison of meanings and analysis of implications follows, aimed at illuminating what is at stake in ongoing calls for pluralism in psychology.