An outline of psychology / [William McDougall].

  • McDougall, William, 1871-1938.
Date:
[1923]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: An outline of psychology / [William McDougall]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE Introductory. i Provisional definition of psychology—Psychology is based on observa¬ tions of three kinds: (i) Introspection; (2) Observation and description of the conditions of experience; (3) observation and description of behavior—Popular and literary psychology—Divergence of scientific psychology—Applications of psychology restore it to sanity—The use of hypotheses is necessary—Some historical hypotheses—Psychology of pure experience—Psychology of the soul and faculty psychology— The psychology of ideas—Psychology as science of consciousness—The atomistic or mosaic psychology—Fusion of atomistic with idea psy¬ chology—Influence of physiology on psychology—The mechanical reflex theory—Memory and the reflex theory—Consequences of the mechan¬ ical reflex theory—The mechanical reflex theory not the foundation- stone of psychology—The assumptions of the reflex theory—Accept¬ able hypotheses—The hypothesis of the mind—Definition and divi¬ sions of psychology—The Subject is an indispensable hypothesis— Mental structure and mental functions. CHAPTER II The Behavior of the Lower Animals.43 The marks of behavior—Behavior is purposive—A scale of degrees of purposiveness—Purpose implies foresight—Purposive and reflex actions contrasted—Conditioned reflexes—A seventh mark of behavior—Rela¬ tion of the human to the animal mind—The nature of tropisms—Trop- ism a valid principle, but not all-sufficient—Behavior of protozoa— Behavior of the earthworm—Insects and instinctive behavior—The hormic theory. CHAPTER III Behavior of Insects.74 Purely instinctive behavior—Instinct and intelligence co-operate in homing—The tropic theory unable to account for homing-—Other in¬ stances of intelligent adaptation of instinctive action—Instinct and intelligence not separable. Xlll