Creative Genius as Causal Agent in History: William James's 1880 Theory Revisited and Revitalized

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Keith Simonton
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Current Psychological Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Developmental Experiences ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Creative Genius ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection ◽  
Current Psychological

Near the onset of his illustrious career, the psychologist William James proposed a theory of how individual genius can exert a unique and enduring causal impact on the history of civilization. After first attacking the prevailing view that sociocultural determinism rendered individual creators and leaders mere epiphenomena, James argued that the causal effect of the genius paralleled that of the spontaneous variation or mutation in the theory of evolution by natural selection. Although his specific arguments suffer severe problems even from the standpoint of his own theory, current psychological research on creativity and genius indicate how his basic thesis can be revised and updated with respect to creative genius. This revision and updating concentrates specifically on what is known about the behavioral productivity, thinking processes and procedures, personality characteristics, and early developmental experiences in highly creative individuals. These modern enhancements then lead to the integrated discussion of Jamesian free will and the causal agency of the creative genius. The net result is a revitalized theory of how it even becomes possible for single individuals to make creative choices that not only may cause changes in their own lives, but also alter the course of world history.

Reading Reconsidered

1977 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Current Psychological Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Reading Theory ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
Book Illustrations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Artistic Styles ◽  
New Formulation ◽  
Current Psychological

During the last two centuries reading has come to refer almost exclusively to the interpretation of written material. In this article Thomas Wolf uses the etymology of the word "read" and the results of current psychological research to reveal the narrowness of this definition. Wolf reviews the research that has led to a new formulation of the reading process and emphasizes the remarkable similarities that have been found in processes underlying reading and other cognitive capacities:memory, perception, reasoning, and problem-solving. Wolf argues that by considering the connection between reading and these other processes we enrich our appreciation of reading and allow for the resurrection of the original meaning of reading as a process applicable to a variety of fields. Using the example of developments in woodcut book illustrations, Wolf examines the relations between the process of reading and the history of artistic styles. He concludes that investigators must look beyond the conventional bounds of reading theory—and other theories as well—if serious advances in human knowledge are to occur.

Divided Attention, Divided Self: Race and Dual-mind Theories in the History of Experimental Psychology

2021 ◽  
pp. 016224392110544
Author(s):  
C. J. Valasek
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Current Psychological Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Dual Process ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Current Psychological

The duality of attention is explored by turning our focus to the political and cultural conceptions of automatic attention and deliberate attention, with the former being associated with animality and “uncivilized” behavior and the latter with intelligence and self-mastery. In this article, I trace this ongoing dualism of the mind from early race psychology in the late nineteenth century to twentieth century psychological models including those found in psychoanalysis, behaviorism, neo-behaviorism, and behavioral economics. These earlier studies explicitly or implicitly maintained a deficiency model of controlled attention and other mental processes that were thought to differ between racial groups. Such early models of attention included assumptions that Black and Indigenous peoples were less in control of their attention compared to whites. This racialized model of attention, as seen in the law of economy in the nineteenth century, with similar manifestations in psychoanalysis and neo-behaviorism in the twentieth century, can now be seen in present-day dual-process models as used in current psychological research and behavioral policy. These historical connections show that attention is not a value-neutral term and that attention studies do not stand outside of race and structural racism.

scholarly journals The Challenge of Constructing Psychologically Believable Agents

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix D. Schönbrodt ◽  
Jens B. Asendorpf
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Current Psychological Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Virtual Agents ◽  
Conversational Agents ◽  
Social Motives ◽  
Detailed Model ◽  
Current Topic ◽  
Current Psychological ◽  
Believable Agents

Embodied conversational agents (ECAs) are designed to provide natural and intuitive communication with a human user. One major current topic in agent design consequently is to enhance their believability, often by incorporating internal models of emotions or motivations. As psychological theories often lack the necessary details for direct implementation, many agent modelers currently rely on models that are rather marginal in current psychological research, or models that are created ad hoc with little theoretical and empirical foundation. The goal of this article is both to raise psychologists’ awareness of the central challenges in the process of creating psychologically believable agents, and to recommend existing psychological frameworks to the virtual agents community that seem particularly useful for implementation in ECAs. Special attention is paid to a computationally detailed model of basic social motives that seems particularly useful for implementation: the Zurich model of social motivation.

Replication and Reproducibility in Cross-Cultural Psychology

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 735-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taciano L. Milfont ◽  
Richard A. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural Psychology ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Current Psychological Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Academic Misconduct ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
Research Populations ◽  
Current Psychological

Replication is the scientific gold standard that enables the confirmation of research findings. Concerns related to publication bias, flexibility in data analysis, and high-profile cases of academic misconduct have led to recent calls for more replication and systematic accumulation of scientific knowledge in psychological science. This renewed emphasis on replication may pose specific challenges to cross-cultural research due to inherent practical difficulties in emulating an original study in other cultural groups. The purpose of the present article is to discuss how the core concepts of this replication debate apply to cross-cultural psychology. Distinct to replications in cross-cultural research are examinations of bias and equivalence in manipulations and procedures, and that targeted research populations may differ in meaningful ways. We identify issues in current psychological research (analytic flexibility, low power) and possible solutions (preregistration, power analysis), and discuss ways to implement best practices in cross-cultural replication attempts.

‘Hurrah for the missing link!’: a history of apes, ancestors and a crucial piece of evidence

2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Kjærgaard
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
Missing Link ◽  
Origin Of Species ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection

In the nineteenth century the idea of a ‘missing link’ connecting humans with the rest of the animal kingdom was eagerly embraced by professional scientists and popularizers. After the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859, many tied the idea and subsequent search for a crucial piece of evidence to Darwin and his formulation of the theory of evolution by natural selection. This article demonstrates that the expression was widely used and that the framework for discussions about human's relation to the apes and gaps in the fossil record were well in place and widely debated long before Origin of Species became the standard reference for discussing human evolution. In the second half of the century the missing link gradually became the ultimate prize in palaeoanthropology and grew into one of the most powerful, celebrated and criticized icons of human evolution.

Contemporary liberal education: slowing down to discern

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor R. Delclos ◽  
Randall P. Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Education ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Essential Feature ◽  
Current Psychological Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Current Psychological

Purpose – This essay seeks to argue that contemporary liberal arts education can be viewed from the perspective of contemporary psychological understandings of human cognition combined with the classical pedagogy developed in the foundational concepts of Jesuit education. Through a description of the human cognitive system as discussed in the writing of Daniel Kahneman and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola, the concepts of “slow thinking” and “discernment” are offered as important models that can inform development of a liberal education in an information-saturated society. Design/methodology/approach – The essay presents an interpretation of the essentially “liberating” nature of liberal education in light of the psychological literature that demonstrates how one's culture contributes to the formation of cognitive structures that allow largely automatic processing of information in a non-reflective, fast process that leads to understanding that is constrained and somewhat closed to alternative understanding. This interpretation is then discussed in light of a process of discernment that allows the individual to open up to new ideas. Findings – The essay thus derives the conclusion that a focus on pedagogy of discernment is the essential feature of a modern liberal education and leads to creative expression of new ideas in new ways. Originality/value – The essay presents an alternative view of contemporary liberal education that is based on a well-developed historical approach (Ignatian discernment) and supported by current psychological research.

Considering the Role and Nature of the Scientist

2015 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serap Öz Aydın
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Negative Thoughts ◽  
Science Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection ◽  
Scientific Framework

For many students, preconceived notions about Darwin are among the most significant obstacles in learning about the theory of evolution by natural selection. I present an activity designed to eliminate this obstacle and encourage empathizing with Darwin, utilizing the history-of-science approach. Through the activity, students’ negative thoughts about Darwin disappeared, Darwin’s position as a scientist came to the fore, students’ interest in evolution increased, and they started to discuss the theory within a scientific framework.

scholarly journals Revolutions in the head: Darwin, Malthus and Robert M. Young

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
James A. Secord
Keyword(s):  
Vietnam War ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Population Control ◽  
Military Conflict ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Associations ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection

Abstract The late 1960s witnessed a key conjunction between political activism and the history of science. Science, whether seen as a touchstone of rationality or of oppression, was fundamental to all sides in the era of the Vietnam War. This essay examines the historian Robert Maxwell Young's turn to Marxism and radical politics during this period, especially his widely cited account of the ‘common context’ of nineteenth-century biological and social theorizing, which demonstrated the centrality of Thomas Robert Malthus's writings on population for Charles Darwin's formulation of the theory of evolution by natural selection. From Young's perspective, this history was bound up with pressing contemporary issues: ideologies of class and race in neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory, the revival of Malthusian population control, and the role of science in military conflict. The aim was to provide a basis for political action – the ‘head revolution’ that would accompany radical social change. The radical force of Young's argument was blunted in subsequent decades by disciplinary developments within history of science, including the emergence of specialist Darwin studies, a focus on practice and the changing political associations of the history of ideas. Young's engaged standpoint, however, has remained influential even as historians moved from understanding science as ideology to science as work.

scholarly journals The challenge of constructing psychologically believable agents

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix D. Schönbrodt ◽  
Jens B. Asendorpf
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Current Psychological Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Virtual Agents ◽  
Conversational Agents ◽  
Social Motives ◽  
Detailed Model ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Current Psychological ◽  
Believable Agents

Embodied conversational agents (ECAs) are designed to provide a natural and intuitive communication with a human user. One current major topic in agent design consequently is to enhance their believability, often by means of incorporating internal models of emotions or motivations. As psychological theories often lack the necessary details for a direct implementation, many Agent modelers currently rely on models that are rather marginal in current psychological research, or models that are created ad hoc with little theoretical and empirical foundations. The goal of this article is both to raise psychologists’ awareness about central challenges in the process of creating psychologically believable agents, and to recommend existing psychological frameworks to the virtual agents community that seem particularly useful for an implementation in ECAs. Special attention is paid to a computationally detailed model of basic social motives that seems particularly useful for an implementation: the Zurich model of social motivation.

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