On the origins of Titchener's experimentalists

Goodwin, C. James

doi:10.1002/1520-6696(198510)21:4<383::aid-jhbs2300210409>3.0.co;2-n

Cited by 18 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…We should act at once as a professional group as well as individually. (Yerkes, 1918, p. 86) Goodwin (1985) explored potential reasons for the 6-year gap between the time Titchener articulated his plan for a new group (1898), and the time he implemented it (1904). Goodwin notes that although Titchener's avowed reason for waiting was his concern for the unity of the new APA, he was not discouraged in 1904, when a significant number of his colleagues expressed serious concern over what the new group would do to the APA.…”

Section: Organized Psychology and World War Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Michael Sokal (1992) has pointed out that, ironically, the APA did a great deal in its first decade to further the development of philosophy, and many experimental psychologists lamented the significant presence of philosophers in the Association. This was, at least in part, a reason that a prestigious group of experimental psychologists, led by E. B. Titchener, formed a separate association called the Experimentalists in 1904 (Boring, 1938, 1967; Goodwin, 1985).…”

Section: Organized Psychology and The American Psychological Associationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lightner Witmer (1867–1956), a charter member of the APA, was frustrated by the format of the annual meeting, which he considered inhospitable to experimental psychologists. In 1898, he led a vain attempt to form a separate and exclusive society for experimentalists (Goodwin, 1985). Presumably concerned that Witmer's proposal was tantamount to “an open strike” against the APA (Titchener, 1898, as cited in Goodwin, 1985, p. 386), Titchener moved to thwart its success.…”

Section: Organized Psychology and The American Psychological Associationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1898, he led a vain attempt to form a separate and exclusive society for experimentalists (Goodwin, 1985). Presumably concerned that Witmer's proposal was tantamount to “an open strike” against the APA (Titchener, 1898, as cited in Goodwin, 1985, p. 386), Titchener moved to thwart its success. Nevertheless, Titchener that same year put forth a counterproposal to Witmer's idea, envisaging “informal friendly gatherings of experimentalists by personal invitation, at the leading laboratories, year by year, the inviter presiding” (Titchener, 1898, as cited by Goodwin, 1985, p. 386); his plan was realized 6 years later 3 .…”

Section: Organized Psychology and The American Psychological Associationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Founding of the Association for Psychological Science: Part 1. Dialectical Tensions Within Organized Psychology

Cautin

2009

Perspect Psychol Sci

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ABSTRACT-The founding of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) did not represent the first time a group of psychologists broke away from the American Psychological Association, the parent association of organized psychology in the United States. In fact, the history of organized psychology is replete with examples of splinter groups that sought to better represent the needs and interests of their specific constituencies. All of these breakaway efforts have occurred amid intradisciplinary tensions-the continual push and pull between unity on the one hand and autonomy on the other-that reflect some of the enduring challenges of the field. A historical examination of this dialectic provides a useful framework within which to understand the founding of the APS, its most recent instantiation.

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Section: Organized Psychology and World War Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Organized Psychology and The American Psychological Associationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Organized Psychology and The American Psychological Associationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Organized Psychology and The American Psychological Associationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Founding of the Association for Psychological Science: Part 1. Dialectical Tensions Within Organized Psychology

Cautin

2009

Perspect Psychol Sci

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“…The story of the origins and early years of Titchener's group has been told before (Boring, 1938(Boring, , 1967Furumoto, 1988;Goodwin, 1985). Less well known is how the group began to change and came very close to dissolving in the 1920s, during Titchener's lifetime, and how it transformed itself into the Society of Experimental Psychologists (SEP) after Titchener's death in 1927. In what follows, I examine the problems faced by the group in the 1920s and the transformation of the informal group of the Experimentalists into the more formal and honorary organization of the SEP, and I look briefly at the early years of the new group.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reorganizing the experimentalists: The origins of the Society of Experimental Psychology.

Goodwin

2005

History of Psychology

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The "Experimentalists," created by E. B. Titchener in 1904, experienced growing pains and other stresses in the 1920s, raising concerns about its future. Those concerns became acute with Titchener's death in 1927. At the 1928 meeting, several "elders," hoping to maintain the group's vigorous advocacy of basic research in the positivist tradition, formed a reorganization committee of 5. The committee expanded to 15, 10 of whom met the following year to debate alternative plans for a new organization. The result was an honorary society for established researchers, the Society of Experimental Psychologists. E. G. Boring's highly personalized 1938 history of the original Experimentalists understated the value of the research contributions made by group members and, by overstating the degree of Titchener's influence, devalued the important contributions of others (e.g., Raymond Dodge).

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Professional Organizations

Pickren

Fowler

2003

Handbook of Psychology

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The organization of psychology has proceeded in an irregular fashion. Beginning in 1889, international congresses of psychology were the first efforts to bring together psychologists. Three years later the first national association was formed in the United States. Over the course of the twentieth century, national psychological organizations were formed on every continent except Antarctica. By mid‐twentieth century, the International Union of Psychological Sciences was formed with 20 initial national associations as members and experienced continued growth as national organizations were formed. The largest national organization was the American Psychological Association, whose growth was facilitated by its reorganization in the 1940s into numerous divisions that represented specific areas of psychological science and practice. Increasingly, psychological organizations were formed to represent such specific areas and by the end of the century there were organizations that represented almost every scientific specialty and practice. The chapter provides a descriptive history of the events and processes of organizations from the broad, international level to the scientific society devoted to particular research topics. The chapter concludes with a brief analysis of historical forces at work in the formation of psychological organizations.

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On the origins of Titchener's experimentalists

Cited by 18 publications

References 3 publications

The Founding of the Association for Psychological Science: Part 1. Dialectical Tensions Within Organized Psychology

The Founding of the Association for Psychological Science: Part 1. Dialectical Tensions Within Organized Psychology

Reorganizing the experimentalists: The origins of the Society of Experimental Psychology.

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