4-1 Discussion: Social Science Developments Each discussion is meant to be a collaborative space for conversation about the course concepts and for learning from your peers' diverse perspectives. To

  Please note that some of these developments involve sensitive topics.

  Psychology   Dorothea Dix and the treatment of the mentally ill: Before psychology was its own field and when mental health issues were treated similarly to medical ailments, with treatments like bloodletting, Dorothea Dix fought for the rights of the mentally ill.

Dorothea Dix (1802–1887) Dorothea Dix - NCBI (1802–1887) Dorothea Lynde Dix   Wilhelm Wundt and the first psychology laboratory: Psychology was born out of philosophy and medicine. The beginning of psychology as its own discipline is often associated with German physician Wilhelm Wundt, who established the first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879.

Wilhelm Wundt Biography Wundt’s Laboratory at Leipzig in 1891   G. Stanley Hall and the first psychology lab in the United States: The first psychology lab in the United States was established at John Hopkins University in 1883 by G. Stanley Hall. Hall had traveled from America to Germany to study psychology under Wundt. Upon his return, he used what he had learned to open the first psychology lab in the United States.

G. Stanley Hall (1844–1924) John Hopkins University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences G. Stanley Hall   Founding of the American Psychological Association: The American Psychological Association (APA) was founded in July 1892, with 31 individuals as members and G. Stanley Hall as its first president. The APA supports and publishes the research of psychologists around the world, created and maintains a formal way of documenting resources, shares the latest advances in the field among members, and helps support the growth of the field of psychology.

APA History The American Psychological Association: A Historical Summary, 1892–1930   Lightner Witmer and the first psychological clinic: In 1896, Lightner Witmer, who also earned his doctorate in psychology from Wundt, founded the world's first psychology clinic at the University of Pennsylvania. Unlike psychology laboratories, psychology clinics were created and designed for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and treating psychological-based issues. Witmer is considered the father of clinical psychology.

Lightner Witmer: 1867–1956 Lightner Witmer and the Beginning of Clinical Psychology Sigmund Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams and psychoanalysis: While many other people before Freud made psychology what it is today, the most recognizable name in psychology is probably Freud. In 1900, Freud published a book titled The Interpretation of Dreams, in which he discusses how a person’s unconscious can come to light through dreams. Freud also developed a perspective in psychology known as psychoanalysis.

The Interpretation of Dreams The Interpretation of Dreams FAQs About Psychoanalysis   Mary Whiton Calkins, the first female president of the APA: In 1905, Mary Calkins was elected the first female president of the American Psychological Association. She earned a PhD at Harvard, but the university withheld her degree because of her sex.

Mary Whiton Calkins: 1905 APA President Maidie: The Life and Work of Mary Whiton Calkins and a More Inclusive Look at the History of Academia Mary Whiton Calkins   Francis Sumner, PhD: In 1920, Francis Sumner became the first Black man to earn a doctorate in psychology. He was mentored by G. Stanley Hall, and his dissertation was titled “Psychoanalysis of Freud and Adler.” Francis Sumner, PhD Francis Cecil Sumner Francis Cecil Sumner: His View and Influence on African American Higher Education   John Watson and behaviorism: John Watson is an American psychologist best known for the development of the perspective we call behaviorism. Watson disagreed with the teachings of Freud, whom most psychologists followed at the time. He believed that thinking, feeling, and awareness of self are simply psychological changes that occur as a result of experiences. To prove his theories, he conducted what we know as the Little Albert experiment.

John Watson John Watson 1879–1958 Watson Launches Behaviorist School of Psychology   Alcoholics Anonymous: In 1935, two men from Ohio, Bill W. and Dr. Bob S., met for the first time. Both had been deemed “hopeless alcoholics” and were struggling to stay sober. Through their experiences they developed Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.).

The Birth of A.A. and Its Growth in the U.S./Canada Alcoholics Anonymous: Still Sober after 75 Years   Nazi persecution of psychologists: While Germany is known for giving us one of the founding fathers of psychology, Wilhelm Wundt, it is also responsible for many lost years of useful research and development. During World War II, the Nazis stopped some valuable research that was being done, and they started to use what was learned about mental illness to exterminate people. Please note these resources address sensitive topics.

Psychology Under the Third Reich Psychotherapy and the Nazis Psychiatric Genocide: Nazi Attempts to Eradicate Schizophrenia   The National Mental Health Act passed: On July 3, 1946, President Harry Truman signed the National Mental Health Act. This established a National Institute of Mental Health and brought mental health issues to the forefront.

The National Mental Health Act of 1946 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)   Army Intelligence Test and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB): The original Army Intelligence Test was implemented in 1917 during World War I. There were two forms of the test: Army Alpha and Army Beta. The Beta test was used for those who were illiterate or who failed the first test. The modern-day version of this test is called the ASVAB and is “the most widely used aptitude test in the United States” (Whiston, 2017, p. 197). The current test can help determine what career field a member of the military is best suited for.

What to Expect When You Take the ASVAB Ace the ASVAB Test Sample Army Intelligence Test, 1917   First drug to treat depression was created: In the 1950s, a drug named iproniazid was first used to treat depression. It had been used in years past to treat tuberculosis, but when its mood-lifting qualities were discovered, it was then marketed for a new purpose. Over the years, many different medications have been created for the treatment of depression, but iproniazid was the first.

A Brief History of Antidepressant Drug Development: From Tricyclics to Beyond Ketamine A Brief History of the Development of Antidepressant Drugs: From Monoamines to Glutamate   Stanley Milgram and the Milgram experiment: Stanley Milgram was a social psychologist who was interested in obedience. In 1961, Milgram began an experiment to take a closer look at obedience and whether people would go to great lengths to obey an authority figure. Please note these resources address sensitive topics.

Stanley Milgram Psychologist Biography Stanley Milgram   Philip Zimbardo and the Stanford prison experiment: Stanford University professor Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment to look at how power can distort personal identities and values in 1971. He divided 24 college students into “guards” and “prisoners.” Please note these resources address sensitive topics.

Philip G. Zimbardo The Stanford Prison Experiment Stanford Prison Experiment: Philip G. Zimbardo Sociology   Auguste Comte and the origins of sociology: Comte is considered the father of sociology, and he was the first to define sociology. In 1830, he proposed “a synthetic science uniting all knowledge about human activity” (Dictionary of the Social Sciences, 2002). He believed that social sciences had the potential to better society.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: August Comte Auguste Comte: Theories & Contributions to Sociology   Harriet Martineau, the first woman sociologist: In 1852, writer Harriet Martineau was the first to translate Comte’s writing from French into English. In doing that, she introduced sociology to English speakers. She also published two sociological works, Society in America and Retrospect of Western Travel. These are considered to be the “first systemic methodological international comparisons of social institutions” (OpenStax, 2016).

Harriet Martineau Society in America, Martineau, Harriet   Karl Marx, conflict theory, and the Communist Manifesto: German philosopher and economist Karl Marx co-authored the Communist Manifesto in 1848. This expressed Marx’s theory of society and discussed his rejection of Comte’s positivism. He also presented the idea that social conflict leads to change in society; this theory is called conflict theory.

Karl Marx Conflict theory   Herbert Spencer and functionalism: Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher and biologist who, in 1876, wrote about his vision of the correlation between how the parts of the body work together and how society functions, leading to the development of a theory referred to as functionalism. Functionalism, sometimes referred to as structural-functional theory, holds that, just as the organs in a body work together to keep the body going, so do parts of society in order to keep society functioning.

Functionalism Herbert Spencer   Frank Blackmar and the first sociology class: Sociology was taught for the first time in 1890 at the University of Kansas under the title of Elements of Sociology.

American Sociological Association: Frank W. Blackmar The University of Kansas Sociology Department History Reasonable Department of Sociology for Colleges and Universities   Emil Durkheim and the increase of suicides in industrial cities: As the industrial revolution began in the late 18th century, the rate of suicides also increased. Sociologist Emile Durkheim studied this phenomenon. Please note these resources address sensitive topics.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Emil Durkheim’s Le Suicide (1897) Durkheim’s Theory of Social Class   Founding of the American Sociological Association: On December 27, 1905, about 50 sociologists gathered at Johns Hopkins University for the first meeting of what was to become known as the American Sociological Association.

American Sociological Association: History Lester Frank Ward: First ASA President   George Herbert Mead and the symbolic interactionist approach: Mead focused on how the way people view themselves is affected by their interactions with others. He believed that there were significant others and generalized others. Mead’s approaches are often associated with the symbolic interactionist approach, although his work was not published until 1934, several years after his death.

George Herbert Mead The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective   Max Weber, antipositivism, and the first sociology department in Germany: Max Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in 1904, and in 1919, he established a sociology department at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. Weber also codeveloped the theory known as antipositivism. In this theory, researchers strive for subjectivity as they conduct their research on social processes, social norms, and societal values.

Max Weber Anti Positivism   Human zoos: In the mid-1800s, what began as simple curiosity and a desire to learn more about humans and human behavior of those from Africa turned into what was known as human zoos at the World’s Fairs and at the Bronx Zoo. Please note these resources address sensitive topics.

Human Zoos: A Shocking History of Shame and Exploitation Human Zoos: When Real People Were Exhibits   Multiculturalism: In the late 19th century, the theory of multiculturalism emerged. In the theory of multiculturalism, the presence of several different cultures coexisting in a single society are examined.

Multiculturalism A Multicultural Society Multiculturalism: Sociology   Social reform: Immigrants’ rights, civil rights, and women’s rights/feminist theory: Sociology has long played a strong role in social reform. Three of the main areas of social reform that sociology is connected to are immigrants’ rights, civil rights, and women’s rights.

Social Reform Sociology and Social Reform Immigrant Rights are Civil Rights Civil Rights The Women’s Movement Feminist Theory   Environmentalism: Emerging as a subfield in sociology in the late 1970s, environmentalism is often viewed as the way humans interact with their environment and the protection of the environment.

Environmentalism Environmental sociology   Michel Foucault: Michel Foucault was a 20th-century French philosopher and historian whose impact has been felt through many academic fields. He sought to connect the philosophies of history and sociology with psychology and medicine. He also worked to uncover the roots of concepts like rationality, knowledge, and power.

Michel Foucault: French Philosopher and Historian Michel Foucault   Jean-Francois Lyotard and postmodernism: In the late 20th century, French philosopher and sociologist Jean Francois Lyotard believed that the better future promised by Marxism was no longer our destiny in this postmodern age. His theories are known as postmodernism.

Postmodernism: An Introduction for A-Level Sociology Students Jean-Francois Lyotard   The Bell Curve: In 1994, Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray wrote The Bell Curve to explain the distribution of intelligence in America.

Charles Murray Bell Curve in Hour Breaking Down the Bell Curve   Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: This 1997 book by evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond discusses environmental factors that helped shaped our society today.

Guns, Germs, and Steel Guns, Germs, and Steel: Jared Diamond on Geography as Power   Anthropology   Anthropology as we know it was formed: The discipline was formally established in the 1860s due to advances in biology and archaeology.

History of Anthropology Anthropology   Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, and evolutionary theory: In 1859, Charles Darwin, published The Origin of Species, in which he discussed what he called natural selection. In natural selection, only certain species of plants and animals, including humans, survive while others perish. This is viewed as evolutionary theory.

What is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution?

Charles Darwin   Sir Edward Burnett Tylor and cultural anthropology: English anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor is known as the founder of cultural anthropology. In 1871, Tylor published Primitive Culture, which contains one of the earliest and clearest definitions of culture.

Edward B. Tylor Sir Edward Burnett Tylor British anthropologist Society for Cultural Anthropology: History   Sir James George Frazer and The Golden Bough: The Golden Bough is an 1890 book written by Sir James George Frazer, a social anthropologist, that discusses the origins of the world’s myths, rituals, and religions.

The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer The Golden Bough: Work by Frazer   Franz Boas and the principle of cultural relativism: At the beginning of the 20th century, German American anthropologist Franz Boas developed the principle of cultural relativism. This states that culture is not passed on from generation to generation through genes but rather through learned behaviors coming from language, art, and ritual.

Franz Boas Cultural Relativism Oral History   Bronisław Malinowski and social anthropology: Malinowski is a 20th century anthropologist credited as being the founder of social anthropology. Malinowski is also known as for his studies of cultural and social change.

Bronisław Malinowski Social Anthropology   Claude Lévi-Strauss and Structuralism: French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss is known as the creator of structuralism. In the early 20th century, Lévi-Strauss stated that minds are all structured the same, regardless of culture, and because of this there are some universal patterns in cultures.

Claude Lévi-Strauss Structuralism   Margaret Mead: American anthropologist Margaret Mead published 23 books, including Coming of Age in Samoa (1928), Male and Female: A Study of the Sexes in a Changing World (1949), and Anthropology: A Human Science (1964). She popularized anthropology in the United States with her column in the magazine Redbook.

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead: American Anthropologist Margaret Mead Interview on Cultural Anthropology (1959)   Archaeology: This is the study of human cultures through artifacts like writings, paintings, pottery, toys, religious icons, buildings, and funerary items.

Archaeology Archaeological Anthropology Archaeology and Anthropology: Past, Present and Future   Clifford Geertz and symbolic anthropology: 20th-century American anthropologist Clifford Geertz is known for his contributions to social and cultural theory. He was also a proponent of symbolic anthropology.

Clifford Geertz Clifford Geertz: American Anthropologist Clifford Geertz: Work and Legacy   Linguistic anthropology: This branch of anthropology looks at the origin, development, and structure of human language and how language is shaped by culture. This field also looks at the etymology of words.

Society for Linguistic Anthropology Linguistic Anthropology   Biological anthropology: Biological anthropologists look at human physical anatomy and use that to try to understand evolution, physical diversity, and our relation to animal species.

Biological Anthropology   Psychological anthropology: This is the study of how emotions, motivations, and other mental processes are shaped by the culture in which one lives.

Psychological Anthropology Psychological Anthropology   Ethnomusicology: This is the study of music as it relates to culture.

Ethnomusicology About Ethnomusicology   Visual anthropology: This is the study and production of photography, film, and media that is connected to the customs and habits of cultures.

Society for Visual Anthropology Principles of Visual Anthropology   Medical anthropology: This is the study of how culture can influence sickness, healing, medical practices, and health.

Society of Medical Anthropology Medical Anthropology   Forensic anthropology: Also known within the field as forensics, this is the study of human remains and skeletal analysis. This may be used to study ancient cultures or to solve criminal cases.

Forensic Anthropology What Do Forensic Anthropologists and Detectives Have in Common?

  References Calhoun, C. (Ed.). (2002). Sociology. In Dictionary of the social sciences. Oxford University Press.

OpenStax. (2016). Excerpt adapted from Introduction to sociology (2nd ed.). Rice University. https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/lor/viewer/viewFile.d2lfile/32302/13096,3/ Whiston, C. (2009). Principles and applications of assessment in counseling (3rd ed.). Cengage Learning.