William McDougall
Hypnotism is undoubtedly the most important, the most fruitful and far-reaching method of
experimental psychology.
Summary
William McDougall (1871-1938) was an early twentieth century psychologist who spent the first part of his career in the UK and the latter part in the US.
He wrote a number of highly influential textbooks, and was particularly important in the development of the Theory of Instinct and of Social Psychology in the English-speaking world. He was an opponent of Behaviourism.
His work was influential in the creation of the Instincts Theory, although he ended up denying the importance of instinct (see Psychological Aspects of Biodanza).
Theory of Instinct
Instinct is an inate, inherited, psych-physical disposition which determines that the individual perceives certain specific objects which make him act in a precise way.
Theory of Instinct - McDougall saw instincts as having three components:
- Perception - We pay attention to stimuli relevant to our instinctual purposes,
- Behavior - We perform actions that satisfy our instinctual purposes,
- Emotion - Instincts have associated negative and positive emotions.
Colour Theory
- This early theory by McDougall of colour vision proposed that all colours were reducible to three basic or fundamental colours (reds, greens and blues), and that there are in the retina two distinct receptor mechanisms for light: rods for dim light and cones for normal and intense light
Links
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McDougall_(psychologist)
Autobiography, A History of Psychology in Autobiography, Vol 1, pp 191-223, 1930:
http://www.webcitation.org/5Y7KtO9iC
Quotes: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_McDougall
William McDougall, Physiological Psychology
, 1905:
http://openlibrary.org/details/physiologicalpsy00mcdoiala
William McDougall, Psychology, the Study of Behaviour
, 1912:
http://openlibrary.org/details/psychologystudyo00mcdoiala
Charles Hose and William McDougall, The Pagan Tribes of Borneo
, 1912:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext02/ptbor10.txt
William McDougall, An Introduction to Social Psychology
, 1919:
http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/mcdougall/socialpsych.pdf
William McDougall, An Outline of Psychology
, 1949:
http://www.archive.org/download/outlineofpsychol032245mbp/outlineofpsychol032245mbp.pdf
Chris Brand, William McDougall (1871-1938): Heterodox and Angry with Psychologists by Nature, Nurture
and Circumstance
, 1997:
http://www.webcitation.org/5Y7KGy6C2
See Also
Burrhus Frederic Skinner: American psychologist who invented the Operant Conditioning Chamber, innovated his own philosophy of science called Radical Behaviorism, and founded his own school of experimental research psychology - the experimental analysis of behavior.
Carl Gustav Jung: Swiss psychiatrist and founder of Analytical Psychology, emphasising understanding the psyche through exploring the worlds of Dreams, art, Mythology, world religion and philosophy
Charlotte Buhler: German psychologist considered to be one of the founders of Developmental Psychology.
Claudio Naranjo: anthropologist and psychiatrist who is noted for his inter-disciplinary work with mind-altering substances as well as the Enneagram of Personality and Gestalt Psychotherapy.
Erich Fromm: psychoanalyst and social psychologist and also an important representative of 20th century Humanism.
Ernest Hilgard: psychologist famous for his research on Hypnosis, also proposed the theory of Neodissociationism, to re-explain earlier ideas of Disassociation and Automatism
James Hillman: psychologist, considered to be one of the most original of the 20th century, he developed Archetypal Psychology (Polytheistic myth as psychology)
Jean Piaget: philosopher, natural scientist and Development Psychologist, known for his work studying children, his theory of Cognitive Development and for his epistemological view called Genetic Epistemology.
John Bowlby: Development Psychologist in the Psychoanalytic tradition, notable for his pioneering work in Attachment Theory.
John Watson: psychologist who founded a branch of psychology called Behaviourism, after doing research on animal behavior.
Sigmund Freud: neurologist and the founder of the Psychoanalytic school of psychology, best known for his theories of the Unconscious Mind and the defense mechanism of Sexual Repression.
Stanley Krippner: psychologist who spent the last several decades investigating the field of human consciousness, conducting research in such areas as Dreams, Hypnosis, Shamanism, and Disassociation.
Wilhelm Reich: Austrian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, best known for his studies on the link between Human Sexuality and Neuroses