At the end of this study unit students will:
• become familiar with key figures, theories, and institutions in the history of psychology
• know how and why scientific, technological, social, cultural, economic, and political factors influenced the evolution of modern psychology
• be able to critically reflect on the historical origins of today’s psychological theories, practices, and institutions
|
|
|
In the History study unit, students will become acquainted with the sinuous evolution of modern psychology, with a focus on scientific research, clinical psychology and other areas of applied psychology. Did early psychologists working in Germany, France, the UK, and the US share a common vision of the definition, goals, methods, standard practices, and desirable future of psychology, or did they have competing views? Did psychologists, and the institutions that employed them from the mid-19th century on, adopt research programs and practices solely based on their scientific merits? Or did social, cultural, technological, economic, and political factors play a major role in promoting or undermining the development or adoption of psychological research programs and practices irrespective of their scientific merits? How have psychologists been perceived by research participants, patients, and clients (especially women), funders, and public authorities throughout the history of psychology? In short, the focus of the history component is on the mutual influence (co-shaping) between psychology and society and the enduring, yet too often forgotten, impact of these interactions on present-day psychology and its technologies. Our approach to history is thus backward-looking and forward-looking: students will become aware of the origins of their own assumptions about psychology and will, hopefully, be able to imagine and create alternative futures for psychology, rather than see its present path as the only possible one. To advance this goal, the psychology study unit will relate debates in psychology’s past with current issues that echo them. Students will be evaluated through an examination with a MCQ component and an essay component.
|
 |
|
|
This study unit is part of the module History, Ethics and Philosophy of Psychology (202000368). A module is offered as one educational unity and students take it as such.
|
|