Psychlogy in the press 2001

2001

The article addresses Daniel Robinson’s claim that the term, “modern psychology” is vague and imprecise. It points out that there is general agreement that the modern period of history begins no later than 1500 and that any psychology that existed after this date can be legitimately described as “modern.” It also suggests that the qualifier, “modern” is superfluous since there was no psychology prior to 1500.

Isis, 2007

... Psychology 170 The Modern Profession 173 10 A Psychology of Social Action and Social Change 175 The ... 215 Epilogue 216 References 220 Index 237 ... It isn't psychology of the form that would be recognized by most psychologists; indeed, most psychologists areembarrassed ...

Journal of Community Psychology, 2008

2008

In 1996 Graham Richards published Putting Psychology in its Place: An introduction from a critical historical perspective. Here, I seek to consider what is or should be the ‘place’ of Psychology in education, more particularly Higher Education, and not just from a historical perspective. This raises issues about several contexts in which Psychology finds itself. In the Higher Education context itself, Psychology continues to be in demand. But what is offered in first degrees is largely dictated by the requirements of the Graduate Basis for Registration of the British Psychological Society (BPS). These have been criticized both as not ideal as professional preparation, and as being unsuited to the large majority of students who will not enter the restricted psychological professions. Little attention is paid to more general educational aims. In the context of other disciplines, Psychology (with some exceptions) largely fails to draw on other sources of knowledge about human behaviour...

Psychology Teaching Review

In 1996, Graham Richards published Putting Psychology in its Place: An introduction from a critical historical perspective. Here, I seek to consider what is or should be the ‘place’ of Psychology in education, more particularly Higher Education, and not just from a historical perspective. This raises issues about several contexts in which Psychology finds itself. In the Higher Education context itself, Psychology continues to be in demand. But what is offered in first degrees is largely dictated by the requirements of the Graduate Basis for Registration of the British Psychological Society. These have been criticised both as not ideal as professional preparation, and as being unsuited to the large majority of students who will not enter the restricted psychological professions. Little attention is paid to more general educational aims. In the context of other disciplines, Psychology (with some exceptions) largely fails to draw on other sources of knowledge about human behaviour, suc...

Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 1995

Deals with disintegration of the psychology to a science based on experimentation according to the positivistic methodology of natural sciences, and another one founded on interpretation according to the hermeneutic methodology of historical sciences. Considers the possibilities to reintegrate the psychology by a Vy gotskian methodology that would deal with signs and tools as functionning within the same structure. key words: hermeneutic vs positivistic methodology; historical vs natural sciences; Vygotsky, Leontiev; signs and tools A psychologist in Hungary today does not necessarily want to be acknowledged for what he does as a scientist; actually, the number of those who fancy themselves artists or magicians is growing. On the other hand, those of us who make a point of our theoretical or practical work being of a scientific nature are willing to consider psychology a natural science. Indeed, how could something be scientific if not in the same way as physics, chemistry, biology are? But how could it be thought otherwise, when in our university studies the foundations of our major are laid by anatomy, physiology, ethology, and we graduate without having had to learn a bit of sociology, linguistics, economics, or history as areas relevant to our special subject. True, some time earlier a subject called Cultural History and Anthropology was introduced in psychologist training at Budapest University, for example, but a more recent reform swept if out of the curriculum.

This article is an invited comment on the article by George Mandler in the same issue. It is suggested that the latter contains a series of myths that are popular among psychologists. These are that psychology was fragmented into “schools” in the 1920s and 30s and that this led several writers to declare that it was in a state of crisis. It is said to have overcome this crisis by becoming more eclectic and incorporating the best aspects of the various schools. The author suggests that the reality is very different; there is no evidence to suggest that modern psychology has incorporated different aspects of the various schools. It is just as fragmented as it was in the early part of the 20th century, and the crisis literature has continued to the present day. It is suggested that the myths serve the quasi-religious function of keeping faith in the progress of psychology toward “mature science” alive.