James
William James (William James, January 11, 1842-August 26, 1910), the father of American psychology, an American psychologist and philosopher, a pioneer of American functionalist psychology and pragmatist philosophy, the first native American philosopher and psychologist, is also an educator and advocate of pragmatism, one of the founders of the American functionalist psychology school, and one of the earliest experimental psychologists in the United States. He was elected as an academician of the National Academy of Sciences in 1906. In 2006, it was named one of the 100 people influencing the United States by the authoritative American journal "Atlantic". In 1875, the first psychology laboratory in the United States was established. He was elected as an academician of the National Academy of Sciences in 1906.
People experience
1858 returned to Newport, Rhode Island, USA and studied painting for a year. From 1859 to 1860, the whole family moved to Geneva, Switzerland. He loved painting and science in his early years. He studied science at the Geneva Institute of Science. At that time, he wanted to become a painter, so he returned to Newport to continue learning painting soon, but later he found that he lacked the talent to be a painter and gave up.
1861 entered Harvard Lawrence College and studied chemistry under the guidance of Charles W. Eliot. Later, he changed to study and compare anatomy and physiology for three years. During this period, his teacher Jeffies Wyman's evolutionary theory thought had a direct impact on his later academic views. He also listened to the lessons of the famous zoologist Louis Agassiz (1807-1873), and his interest shifted from chemistry to biological science .
1864, James transferred to Harvard Medical School to study medicine. Before he graduated in 1865, he went to Brazil with Agassis for a natural inspection. During the inspection, James was infected with smallpox and felt that he was not suitable for accurate and orderly collection and classification work, which interrupted the study.
1866 continued to study medicine, but it was interrupted due to poor health.
1867 went to Germany to study again, and studied medicine, physiology and psychology under the guidance of Helmholts, Wonter , and Wei Erhe. Because I was exhausted, I could not stick to the laboratory work, but I had more time to explore French, German and American literary masterpieces, and I also had the opportunity to attend the lectures at University of Berlin .
1869 received a doctorate in medicine from Harvard University. After completing his studies, he was influenced by the philosophical thought of determinism in Germany at that time, and was once pessimistic and negative, and finally suffered from depression . He once believed that everything in life is destined, and life is meaningless under the constraints of doomed ideas. Until later, because he read a article about free will by Charles Renouvier (1815-1903), he believed in the existence of free will and was determined to cure his illness through belief in the efficacy of will.
1873, his health improved and he began to teach anatomy and physiology at Harvard University. His pragmatism philosophy thought was also nurtured at this time. From 1875 to 1876, the first psychology course was held in the United States, with the name of the course "The Relationship between Physiology and Psychology".
In the 1870s, he participated in the "Metaphysics Club", met Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), and accepted his influence, and later established pragmatism together. He began teaching anatomy and physiology at Harvard University in 1872, and gradually turned to the study of psychology due to his study of neurophysiology and other physiological problems related to psychology.
1875, he first built a psychological laboratory for lectures and demonstrations. In 1877, he established a relatively formal psychological laboratory, two years earlier than the world's first formal psychological laboratory established by Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) at the University of Leipzig, Germany in 1879. In 1876, James was an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard University.
1878, James and Gibbens got married and had five children. They had a son, also known as Henry James (Henry James 3), and were famous for editing and publishing a collection of letters from James' two volumes.In the same year, William James signed a contract with Henry Holt Company Press and began to write Principles of Psychology (1890).
1880 was an associate professor of philosophy at Harvard University; in 1885 it was promoted to professor; in 1889 it was changed to professor of psychology. James is one of the founders of the American Psychological Society and was elected as president of the association twice in 1894 and 1904.
1875, he was the first new psychology course in the United States to offer "The Relationship between Physiology and Psychology" and set up an informal psychology laboratory for teaching demonstrations and psychological experiments. This laboratory was four years earlier than the laboratory established by Wonter in 1879, and may be the earliest psychological laboratory ever. However, the laboratory is only used for teaching and has not engaged in rigorous psychological research, so it has failed to attract the attention of the world. In 1876, he served as associate professor of science at Harvard University.
1880 was transferred to associate professor of philosophy.
1885 promoted to professor of philosophy.
1889 transferred to professor of psychology. The following year, the two-volume book "Principles of Psychology" was published, which almost summarized the psychology of the entire nineteenth century and was translated into French, German, , Italian, and Russian. This book is not only a basic summary of the research results of in experimental psychology at that time, but also a concentrated expression of James' functionalist (or pragmatist) psychological thoughts.
main theory
James proposed many theories throughout his life, covering almost all fields of psychology, and even some scientific categories of soul theory . In summary, there are the following points:
Functionalism: James was in the era when Darwin 's " Origin of Species " was published. Influenced by this, he believed that the emergence of psychological processes, especially the advanced psychological processes, is for survival and has its adaptive value. But this label cannot cover all of its theory, because James believes that he is not the united person, and that day of psychology has not yet arrived.
Psychological essence: Although James accepts the theory of perceptual dualism, that is, he believes that psychology and reality exist together, and the two influence each other. But as mentioned above, James did not discuss this conclusive theory too much. He believed that the edifice of psychology should first add bricks and tiles, not finalize them. At present, we should describe and study related topics such as reasoning, attention, perception, and - the influence of this view has been until today.
Story of consciousness : Consciousness is not an object, but a process. It's like running water. You can dismantle it, but the dismantle looks no longer what it is. This overall idea has influenced many psychological research and has been used by many writers, forming a large number of stream of consciousness novels , such as " Ulysses ".
Self: Although consciousness is continuous like flowing water, there will also be gaps. Just like when you wake up, you will automatically connect the feelings of yesterday and today. This thing with personal attributes is the self. But if we explain ourselves or observe ourselves, that problem will arise again. Who is observing and explaining yourself? James chose to avoid talking about it. He proposed the concept of the empirical self, that is, the self we can perceive, including the material self, the social self and the spiritual self. No matter what, these can be studied. As for who is watching all this? Love whoever - James believes that psychology does not need to study this issue.
Will: Some people believe that James' greatest contribution is his theory of will. Although he chose to believe in free will when he experienced his own crisis, science cannot explain free will after all. So his final statement is, "All actions have their reasons." As for what this reason is, maybe it is free will, maybe it is other will. He believes that free will cannot be explained by science, so it is not in the category of psychology.Later, the appearance of behaviorism made people gradually forget James' statement about will, but in fact, the topics studied in contemporary psychology, such as purpose, values, decision-making, self-efficacy, , etc., are actually under the meaning of will.
Emotion: James and a Danish physiologist Lange proposed an emotion theory almost at the same time, which was later named James Lange's Emotion Theory. This theory believes that we first have physical reactions and then have emotional feelings. Emotional feelings are the individual's perception of the body's reaction. For example, we first develop a tear reaction and then feel sad. This view was later refuted by the thalamic theory of Cannon , believing that emotional and physiological reactions occur simultaneously and are controlled by the thalamus. But overall, James Langer's emotional theory can still explain many phenomena, at least part of it is correct.
Unconscious: This part of the view is not from "Principles of Psychology". But James often has expressed the unconscious phenomenon. His point is that when your behavior is extremely familiar and has little value to adapt to you, consciousness will give up on the process, and the process becomes unconscious. This is a bit like the view of in cognitive resource theory, that is, some behaviors can be automated and do not require conscious participation. But unlike Freud, although James also recognized and studied the unconsciousness of some abnormal populations, believing that unconsciousness can indeed help understand patients' behavior, he did not regard unconsciousness as a source of motivation for people. When James heard Freud's early speeches, he had high expectations for Freud's theory, believing that this was a glimmer of light to understand human nature.
Outstanding Contributions
1, constructing a complete system of scientific psychology
, published by James in 1890, in which the five essentials of James' psychological thoughts can be found:
(1) Research on the analysis of structuralist consciousness elements. The functions of individual consciousness play when adapting to its environment should be studied.
(2) The theory of stream of consciousness is advocated. He believes that consciousness is not static, but flows continuously due to people, time and place.
(3) The first emotional theory is the earliest emotion theory. He believes that physiological changes precede emotional experience, in which the general cause of emotions is assumed to be an inherent physiological neural process rather than a mental or psychological process.
(4) advocates diversified psychological research methods: psychology research should be carried out in accordance with the needs of the observation method, experimental method, comparison method, survey method, , etc. At the same time, he advocated that the research subjects should not be limited to normal adults, but should be expanded to study children, psychological abnormalities and animals.
(5) The argument about the self: the self is divided into "the 'cognized object' or the 'experienced self'" and "the cognitive subject is also called the self (Life or ego)". The empirical self includes all things that can be called by individuals.
2. Advocate pragmatism
The central idea of James' functionalist psychology is the pragmatism declared in his book "Pragmatism" published in 1907. He believes that there is no absolute truth in the world, truth is determined by actual effect, and truth often changes with the changes in the environment of the times; those who are suitable for the environment of the times and are effectively used are truth. James' pragmatic thoughts have had a significant impact on the future development of in the applied psychology of .
3. Views on whether psychology can be directly applied to education
James opposes the direct application of the principles of psychology to school teaching. In his book "Talking about Psychology to Teachers" published in 1899, it clearly refers to: psychology is science and teaching is art; no matter how omnipotent science is, science itself cannot directly create works of art. James's view points out the correct direction for the development of educational psychology in the future.
Social evaluation
James' pragmatist psychology has an important influence on the later development of American psychology, especially functionalist psychology. His proposals on the function of consciousness, flow of consciousness, etc. were the basic creeds of , later American functional psychology. Its emotional theory proposes that physiological changes are indispensable factors in emotional processes, thus promoting experimental research on emotional physiological mechanisms and predicting the birth of behaviorism in the 20th century. He is also one of the founders of the American Psychological Society, and was elected as president of the Society twice in 1894 and 1904.
In the same year, William James signed a contract with Henry Holt Company Press and began to write Principles of Psychology (1890).1880 was an associate professor of philosophy at Harvard University; in 1885 it was promoted to professor; in 1889 it was changed to professor of psychology. James is one of the founders of the American Psychological Society and was elected as president of the association twice in 1894 and 1904.
1875, he was the first new psychology course in the United States to offer "The Relationship between Physiology and Psychology" and set up an informal psychology laboratory for teaching demonstrations and psychological experiments. This laboratory was four years earlier than the laboratory established by Wonter in 1879, and may be the earliest psychological laboratory ever. However, the laboratory is only used for teaching and has not engaged in rigorous psychological research, so it has failed to attract the attention of the world. In 1876, he served as associate professor of science at Harvard University.
1880 was transferred to associate professor of philosophy.
1885 promoted to professor of philosophy.
1889 transferred to professor of psychology. The following year, the two-volume book "Principles of Psychology" was published, which almost summarized the psychology of the entire nineteenth century and was translated into French, German, , Italian, and Russian. This book is not only a basic summary of the research results of in experimental psychology at that time, but also a concentrated expression of James' functionalist (or pragmatist) psychological thoughts.
main theory
James proposed many theories throughout his life, covering almost all fields of psychology, and even some scientific categories of soul theory . In summary, there are the following points:
Functionalism: James was in the era when Darwin 's " Origin of Species " was published. Influenced by this, he believed that the emergence of psychological processes, especially the advanced psychological processes, is for survival and has its adaptive value. But this label cannot cover all of its theory, because James believes that he is not the united person, and that day of psychology has not yet arrived.
Psychological essence: Although James accepts the theory of perceptual dualism, that is, he believes that psychology and reality exist together, and the two influence each other. But as mentioned above, James did not discuss this conclusive theory too much. He believed that the edifice of psychology should first add bricks and tiles, not finalize them. At present, we should describe and study related topics such as reasoning, attention, perception, and - the influence of this view has been until today.
Story of consciousness : Consciousness is not an object, but a process. It's like running water. You can dismantle it, but the dismantle looks no longer what it is. This overall idea has influenced many psychological research and has been used by many writers, forming a large number of stream of consciousness novels , such as " Ulysses ".
Self: Although consciousness is continuous like flowing water, there will also be gaps. Just like when you wake up, you will automatically connect the feelings of yesterday and today. This thing with personal attributes is the self. But if we explain ourselves or observe ourselves, that problem will arise again. Who is observing and explaining yourself? James chose to avoid talking about it. He proposed the concept of the empirical self, that is, the self we can perceive, including the material self, the social self and the spiritual self. No matter what, these can be studied. As for who is watching all this? Love whoever - James believes that psychology does not need to study this issue.
Will: Some people believe that James' greatest contribution is his theory of will. Although he chose to believe in free will when he experienced his own crisis, science cannot explain free will after all. So his final statement is, "All actions have their reasons." As for what this reason is, maybe it is free will, maybe it is other will. He believes that free will cannot be explained by science, so it is not in the category of psychology.Later, the appearance of behaviorism made people gradually forget James' statement about will, but in fact, the topics studied in contemporary psychology, such as purpose, values, decision-making, self-efficacy, , etc., are actually under the meaning of will.
Emotion: James and a Danish physiologist Lange proposed an emotion theory almost at the same time, which was later named James Lange's Emotion Theory. This theory believes that we first have physical reactions and then have emotional feelings. Emotional feelings are the individual's perception of the body's reaction. For example, we first develop a tear reaction and then feel sad. This view was later refuted by the thalamic theory of Cannon , believing that emotional and physiological reactions occur simultaneously and are controlled by the thalamus. But overall, James Langer's emotional theory can still explain many phenomena, at least part of it is correct.
Unconscious: This part of the view is not from "Principles of Psychology". But James often has expressed the unconscious phenomenon. His point is that when your behavior is extremely familiar and has little value to adapt to you, consciousness will give up on the process, and the process becomes unconscious. This is a bit like the view of in cognitive resource theory, that is, some behaviors can be automated and do not require conscious participation. But unlike Freud, although James also recognized and studied the unconsciousness of some abnormal populations, believing that unconsciousness can indeed help understand patients' behavior, he did not regard unconsciousness as a source of motivation for people. When James heard Freud's early speeches, he had high expectations for Freud's theory, believing that this was a glimmer of light to understand human nature.
Outstanding Contributions
1, constructing a complete system of scientific psychology
, published by James in 1890, in which the five essentials of James' psychological thoughts can be found:
(1) Research on the analysis of structuralist consciousness elements. The functions of individual consciousness play when adapting to its environment should be studied.
(2) The theory of stream of consciousness is advocated. He believes that consciousness is not static, but flows continuously due to people, time and place.
(3) The first emotional theory is the earliest emotion theory. He believes that physiological changes precede emotional experience, in which the general cause of emotions is assumed to be an inherent physiological neural process rather than a mental or psychological process.
(4) advocates diversified psychological research methods: psychology research should be carried out in accordance with the needs of the observation method, experimental method, comparison method, survey method, , etc. At the same time, he advocated that the research subjects should not be limited to normal adults, but should be expanded to study children, psychological abnormalities and animals.
(5) The argument about the self: the self is divided into "the 'cognized object' or the 'experienced self'" and "the cognitive subject is also called the self (Life or ego)". The empirical self includes all things that can be called by individuals.
2. Advocate pragmatism
The central idea of James' functionalist psychology is the pragmatism declared in his book "Pragmatism" published in 1907. He believes that there is no absolute truth in the world, truth is determined by actual effect, and truth often changes with the changes in the environment of the times; those who are suitable for the environment of the times and are effectively used are truth. James' pragmatic thoughts have had a significant impact on the future development of in the applied psychology of .
3. Views on whether psychology can be directly applied to education
James opposes the direct application of the principles of psychology to school teaching. In his book "Talking about Psychology to Teachers" published in 1899, it clearly refers to: psychology is science and teaching is art; no matter how omnipotent science is, science itself cannot directly create works of art. James's view points out the correct direction for the development of educational psychology in the future.
Social evaluation
James' pragmatist psychology has an important influence on the later development of American psychology, especially functionalist psychology. His proposals on the function of consciousness, flow of consciousness, etc. were the basic creeds of , later American functional psychology. Its emotional theory proposes that physiological changes are indispensable factors in emotional processes, thus promoting experimental research on emotional physiological mechanisms and predicting the birth of behaviorism in the 20th century. He is also one of the founders of the American Psychological Society, and was elected as president of the Society twice in 1894 and 1904.
