3950G-001
Psychology 3950G-001
History of Psychology
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
A survey of the major ideas and scholars important to the development of Western psychology, examined from an historical and sociocultural perspective. Recommended for those thinking of graduate work in clinical psychology. CPA accredited programs required coursework on this topic and most will accept this course as fulfilling the criterion.
Antirequisites: Psychology 3893F/G (King’s)
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2800E and 2810, plus registration in Year 3 or Year 4 of a Psychology Major or Honors Specialization in Psychology, Honors Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Honors Specialization in Physiology/Psychology, or Honors Specialization in Animal Behavior
Other Psychology students and Psychology Special Students who earn 70% or higher in Psychology 2820E (or 60% or higher in Psychology 2800E and 2810) also may enrol in this course
4 lecture/discussion hours, 0.5 course
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Office and Phone Number: Room 7322 SSC, Tel: 519-661-3681
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: katz@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant:
Office:
Office Hours: by appointment
Email:
Time and Location of Classes: Tuesday and Thursdays 9:30-11;30 SEB
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Fancher, R. and Rutherford. (2012). Pioneers of Psychology (4th edition; paperback) Norton and Company: New York. (A few additional papers as noted below)
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course will different from others that you will have taken in Psychology. Here we do not consider the specifics of a given field in depth (such as “Cognition” or “Social Psychology”) but rather discuss people (and their times) who have made a difference in the growth of different strands of thoughts, ideas, and methodologies which have emerged over the centuries. Some of these ideas have been important to several of the sub-fields of modern day Psychology, and some of which are more specific to a given sub-field.
As with other sciences, Psychology has evolved through changes in paradigms and technologies, making the study of Psychology a microcosm of the development of scientific thought. Examination of the history of Psychology also informs us on how the current concept of what it means to be human has been shaped. By exploring the history and (to a lesser extent) the philosophy of psychology we’re also exploring the great questions regarding who we are and how we came to acquired that knowledge (belief?).
The text book we use covers a critical period starting with the work of Rene Descartes, and going to about 40-50 years ago. Clearly many of the questions addressed during that period were considered by ancient thinkers, going back thousands of years, but for a half course we have to make a decision of where to start our “history” and when to end a course dealing with historical events and people. Descartes is a good starting point given his influence and thoughts on the ‘mind-body” dichotomy. I have decided to end the time periods we will study somewhere around 1960-1980 because much of what you learn in other Psychology courses emphasizes the methods, theories, people, findings etc. that have been active since then. .
The book for the most part works in a chronological fashion (as will I in lectures). You will notice that around 1900 Psychology starts to divide into the major sub-fields we have today. So after discussing the major themes that dominated Psychological thought, the later lectures will concentrate on the growth of the various sub-fields (such social psychology, cognitive psychology, clinical psychology and so on). Despite this basic chronological structure, I want you to continually think about what an historical perspective informs us about such questions as
-What is the relationship between humans and non-human animals?
-What is the relationship between the “mind’ and the “body”
--What is the nature of “mind (what is being conscious, unconscious; is it best conceptualized as atomistic or holistic, static or dynamic??)
-Where does human knowledge come from?
-What is the relationship of Psychology as a science and as an applied profession?
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
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Learning Outcome: By the end of course, the successful student should be able to |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
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Demonstrate basic understanding of historical figure and theoretical concepts by accurately defining and discriminating between major concepts, and knowing the contributions of major figures in the history of psychology |
- Reading and Discussing assigned chapters from the textbook (and a few papers) |
- Mid-term test (multiple choice/short answer) - - Final (multiple choice/short answer)
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Demonstrate knowledge of how to conduct historical research
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-interview people with respect to the academic and personal achievements of a target figure from the history of Western’s department of Psychology
-use archival sources to learn about the intellectual lineage of the target figure
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- two short written papers. the first to describe the results of the interview, and the second a description of the archival sources used to obtain information of people in the target figurers intellectual bibliography on the following dimensions: how comprehensive in terms of number of studies reported, comprehensiveness of the summaries of the studies , insightfulness of strengths and weaknesses of the studies |
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Summarize and critique the scholarly and professional achievement of an historical figure |
Use archival sources to obtain a rounded picture of the target figure: lines of research, important findings, academic controversies, professional and teaching record. |
Write a paper with two parts: A summary of the important contributions of the people in the target person’s lineage. Second, to write a paper on the target figure |
5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Feb 9 TEST ONE =25%
April exam period TEST TWO =25%
January 26 Task 1 due (10%)
March 16 Task 2 due (10%)
April 6 Final paper due (30%)
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Background:
January 5-12 Why Study History
General Background ; A primer on the philosophy of science
Your writing tasks
Philosophical Background
January 14 Descartes Chapter 1
January 19-24 British Empiricism, and Continental rationalists
Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 (except pp. 172-185)
JANUARY 26 Task 1 DUE
Psychology as an Emerging Science -- But what type of Science?
January 26-31 Wundt Chapter 5
January 26 task 1 due
February 2-7 `Titchener (and Ebbinghaus) Chapter 5
Test 1 Feb 9 covers chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5
February 14 Darwin Chapter 6
February 16 Galton Chapter 7
Fen 20-24 Reading week
February 28 Willian James Chapter 8
March 2-7 Freud Chapter 11
March 9-14 Behaviorism Chapter 9
March 16 Task 2 due
March 16 Gestalt Psychology Chapter 4 (pp. 172-185)
Growth of Sub-Disciplines in Psychology
March 21-23 Growth of Social and personality Psychology Chapter 10;
Chapter 12 (pp. 505-530)
March 23-28 Growth of Developmental Psychology Chapter 13
March 28-30 Growth of Cognitive Psychology Chapter 14
March 30 Growth of Clinical Psychology Chapter 12 (pp. 530- 560) Chapter 15
April 4-6 Growth of the Neurosciences Chapter
April 6 Final paper Due
Final Exam: during Final Exam Period (April 9-30)
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2016/pg117.html
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2016 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
