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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Psychology, by Robert S. Woodworth

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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Title: Psychology
       A Study Of Mental Life

Author: Robert S. Woodworth

Release Date: February 25, 2010 [EBook #31382]

Language: English


*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PSYCHOLOGY ***




Produced by Don Kostuch





[Transcriber's notes]

This text is derived from an unedited version in the Internet Archive.

Page numbers are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. They have been located where page breaks occurred in the original book.

Labels and text in a figure that are not mentioned in the figure description are included as a comma separated list, as in "(Figure text: cochlea, vestibule, 3 Canals)".

Lengthy footnotes and quotations are indented.

Obvious misspellings and typos are corrected but inconsistent spelling is not resolved, as in coordinate and coördinate.

Here are the appearances of the heading levels.

Header 1 Header 2 Header 3 Header 4

Here are the definitions of some unfamiliar words (to me).

amour propre: self-esteem; self-respect.

esprit de corps: camaraderie, bonding, solidarity, fellowship.

motility (motile): moving or capable of moving spontaneously.

unwonted: unusual.

[End Transcribers's notes]



PSYCHOLOGY A STUDY OF MENTAL LIFE

BY
ROBERT S. WOODWORTH, Ph. D.
Professor of Psychology in Columbia University


NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1921


COPYRIGHT, 1921
BY
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY


Printed in the U.S.A.



PREFACE

A few words to the reader are in order. In the first place, something like an apology is due for the free way in which the author has drawn upon the original work of many fellow-psychologists, without any mention of their names. This is practically unavoidable in a book intended for the beginner, but the reader may well be informed of the fact, and cautioned not to credit the content of the book to the writer of it. The author's task has been that of selecting from the large mass of psychological information now available, much of it new, whatever seemed most suitable for introducing the subject to the reader. The book aims to represent the present state of a very active science.

Should the book appear unduly long in prospect, the longest and most detailed chapter, that on Sensation, might perfectly well be omitted, on the first reading, without appreciably disturbing the continuity of the rest.

On the other hand should any reader desire to make this text the basis of a more extensive course of reading, the lists of references appended to the several chapters will prove of service. The books and articles there cited will be found interesting and not too technical in style.

Much advantage can be derived from the use of the "Exercises". The text, at the best, but provides raw material. Each student's finished product must be of his own making. The exercises afford opportunity for the student to work over the material and make it his own.

A first or preliminary edition of this book, in mimeographed sheets, was in use for two years in introductory classes conducted by the author and his colleagues, and was subjected to exceedingly helpful criticism from both teachers and students. The revision of that earlier edition into the present form has been very much of a coöperative enterprise, and so many have coöperated that room could scarcely be found for all their names. Professor A. T. Poffenberger, Dr. Clara F. Chassell, Dr. Georgina I. Gates, Mr. Gardner Murphy, Mr. Harold E. Jones and Mr. Paul S. Achilles have given me the advantage of their class-room experience with the mimeographed book. Dr. Christine Ladd-Franklin has very carefully gone over with me the passages dealing with color vision and with reasoning. Miss Elizabeth T. Sullivan, Miss Anna B. Copeland, Miss Helen Harper and Dr. A. H. Martin have been of great assistance in the final stages of the work. Important suggestions have come also from several other universities, where the mimeographed book was inspected.

R. S. W.
Columbia University
August, 1921



CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE
WHAT PSYCHOLOGY IS AND DOES 1
Varieties of Psychology 2
Psychology as Related to Other Sciences 5
The Science of Consciousness 7
The Science of Behavior 8
Introspection 10
Objective Observation 11
General Lines of
Psychological Investigation 14
Summary and Attempt at a Definition 17
Exercises 19
References 20
CHAPTER II
REACTIONS 21
The Reaction Time Experiment 22
Reflex Action 24
The Nerves in Reflex Action 26
Internal Construction of the Nerves and Nerve Centers 31
The Synapse 34
Coördination 37
Reactions in General 39
Exercises 42
References 44
CHAPTER III

REACTIONS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS 45
Different Sorts of Stimuli 47
The Motor Centers, Lower and Higher 49
How the Brain Produces Muscular Movements 53
Facilitation and Inhibition 54
Super-motor Centers in the Cortex 56
Speech Centers 57
The Auditory Centers 59
The Visual Centers 62
Cortical Centers for the Other Senses 68
Lower Sensory Centers 64
The Cerebellum 66
Different Levels of Reaction 65
Exercises 67
References 67
CHAPTER IV

TENDENCIES TO REACTION 68
Purposive Behavior 70
Organic States that Influence Behavior 72
Preparation for Action 74
Preparatory Reactions 77
What the Preparatory Reactions Accomplish 79
What a Tendency Is, in Terms of Nerve Action 82
Motives 84
Exercises 86
References 88
CHAPTER V

NATIVE AND ACQUIRED TRAITS 89
The Source of Native Traits 90
Reactions Appearing at Birth Must Be Native 91
Reactions That Cannot Be Learned Must Be Native 92
Experimental Detection of Native Reactions 93
Is Walking Native or Acquired? 95
Universality as a Criterion of Native Reactions 97
Some Native Traits Are Far from Being Universal 98
Why Acquired Traits Differ from One Individual to Another 99
What Mental Traits Are Native? 100
Exercises 103
References 104
CHAPTER VI

INSTINCT 105
The Difference Between an Instinct and a Reflex 107
An Instinct Is a Native Reaction-Tendency 109
Fully and Partially Organized Instincts 111
Instincts Are Not Ancestral Habits 113
Instincts Not Necessarily Useful in the Struggle for Existence 114
The So-called Instincts of Self-preservation and of Reproduction 115
Exercises 117
References 117
CHAPTER VII

EMOTION 118
Organic States That Are Not Usually Classed as Emotions 119
How These Organic States Differ from Regular Emotions 120
The Organic State in Anger 121
Glandular Responses During Emotion 122
The Nerves Concerned in Internal Emotional Response 124
The Emotional State as a Preparatory Reaction 125
"Expressive Movements," Another Sort of Preparatory Reactions 126
Do Sensations of These Various Preparatory Reactions Constitute the Conscious State of Emotion? 128
The James-Lange Theory of the Emotions 129
Emotion and Impulse 130
Emotion Sometimes Generates Impulse 132
Emotion and Instinct 134
The Higher Emotions 136
Exercises 136
References 136
CHAPTER VIII

INVENTORY OF HUMAN INSTINCTS AND PRIMARY EMOTIONS 137
Classification 138
Responses to Organic Needs 139
Instinctive Responses to Other Persons 145
The Play Instincts 151
Exercises 170
References 171
CHAPTER IX
THE FEELINGS 172
Pleasantness and Unpleasantness Are Simple Feelings 173
Felling-tone of Sensations 174
Theories of Feeling 175
Sources of Pleasantness and Unpleasantness 178
Primary Likes and Dislikes 180
Other Proposed Elementary Feelings 184
Exercises 186
References 186
CHAPTER X
SENSATION 187
The Sense Organs 188
Analysis of Sensations 197
The Skin Senses 197
The Sense of Taste 201
The Sense of Smell 203
Organic Sensations 204
The Sense of Sight 204
Simpler Forms of the Color Sense 209
Visual Sensations as Related to the Stimulus 212
Color Mixing 214
What Are the Elementary Visual Sensations? 216
Theories of Color Vision 220
Adaptation 224
Rod and Cone Vision 226
After-images 226
Contrast 227
The Sense of Hearing 228
Comparison of Sight and Hearing 231
Theory of Hearing 234
Senses of Bodily Movement 236
Exercises 241
References 243
CHAPTER XI

ATTENTION 244
The Stimulus, or What Attracts Attention 245
The Motor Reaction in Attention 248
The Shifting of Attention 251
Laws of Attention and Laws of Reaction in General 256
Sustained Attention 257
Distraction 259
Doing Two Things at Once 260
The Span of Attention 261
Summary of the Laws of Attention 262
Attention and Degree of Consciousness 265
The Management of Attention 267
Theory of Attention 268
Exercises 270
References 270
CHAPTER XII

INTELLIGENCE 271
Intelligence Tests 272
Performance Tests 275
Group Testing 276
Some Results of the Intelligence Tests 278
Limitations of the Intelligence Tests 281
The Correlation of Abilities 288
General Factors in Intelligence 285
Special Aptitudes 288
Heredity of Intelligence and of Special Aptitudes 289
Intelligence and the Brain 292
Exercises 294
References 295
CHAPTER XIII

LEARNING AND HABIT FORMATION 296
Acquired Reactions Are Modified Native Reactions 297
Acquired Tendencies 299
Animal Learning 302
Summary of Animal Learning 310
Human Learning 311
Human Compared with Animal Learning 313
Learning by Observation 317
The Learning of Complex Practical Performances 321
Higher Units and Overlapping 323
Moderate Skill Acquired in the Ordinary Day's Work 326
Habit 328
Exercises 330
References 331
CHAPTER XIV

MEMORY 332
The Process of Memorizing 333
Economy in Memorizing 333
Unintentional Learning 346
Retention 348
Recall 364
Recognition 357
Memory Training 360
Exercises 364
References 365
CHAPTER XV
ASSOCIATION AND MENTAL IMAGERY 366
What Can Be Recalled 366
Memory Images 368
Limitations of Imagery 371
The Question of Non-Sensory Recall 373
Hallucinations 375
Free Association 376
Controlled Association 381
Examples of Controlled Association 384
Exercises 386
References 388
CHAPTER XVI
THE LAWS OF ASSOCIATION 389
The Law of Exercise 389
The Law of Effect 391
Limitations of the Law of Exercise 393
Association by Similarity 395
Association by Contiguity 396
The Law of Combination 398
The Law of Combination in Recall 413
The Laws of Learning in Terms of the Neurones 414
Exercises 418
References 418
CHAPTER XVII
PERCEPTION 418
Some Definitions 421
The Difference Between Perception and Sensation 423
Perception and Image 425
Perception and
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