The always erudite Stephen Black posted on November 19, 2006: I've now discovered an early use of the iceberg by Hall (1898) in an academic journal, _The American Journal of Psychology_. It occurs in a long and tedious article reporting a survey of children's sense of self, and appears almost at the end of the essay.
The [corrected] reference is: Some Aspects of the Early Sense of Self G. Stanley Hall American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Apr., 1898), pp. 351-395 doi:10.2307/1411300 On p. 393, he says: "We have sought the real ego in the intellect. It is not there...Its nucleus is below the threshold of consciousness. The mistake of ego-theorists is akin to that of those who thought icebergs were best studied from above the surface and were moved by winds, when, in fact about nine-tenths of their mass is submerged, and they follow the deeper and more constant oceanic currents". [see attachment] I find it interesting that this famous observation is buried in a long and obscure publication, and the metaphor is presented in a cursory manner which is less than compelling. I suspect that it underwent a slow evolution, possibly by Hall himself and by others, until it reached a more effective and vivid form. Nevertheless, William White (1916), in his text _Mechanisms of Character Formation: An Introduction to Psychoanalysis_ found it sufficiently compelling. He says about this exact passage of Hall's, which he cites, that: "Stanley Hall has very forcibly put the matter [of the unconscious--SB] by using the illustration of the iceberg. Only one-tenth of the iceberg is visible above water; nine-tenths is below the surface. It may appear in a given instance that the iceberg is being carried along by the prevailing winds and surface currents, but if we keep our eyes open we will sooner or later see a berg going in the face of the wind...it is moving in response to invisible forces addressed against this submerged portion" (p. 39). I recall that a criticism raised in our group of the contemporary use of the iceberg metaphor is that it is an inappropriately static image. It seems from these examples that when it was first used by Hall and others, it had more of a dynamic aspect to it, an attribute emphasized as much as the fact that much of it was hidden beneath the surface. =========================================================== Mike Donnelly: where are you? Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2008 17:09:47 -0400 >From: "Mike Palij" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [tips] Society of Iceberg Hunters (was Source of iceberg metaphor >found? >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> >Cc: "Mike Palij" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >One of the members of the Society of Iceberg Hunters (SIH) can >probably provide you with a copy of the last written document that >summarizes our hunting expeditions for the elusive iceberg of mind >and I don't remember whether the article you cite below was mentioned >in it but we had established that Hall had used the iceberg metaphor in >a couple of popular articles but not in his scientific writing (where >he focused on potential mental processes which are not consistent >with a metaphor based on an inert block of ice). > >I don't have all of my materials handy but I believe that the earliest >use of the iceberg metaphor by a psychologist was by Henry Goddard >in 1899 in a Quaker newsletter "Friends Intelligencer" (July 22,1899), >quoting: > >|The best and concluding words on teaching children were >|spoken by Prof. Goddard, of Maine, who has been appointed >|to fill the chiar of Pedagogy in the Normal School at West >|Chester. >| >|He said the unconscious part of our lives and influence >|had about the same relation to the conscious as the submerged >|portion of an iceberg has to that which is in sight. It was >|only as the principles of right conduct and thinking so >|impregnated our whole being that they unconsciously controlled >|our lives, and not only our own, but others, that we could >|fulfill the high calling of instructors. > >Goddard did his dissertation with Hall so it's unclear who the >real source was. However, the iceberg metaphor appears to >have been popular in the 19th century, possibly due to the >influence of Herbart who focused on the concious-unconscious >distinction which can be traced back to Leibniz; see the beginning >of the article at: >http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/~reingold/publications/Merikle_&_Reingold_1992/ > >One of the these day the SIH probably should get that manuscript >out. > >-Mike Palij >New York University >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >On Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:50:28 -0700, Christopher D. Green >>We TIPSters, led by the redoubtable Stephen Black, have long searched >>for the source of the iceberg metaphor of the mind that is often, and >>incorrectly, attributed to Sigmund Freud. I have just run across a >>source, authored by a famous American psychologist and first published >>in 1910 in a widely-circulated magazine, that I believe to be the (at >>least proximal) source of that metaphor. (I do not recall anyone >>spotting this source before, but please let us know if I have slighted >>you). >> >>The author was none other than G. Stanley Hall, and the source is an >>article entitle "A Children's Institute" that appeared in /Harper's >>Monthly/ (Sorry for the ellipses. I have drawn the passage from a >>quotation that appeared in a 1912 /AJP/ article by E. B. Titchener): >> >>"Formerly everyone supposed that self-observation, or looking in upon >>our own psychic processes, or the intensification of self-consciousness, >>was the oracle and muse of philosophic studies. Now, however, . . . it >>is coming to be seen that this method gives us access to but a very >>small part of the soul, as, like an iceberg, nine-tenths of which is >>submerged under water and only one-tenth is visible above the surface of >>the sea, in the same way unconscious and instinctive forces now seem to >>be dominant in human life, . . . and these can be studied only >>objectively by natural-history methods." >> >>Although Titchener quotes it as a "dissentient note" in an article in >>which he defends his method of introspection, there can be little doubt >>that Hall was referring, at least in part, to Freud, who had, just the >>year before (1909), been hosted by Hall at a 20th anniversary conference >>for Clark University (of which Hall was president), and at which Freud >>had presented the only lectures he would ever give in the US -- the >>lectures that were later published as _The Origin and Development of >>Psychoanalysis_. > > > > >--- >To make changes to your subscription contact: > >Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
