The legacy of functionalism: TestingAn FDA RaidCoke vs. USAToward a Practical PsychologyA SnapshotSlide 6Popular RecognitionEconomic Influences on Applied PsychologySlide 9Educational PsychologyJames McKeen Cattell (1860-1944)James McKeen CattellSlide 13Mental TestsStatisticsSlide 16Business TimeContributions to PsychologyThe Psychological Testing MovementPsychological TestingSlide 21Slide 22World War I and Group TestingWWI and Group TestingSlide 25Slide 26Buyer Beware!We is important!Racial Differences in IntelligenceSlide 30Slide 31Slide 32Test BiasContributions of Women to the Testing MovementSlide 35Slide 36Discussion QuestionsSlide 38Slide 39Slide 40Slide 41Slide 42FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH, 2015THE LEGACY OF FUNCTIONALISM: TESTINGAN FDA RAID•In 1909, federal agents pulled over a truck in a drug bust•The truck contained 40 barrels and 20 kegs of what the FDA had deemed poisonous and habit-forming material•These materials were the ingredients for Coca ColaCOKE VS. USA•Coke needed substantial research to prove that the materials were not harmful•They hired Henry Hollingworth, a psychologist out of New York City who needed to help his wife Leta pay for graduate school•He conducted a 40 day research program and collected 64,000 individual measurements of motor and mental functions under condition providing varying amounts of caffeine•He found no differences, and Coke won the case•This demonstrates early functional utility of psychology!TOWARD A PRACTICAL PSYCHOLOGY•Wundt had trained many of the first generation American psychologists we have discussed, but pretty much none sustained his ideas•G. Stanley Hall: “Wundtian thoughts can never be acclimated here, as they are antipathetic to the American spirit and temper.” •Thus, the new science had adapted to its environment–Thanks, American Zeitgeist!A SNAPSHOT•1880: no labs in the U.S.–1900: 41 labs in the U.S., better equipped than their 10 German equivalents•1880: no American psychology journals–1895: 3 American psychology journals•1880: Americans went to Germany to study psychology–1900: 40 doctoral programs at U.S. universities, most chose to stay home in the U.S. for their studiesA SNAPSHOT•1910: 50% of all published psych articles were written in German–1933: 52% in English, 14% in German•In 1913, the U.S. had more of the world’s leading psychologist than Germany, England, and France Combined•By Cattell’s 1895 APA Presidential address, psychology was a required course in the undergraduate curriculum!•1892-1904: Over 100 PhDs were awarded in psychology, ranking fourth behind chemistry, zoology, and physicsPOPULAR RECOGNITION•Psychologists had the opportunity to display their research instruments at the 1903 Chicago World’s Fair!•Popularizing psychology reflected the American Zeitgeist, extending itself far beyond the laboratory settingECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY•It wasn’t just the American spirit that fueled psychology’s growth•Many PhD students that were churned out of these 40 doctoral programs couldn’t find work (hence psychologists like Hollingworth finding jobs with Coca Cola)•Applied research was performed for many companies as a result – think marketing, efficacy of certain products, etc.ECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY•Even though psychology was very popular with students, psychologists weren’t held in super high esteem•Application was also important economically because universities would withhold funding if research didn’t have some kind of practical valueEDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY•But uh, apply it to what?•Think Zeitgeist! What other business was booming around that time? •G. Stanley Hall figured that because public schools were in such dire need of teachers and because psychology had become such a major part of the curriculum, education was an outlet for applied psychology•By 1910, 1/3 of all psychologists were applying psychology to issues in educationJAMES MCKEEN CATTELL (1860-1944)JAMES MCKEEN CATTELL•Born in Pennsylvania, went on to Leipzig to study with Wundt •Eventually studied philosophy at Johns Hopkins, where he took a personal and professional interest in the effects of a variety of drugs–“I felt myself making brilliant discoveries in science and philosophy. My only fear being that I could not remember them until morning” (quoted in Sokal, 1981, pp. 51, 52)JAMES MCKEEN CATTELL•Did some work with both Wundt and G. Stanley Hall•After earning his doctorate, he did some teaching in the states, traveled to England, and met Francis Galton•Galton “provided [Cattell] with a scientific goal – the measurement of the psychological differences between people” (Sokal, 1987, p. 27)MENTAL TESTS•Cattell used the term “mental tests” in 1890, which were tests of motor skills and sensory capacities just like what Galton was using in his lab–Not to be confused with intelligence tests, which are more complex•He was hoping to use these tests to establish normative data, but he was disappointed to find few correlations or predictive value for college achievement, etc. •Concluded that sensory ability actually didn’t have much to do with intelligenceSTATISTICS•Wundt didn’t care much for statistics, and Cattell himself wasn’t very good at them•But he was inspired by Galton, and preferred rank-ordering methods and was the first psychologist to teach statistical analysis of experimental dataSTATISTICS•Statistical methods allowed for greater sample sizes, as opposed the European habit of N = 1•American psychologists really latched onto statistics, and in 1907, John Edgar Cover at Stanford was the first to advocate the use of experimental vs. control groupsBUSINESS TIME•In 1921, after being dismissed from Columbia for bad behavior, Cattell promoted applied psychology as a business by organizing the Psychological Corporation•Provided psychological services to industry, the psychological community, and to the public•Totally failed at first, perhaps because the Zeitgeist was not ready•It’s doing very well today, but he was still bitter to the endCONTRIBUTIONS TO PSYCHOLOGY•Cattell’s testing research was a great link between the lab to the community•He concluded that Galton’s mental tests didn’t really predict any mental phenomena AND started PsychCorp•Mental testing, measurement of individual differences, and the promotion of applied psychology all continued
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