History of Psychology最新文献

This article reconstructs the central features of the phenomenological anthropology developed by the Swiss psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger through a close reading of the first part of his 1942 treatise Grundformen und Erkenntnis menschlichen Daseins [Basic Forms and Knowledge of Human Dasein], a work that has received limited attention in the English-language historiography of phenomenological psychiatry. Situated at the intersection of clinical psychiatry, phenomenology, and existential philosophy, Binswanger's project is interpreted as a historically significant attempt to overcome both naturalistic reductionism and intrapsychic models of mental illness by foregrounding the fundamentally relational constitution of human existence. Central to this perspective is the notion of Wirheit ("We-ness"), which frames love and friendship not as mere affective states but as primary modes of being-with (Mitsein) that disclose subjectivity, spatiality, and temporality. The article first situates Binswanger's work within the intellectual context of phenomenological psychiatry. It then examines the spatial and temporal structures of the modus amoris (being-together in love), emphasizing their expansive and durational character. The analysis subsequently turns to the paradoxical phenomenon of being simultaneously within and beyond the world as a defining feature of the loving encounter, before addressing the modus amicitiae (being-together in friendship) and its historical, plural, and destinal dimensions. In doing so, the article contributes to the history of psychology and to the historiography of phenomenological psychiatry while also highlighting the continuing relevance of Binswanger's thought for contemporary debates on intersubjectivity, relationality, and psychopathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

In the literature on emotions, reference is often made to the "James-Lange theory" from the 1880s. This article clarifies that this term is a misnomer. Although James's and Lange's views shared the centrality of bodily changes in emotion, there were also important differences. There is not one theory, but two, as evidenced by Lehmann's pioneering psychophysiological experiments of the 1890s showing their differential refutability. Moreover, the "James-Lange" labeling of Lange's work emphasizes something that was important to James, the experience of bodily changes, but which received little attention from Lange. Furthermore, the shared labeling obscures two contributions by Lange that are perhaps as important as the shared contribution with James: a dual-route model of emotional responding and classical conditioning of emotions. For future mentions, it is recommended to refer to the theories separately or in the plural. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Zing-Yang Kuo (1898-1970), an iconic figure in Chinese and global psychology, invented the "Kuo Vaseline technique"-a pioneering method for observing avian embryonic behavior-using chicken eggs. However, existing research lacks clarity on three key aspects: the exact invention time, the developmental context of its naming, and its comprehensive academic impact. Based on firsthand historical materials and international literature, this study systematically sorts out the invention process and naming development of the technique and deeply analyzes its influences on research methodology, interdisciplinary collaboration, and academic inheritance. The findings supplement the research on original techniques in the history of Chinese psychology and highlight the unique contributions of Chinese scholars to global embryonic behavior research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychology's foundational literature on prejudice emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War, precisely as anti-Catholic sentiment was resurging in American public life. The article examines how key psychological works of the period-especially those of Adorno et al., Allport, and Rokeach-treated Catholicism not as a target of intolerance but as a source of authoritarianism, dogmatism, and social threat. Combining intellectual and cultural history with a critical historiography of psychology, it traces how older nativist tropes and mid-century secular critiques of Catholicism were elevated to the status of psychological insight, often in defiance of available evidence. In doing so, the article shows how a disciplinary blind spot, rooted in the secular intellectual climate of the era, helped normalize certain forms of religious intolerance and shaped the conceptual boundaries of what counted as prejudice (as opposed to legitimate critique). The case study of anti-Catholicism highlights a broader issue of relevance to psychologists and historians of prejudice: the importance of analyzing not only prevailing stereotypes and attitudes toward marginalized groups but also the intellectual and political debates through which attitudes and stereotypes come to be recognized as prejudice in the first place. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This article examines the shift in social reactions toward women with mental illness in the Federated Malay States between 1930 and 1950, tracing the complex intersections between colonial medical policy, gender norms, and community attitudes. Using archival sources such as British medical department reports, asylum records, and administrative correspondence, the study identifies three distinct phases in public responses: exclusion and isolation (1930-1933), growing reliance on institutional treatment (1936-1940s), and the emergence of limited social support (1950s). In the early period, mentally ill women were often abandoned or confined at home, reflecting both fear of contagion and moral judgment rooted in patriarchal expectations of women's domestic roles. As colonial medical institutions expanded, families increasingly entrusted care to asylums such as the Tanjong Rambutan and Central Mental Hospitals, although this shift often represented social abandonment rather than medical trust. By the 1950s, rising education and the influence of welfare organizations marked a gradual, through partial, transformation in social attitudes, leading to community-based assistance and charitable support. The article argues that these evolving reactions reveal how colonial rule medicalized social deviance while simultaneously reinforcing gendered hierarchies of care and control. Through the lens of women's mental health, this study contributed to broader discussions of colonial governance, medicalization, and the social construction of "madness" in British Malaya. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Although Erik H. Erikson himself and some scholars have acknowledged the significant contributions of his wife, Joan M. Erikson, to psychological theory, her specific role in shaping this framework has remained insufficiently examined. Drawing on an analysis of Joan's educational background, her shared life with Erik, and the affective and intellectual interdependence between them, this study suggests that Joan was not merely a supporter but a collaborator who was deeply involved in conceptual construction, structural refinement, textual revision, and the publication process of the theory. In particular, her involvement in discussions surrounding the concept of basic trust, the establishment of the "generativity" stage, and her systematic articulation of the ninth stage in later life represent important moments in the historical development of life cycle theory. This study further suggests that Joan's scholarly labor was not entirely invisible but rather was rendered partially visible and simultaneously marginalized within dominant academic narratives. Revisiting Joan's role in the construction and development of the theory helps restore the actual collaborative conditions of theoretical production rather than diminish Erik's scholarly achievements. This case highlights the value of attending to collaboration, intimacy, and the division of intellectual labor in accounts of knowledge production within psychoanalysis, developmental psychology, and the history of science. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This article revisits Kurt Lewin's intellectual trajectory to argue that his project was, at its core, a political intervention in the epistemology of psychology. Tracing Lewin's development from his early experiences of social exclusion in Prussia, through his work in Weimar Berlin, Iowa, and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the article reconstructs how his conception of psychology evolved as a response to the crises of democracy and belonging in the 20th century. It situates Lewin's field theory and methodological innovations-his distinction between Aristotelian and Galilean modes of thought, his concept of lawfulness in the individual case, and his theory of group dynamics-within the broader philosophical influence of Carl Stumpf and Ernst Cassirer. Against the empiricism and statistical abstraction that dominated American psychology, Lewin envisioned a science grounded in relations rather than resemblances, form rather than content, meaning rather than frequency. His insistence that every individual case is lawful redefined generalization as the analysis of situated possibilities rather than as historical regularities. In doing so, Lewin not only offered a concept for democratizing the epistemic foundations of psychology but also turned research itself into an act of emancipation. To "make agency general," for Lewin, meant to extend the conditions of intelligibility and self-determination to all human actors-a project that remains as politically urgent as it is scientifically unfinished. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

The concept of affordances, developed by James J. Gibson (1904-1979), has been widely adopted in psychology and other fields. Despite this, there remains substantial disagreement about how to understand the concept. Plausibly, the roots of this confusion lie in Gibson's texts, including his examples. I present the first systematic analysis of the examples that Gibson used when explaining the affordance concept. In all, Gibson identifies 188 distinct examples across six texts published in his lifetime and 25 short posthumously published memos. I analyze the examples in terms of their mode of operation, their valence or polarity, and their sociality. This analysis reveals that, for Gibson, the affordance concept is broader than is often presented by later commentators. Affordances are today routinely glossed as "opportunities" or "possibilities for action." Gibson did not use these phrases. A number of his examples refer not to potential actions but to other kinds of potential outcomes, including perceptual, metabolic, or cognitive outcomes. I suggest that Gibson's theory of affordances encompasses two distinguishable research objectives, which have often been conflated: a theory of the control of action and a theory of perceptual orientation to meaningful features of the environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Zhang Yaoxiang was a key figure in the development of psychology in Republican China. Like many of his contemporaries, Zhang was a practitioner of scientific psychology and spared no effort to leverage psychological expertise for national progress. However, he distinguished himself through his keen interest in the past and his groundbreaking role in inaugurating the historiography of Chinese psychology. Despite acknowledging Zhang's dual roles as a scientist and a historian, existing scholarship has largely overlooked the potential tensions between these roles-particularly regarding how Zhang understood the historical past and its relationship to the present in an era that revered progress. This article revisits Zhang's engagement with the science and history of psychology in China from the 1920s to 1940s. It argues that his perceptions of the past and present of psychology were associated with his evolving conceptions of progress and science. By the 1940s at the latest, through historical inquiries, Zhang was able, on the one hand, to localize psychology and interlink local knowledge with that of Western centers and, on the other hand, to transcend his professional identity as an experimental psychologist to embrace a broadening field with various competing schools of thought. Through Zhang's case, this article offers a nuanced history of the circulation of modern psychology in Republican China and reveals the origins of Chinese psychological historiography as part of global historical traditions. It contributes to current discussions on the relationship between the past and present of psychology, as well as contextual approaches to the history of psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Memorializes Michael M. Sokal (1945-2025). In 1968, Sokal, an enthusiastic 22-year-old who still looked like a teenager, became the youngest participant in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Summer Institute on the History of Psychology. This institute led to the creation of Cheiron, the International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences. It also inspired Sokal's dedication to advancing research in the history of psychology within the larger framework of the history of science. In 1970, he got a position teaching the history of science and technology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI); he also continued his research in the Cattell Papers at the Library of Congress. Sokal later described a 1971 visit to the Cattell family's home, where, while touring an outbuilding, his wife, Charlene, fell through some floorboards-and uncovered another large cache of Cattell Papers. By 1972, he had completed his dissertation on James McKeen Cattell's early life and psychological career through 1904. Although Sokal would teach in Harvard's History of Science program in 1981-1982 and again in 1993-1994, WPI remained his academic home. Although heart-related medical issues would affect him for the rest of his life, Sokal's scholarship in the following decades was prolific, extensive, and diverse, with publications appearing in the most important journals of psychology, science, and history. In 1988, he became the History of Science Society's first "Executive Secretary"-a newly created position. In 1995, Sokal became the coordinator for an NEH-NSF program called "Integrating Science and Humanities in Undergraduate Education." By 1998, he had moved to the Washington, DC area to spend 2 years as director of the NSF's Science and Technology Studies Program. And in 2004, he became the president of the History of Science Society. He also worked closely with the American Psychological Association and in 1997 became the first editor of its new journal, History of Psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).