In the historical context, can we blame Munsterberg? As late as the early 1980s, scoffing at the value of a detailed understanding of brain function as a constraint on models of memory dominated the culture of psychology, even among many cognitive psychologists (with a minimal nod to HM and related cases).
The culture has changed considerably, especially with the advent of fMRI studies linking performance on behavioral tasks in memory and cognition with brain activity (problematic as those studies might be). Claudia _____________________________________________ Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. Director Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Associate Professor NSF UWF Faculty ADVANCE Scholar Department of Psychology University of West Florida 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514 Phone: (850) 857-6355 (direct) or 473-7435 (CUTLA) [email protected] CUTLA Web Site: http://uwf.edu/cutla/ Personal Web Pages: http://uwf.edu/cstanny/website/index.htm On Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 1:59 PM, Christopher Green <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Very interesting response, Mike. I agree with all of it except one thing: > that "Psychology and Education" was primarily a response to Cattell. If you > look back at "The Danger from Experimental Psychology," you'll see that, > about 2/3 the way through, Münsterberg takes a brief swipe at Hall's "Child > Study," but says he doesn't have time there to deal with the "treat" that > it poses. The first half of "Psychology and "Education" is where he comes > back to dismantle Hall questionnaire by questionnaire. Only then does he > return to the earlier task of explaining why (he thinks) experimental (and > physiological) psychology has nothing to offer treachers either. > > Chris > --- > Christopher D. Green > Department of Psychology > York University > Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 > Canada > > [email protected] > http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ > ========================= > > On 2014-04-10, at 1:49 PM, Mike Palij wrote: > > On Thu, 10 Apr 2014 09:29:28 -0700, Christopher Green wrote: > > Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to discuss the > > following claim: > > > "If the teacher, in the hope of understanding the inner life of > > children better, studies the ganglion cells under the microscope, > > he could substitute just as well the reading of Egyptian hieroglyphs. > > All talk about the brain is, from the standpoint of the teacher, merely > > cant." > > - Hugo Münsterberg, "Psychology and Education," 1898. > > > NOTE: In 1898, Munsterberg wrote two articles with the title > "Psychology and Education": one was in Psychological Review > > Münsterberg, H. (1898). Psychology and Education. Psychological > Review, 5(5), 500-503. doi:10.1037/h0065106 > > And the other was in Educational Review: > > Munsterberg, H. (1898). Psychology and Education. Educational > Review, 16, 105-132. > > Chris Green's quote is from the latter and is on page 124. The > volume for this journal is available on books.google.com and > be downloaded for free here: > > http://books.google.com/books?id=FFEtAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA124&dq=%22educational+review%22++ganglion+cells+hieroglyphs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=79NGU9C3Iuy_sQTMnoGgCA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22educational%20review%22%20%20ganglion%20cells%20hieroglyphs&f=false > > Munsterberg had stirred up a hornet's nest earlier with the > following article: > > Munsterberg, H (1898). The danger from experimental psychology. > The Atlantic Monthly, 81, 159-167, > > James McKeen Cattell was one person who responded to the > Atlantic article (see his response at: > http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2005-12819-004 ) > and Munsterberg was mainly responding to Cattell and other > critics in "Psychology and Education" articles. One response > to Munsterberg's original article was by Charles Bliss and > I quote: > > "Prof. Munsterberg has not realized the inspiration of the hour. > He misses the whole spirit of modern science and American > science teaching. He betrays a low ideal of what teaching should > be, and an almost intentional ignorance of schoolroom work. He > tells us we can't do this and we can't do that, when we are doing > these very things every day. (Bliss, 1898, p. 214; Cited by > Benjamin 2006) > Bliss reference: > Bliss, C. B. (1898, April). Professor Munsterberg's attack on > experimental psychology. Forum, 214-223. > > For more on this incident, see Ludy Benjamin's article: > > Benjamin Jr, L. T. (2006). Hugo Münsterberg's attack on the application of > scientific psychology. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 414-425. > > Finally, after you get your kicks into Munsterberg, take a look at: > Spillmann, J., & Spillmann, L. (1993). The rise and fall of Hugo > Münsterberg. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 29(4), > 322-338. > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [email protected] > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=36040 > or send a blank email to > leave-36040-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13144.1572ed60024e708cf21c4c6f19e7d550&n=T&l=tips&o=36043 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-36043-13144.1572ed60024e708cf21c4c6f19e7d...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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