There are numerous psychologists that have made huge impacts and stand out in the world we live in. Some of these people include Skinner, Maslow, and Freud, people that everyone knows. However, a person who stands out in American psychology is William James. Even though his name is not known to everyone, he had many large contributions in psychology. He wrote two books, contributed to the James-Lange Theory of Emotion, impacted pragmatism, and functionalism. When he was just eight years old, he was better in mathematics than his “genius” father was. William James is so interesting to me because in the beginning, he did not like psychology at all, but today he is known for all of his works.
William James was born on January 11, 1842 in New York City. He was brought into a wealthy family where education was very important. His father, Henry, was very interested in philosophy and theology and he wanted his children to have a rich education. William James had a brother named Henry also who went on to become one of the most acclaimed American novelists. He also had a sister Alice who became known because of the diary she kept. James went to Europe often and attended the very best schools, absorbed in culture and art. He showed in interest in becoming a
painter but his dad wanted him to study science or philosophy. However, James was steady about wanting to become a painter so Henry allowed him to. After studying painting with William Morris Hunt for about a year, James realized he needed to support himself and switched to Harvard Medical School. James was unhappy with the medicine world and went on an expedition with Louis Agassiz, but he did not enjoy it. He said, “I was, body and soul, in a more indescribably hopeless, homeless and...
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... went on an expedition and began to like psychology. Later, he was offered a job at Harvard University to be an instructor for psychology. There, he coined his term “stream of consciousness”, proposed pragmatism, functionalism, and the James-Lange Theory of Emotion. Without him, we would not have found out the things we know today.
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Schaffer, Chris. "Join Academia.edu & Share Your Research with the World." The Impact of William James on Psychology through History. Chris Schaffer, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. .
Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2010). Psychology. (2nd ed., p. 600). New York: Worth Pub.
Monroe wasn’t very interested in college while he was there. He heard people speak against the British and he agreed that the colonies should be free. He started taking part in
He was born in Moreland, Ohio. His father died while he was an infant, and James was often teased by his peers for this. He ran away from home, but had to return because he got sick. His mother convinced him to go to school. James graduated from Williams College as a salutatorian, as well as Hiram College, where he later became College President. In 1861, he was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Union Army. He rose through the ranks and became brigadier general, and commanded a brigade during the Battle of Shiloh. While the war was going on, he won a seat in the Senate and continued to stay there for 9 terms.
His soul experienced many dark nights, as displayed in his book The Varieties of Religious Experience. While his father had solved his own problems in the context of religion, William would form his salvation in the methodology of science and formal logic. He tried to comprehend his own difficult experience in physiological terms, and then to master its difficulties by the disciplines of psychology and philosophy. During the course of his own journey of discovery, he would lay down the foundations for modern science of psychology and build it as an American discipline. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung made their way to American in 1909, and they the man they most wanted to meet was William James because of his genius
Waiten,W., (2007) Seventh Edition Psychology Themes and Variations. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Thomson Wadsworth.
During high school, Langston’s father didn't think he would be able to make a living as a writer. His father encouraged him to pursue a more practical career. In 1921, Langston’s father paid his tuition to Columbia University in New York City, on the basis, he studies engineering. After a short time, James dropped out of the program with a B+ average.
James Oglethorpe, 88, passed away from a brief illness. James was born on December 22, 1696, to Eleanor and Theophilus Oglethorpe, in London, England. His childhood still remains a mystery, but in 1714, he was admitted into Corpus Christi College at Oxford University. He dropped out and went to a military academy in France. He never graduated college, but he was awarded the special M.A. in 1731. In 1729 his friend was jailed because of his debts. He was thrown into a cell with a prisoner who had smallpox. His friend later died from this disease. This even caused Oglethorpe to start a campaign to reform England’s prisons. After this, he became known as Britain’s most active humanitarian. In 1732, King George II created a charter to colonize
Gall, S. B., Beins, B., & Feldman, A. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of psychology. (2nd ed., pp. 271-273). Detroit, MI: Gale Group.
...s, even plays, and some performed plays on stage. James once said, “It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance…and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of its process.” What James is trying to say is that no matter what, art is art. It does not matter if the writer does not think highly of it. James states that art is beautiful. Whatever you do to your novel, book, or poem, it is beautiful. All around, he is saying that art is life, and that without art there would be nothing. The world would be boring. It is important to get out there and do what you love, no matter what it is. If someone loves what they do, they should do it with one hundred percent dedication (“Henry”). James writes about the conflict of independence and the harsh social characteristics of Americans in Rome, the culture, and how he sets the mood of the story.
To begin, one of the most famous and influential thinkers from the last century is known as Sigmund Freud and he is also the father of Psychoanalytic Theory. He has comes to believe that our behavior is influenced by our thoughts and motivation outside of our consciousness. All that we experience during our
James was born in Great Britain to Lawrence and Mariah Norrington. He came from a long line of military men and it was expected for him to follow with the family plan. James was an only child therefore all his parents attention was deflected on him. Lawrence was a task driven and very rigid, conservative man. Mariah was a very strong willed proper woman of society with a sharp tongue. His father raised him as his father before him in a very strict and harsh manner to live up to the family name and his full potential. At an early age James displayed vast leadership skills and excellence in academics. He didn't make many friends as a child. It was typical of children in his situation. His family would travel as his father's assignments called for it.
Psychology started, and had a long history, as a topic within the fields of philosophy and physiology. It then became an independent field of its own through the work of the German Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of experimental psychology and structuralism. Wundt stressed the use of scientific methods in psychology, particularly through the use of introspection. In 1875, a room was set-aside for Wundt for demonstrations in what we now call sensation and perception. This is the same year that William James set up a similar lab at Harvard. Wilhelm Wundt and William James are usually thought of as the fathers of psychology, as well as the founders of psychology?s first two great ?schools? Structuralism and Functionalism. Psychologist Edward B Titchner said; ?to study the brain and the unconscious we should break it into its structural elements, after that we can construct it into a whole and understand what it does.? (psicafe.com)
Introspection is defined as the examination or observation of one 's own mental and emotional processes (Hunt, 1993).The label applied to his psychology is functionalism. He was not a theorist that you could just place into what one box , his theories crossed over into other branches of psychology. His theories were heavily influenced from philosophy, and he introduced psychology to America (Hunt, 1993)With James it really matter what people did what their lives and he wanted psychology to be helpful to others. One of the highlights of his theories is that there is not individual consciousness independent of its owner.(Hunt, 1993). Introspection was a major part of James 's theory. He developed the term the stream of thought using his introspective analysis. James strongly believed that the reality most perceives by that method is the unbroken flow of complex conscious thought(cite). James discusses the composition of what makes the Self, and breaks it down into "I" and "Me" and explaining the differences and importance of each. The "Me" is explained as being the material, social, and spiritual components of the ego. The theory also details self esteem describing it as the ratio of an individual 's actual behavior in contrast to their pretensions(Hunt, 1993). James understood the sense of “I” was itself being constantly created by thought. James felt that there could not be a “self” in the sense of some separate observing being that existed outside of our experience who was watching us have our experience because there was no place for that being to exist.(Hunt, 1993) Another big theory he had was his theory of emotion, which was that the emotion we fell is not what causes such bodily symptoms as a racing heart or sweaty palms, rather our nervous system, reacting to an external stimulus , produces these physical symptoms, and our perception
· 1894, worked as head of philosophy and psychology departments at University of Chicago (1894 - 1904)
Edited by Raymond J. Corsini. Encyclopedia of Psychology, Second Edition, Volume 1. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc.