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Psychology in a sociopolitical context (Societal Changes Affect…
Psychology in a sociopolitical context
Societal Changes Affect Psychological Research
1.Industrialization and immigration
High population cities of poor and working class families
Natural selection to make claims about biologically fitness
Assumption: intelligence and aggression were innate
"Eugenics is the study of the agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations either physically or mentally.” – Galton (1904)
Played a major role in political, social and intellectual history of many nations
The idea: if we could “breed man”, social woes would be lessened
Lost appeal post proposed sterilization of some individuals
New emphasis put back on social experience
Behaviourism, Psychoanalysis
Material basis for natural phenomena
Increased interest in researching the brain
Lesion studies in animals
Democritus’s premise: material entities were the foundation of all observed
Feelings, thoughts, and behaviors can be explained
The Cold War and computers
Artificial intelligence
Cognitive Psychology
Feelings & emotions less important than verbalizing & RTs
Mothers in the work force
1950: ~40% working
2000: 78% working
Bowlby and attachment – Innate need to attach to caregiver – Needed continuous care – Maternal deprivation – long term consequences
Influence of statistics
National Science Foundation
F tests, T tests, correlation coefficients
Influence of Physics and universal laws
Materialistic foundation for natural phenomena
More successful predictions
Use of mathematics
Socio-Political Biases
History of intelligence testing
1st test in France
Binet and Simon
Socio-political system in France - welfare state
Emphasis on citizen’s well-being
Compulsory primary education for all children
3 principles
Test scores were practical; did not define intelligence
Aim: identify learning-disabled children; not rank normally developing children
Purpose: provide extra help for at risk children
IQ ≠ fixed quantity and can be improved
Intelligence testing in the US
Socio-political system in US
segregation of black people and other immigrants
Goddard
Used the test in other contexts
Regular students
Immigrants
Recruitment
Coined the term “moron” (IQ 50=70)
Belief that intelligence was governed by a single gene
“If both parents are feeble-minded all the children will be feebleminded. It is obvious that such mating should not be allowed. It is perfectly clear that no feeble-minded person should ever be allowed to marry or become a parent”
Stanford-Binet Test
Terman (1916)
Advocated national testing for every child
Feedble-mindedness related to morality (e.g., all potential criminals)
National testing is a way to reduce crime (i.e., by removing low IQ members from society)
Highlighted the need for standardised tests based on representative samples
Yerkes and the US military support
Army alpha
Army beta
Individual examination
Intelligence is innate
Can assign military specialty
3 findings
Average mental age of White American male = 13
European immigrants also averaged in the “moron” range
Average score of Black American male = 10.4
Supported the notion of genetic differences between races
Immigration Restriction Act (1924)
3 tests
Gould’s criticisms
Cultural & educational bias
Problems in administration
Individuals illiterate in English still allocated to Alpha test
Beta test required the use of writing numbers with a pencil
Unsatisfactory conditions
Data should be considered critically
Morton's skulls - size = intelligence - white people smarter
Gould vs. Morton
Head size related to body size
Sample biased toward Inca Peruvians (who were smaller)
Men have bigger brains than women because men are bigger
Gould re-analyzed data Gould (1978)
Cranial capacity was measure by pouring mustard seeds in skulls (which can be compressed)
When corrected for biases, there are no differences
Social Perspective Dominates
Advances in technology and expanding economy lead to general optimism in the US
Maybe gains could be made by improving educational system
Gender identity strongly influenced by education
Trainability of gender identity
Dr. Money and the John/Joan Story
Ethics
Nuremberg trials
informed consent
legality
ethical codes of conduct
confidentiality, right to withdraw etc
The misuse of psychological knowledge in times of war
Enhanced interrogation program in War on Terror
Sensory deprivation
Linguistic isolation
Welch 2010
Psychological expertise in America's recent torture debacle helped the Bush administration in two ways. First, it lent a sense of invincibility through its scientific aura. Second, it provided a fig leaf of humanitarianism through the involvement of health care professionals, which served to obscure the reality of torture because of the psychological accoutrements.
APA covered up/whitewashed involvement in torture
Ways P has influenced society
The psychologization of society
Growing impact of psychology on the way people see themselves and interact with each other
Psychology is taught frequently on different degrees
Psychology is frequently in the media
Frequency of psychological topics in everyday conservations
labels - individualisation
Creating Needs & Values
Medical and pharmaceutical industry overstate their significance for health
Extends to psychology
Rise in discovery of psychopathologies and syndromes
Parallel rise in the provision of counselling and therapy
Normal everyday worries get psychological labels
Do the differences in the rate of ADHD reflect changes in prevalence or decrease in society’s tolerance?
Dr Timimi
ADHD is a social construct
No specific markers
No medical tests
Different prevalence rates
Problems with imaging experiments
High co-morbidity
No specific treatments
Dr Taylor
Hyperactivity is neither a social construct nor a genetic disease
Individual differences in hyperactivity have known physical counterparts
Severe hyperactivity is a strong predictor of poor psychosocial adjustment
Social influences can contribute to the degree of hyperactivity
No evidence for social factors
Brief summary of intro (lecture 1)
The scientific revolution (1473-1860) The realisation that the Earth did not form the centre of universe • Copernicus & Galilei – heliocentric model Many things on Earth can be understood as machines • Descartes – mechanistic view & dualism Many movements on Earth and in the universe can be described with a mathematical equations • Newton – Law of physics Scientific method • Bacon – interaction theory and observations, falsifications & replications • Comte - Positivism The emergence of Psychology • Darwin • Kant • Establishment of Psychophysics • Development of statistics
Do common sense views of science hold up? • Facts are given to careful and objective observers via the senses • Experience, interpretation, error prone (illusions), non-observable facts • Facts are prior to and independent of theory • Without theory we don’t know what and where to look • Facts constitute a firm and reliable foundation for scientific knowledge • Inductive reasoning is fallible Psychology is a science - hypothesis testing, controls
Essay questions
Using examples from the history of psychology, discuss how our way of doing science is shaped by the socio-political context.
Understand how a priori beliefs influence our pursuit of knowledge
Be aware of ways Psychology has influenced how we perceive ourselves and how we interact with others
Understand the significance of impact that Psychology has had and can have