PSY 3360 / CGS 3325 Historical Perspectives on Psychology - Spring 2006

Instructor: Dr. Peter Assmann Classroom: HH 2.402

Office: GR 4.126
Office hours: Tue 11:00-12:00 noon
Email: assmann@utdallas.edu
Tel: 972-883-2435
Web: http://www.utdallas.edu/~assmann/PSY3360
Teaching intern: Michelle Halper (smyle.mlh@verizon.net)
Class meetings: Mon & Wed 2:00-3:15 PM
TA: Hillery Gross
TA office: GR 4.404
TA office hours: MW 10:00-11:00 AM
TA email: hillery.gross@student.utdallas.edu

Text: Fancher R. E. 1996. Pioneers of Psychology. 3rd edition. New York: Norton.

Course objectives: This course examines the historical and philosophical antecedents of our present conceptual
frameworks in psychology. Beginning with the 17th century, when the foundations of our contemporary
approaches were laid down, the course looks at the philosophical discussion of issues central to our work as
psychologists: What is it that psychology studies? What counts as data? Is psychology ultimately reducible to
biology, chemistry, and physics? Are humans mere deterministic machines, and do they possess a free will?
Central issues in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of mind that are pursued into the 20th century
include the synthesis of rationalism and empiricism, the mind/body problem, the problem of free will, and the
scientific status of mental events. Twentieth century developments include ethology, behaviorism, logical
positivism, the Gestaltists, Freud, human information processing, connectionism, and artificial intelligence.
Course requirements
• Quiz (10%). A 30-minute quiz with short- and medium-length questions similar to the midterm.
• Midterm exam (30%). Mixture of short-answer, medium-length, and essay questions. There will be a choice
of questions to answer, and study questions will be provided. No makeup exams will be provided. In case of
medical and family emergencies, notify the professor in advance of the scheduled time of the exam to avoid a
grade of F. Enrollment in this class requires that you agree to the UTD guidelines on scholastic dishonesty
(cheating, plagiarism, etc.) as outlined in the document http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/scholastic.html.
• Final exam (40%). Same format and rules as the midterm exam. Study questions will be provided.
• Term paper (20%). There will be a term paper of 7-8 (typed, double-spaced) pages. The paper should grow
out of your reading of one of the recommended books below, and should relate some aspect of the book to
something outside of the book, either in the course or in your more general experience. Choose one of the
books from the list, read it early in the semester, and begin to think about an aspect of the book that will serve
as the focus for your paper. We will be happy to discuss ideas with you as you begin working on your paper.
Note: the paper should not be a "book report". It should focus on a single aspect, relating it to something
outside the book. Do not summarize the whole book. A printed copy of the paper must be presented in class
and an electronic version must be submitted to turnitin.com (a plagiarism detection service) by April 10.
Details for online submission of the term paper will be provided in class and posted on the class web page.
Note: late papers will result in lowering the paper grade by one notch (e.g. from A- to B+) per class period.
Pick any one of the following:
(1) V.S. Ramachandran (2004). A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness. (Pi Press).
(2) David Buller (2005) Adapting Minds: Evolutionary Psychology and the Persistent Quest for Human
Nature. (MIT Press).
(3) Daniel Dennett (2004) Freedom Evolves. (Penguin).
(4) Rita Carter (2004) Mapping the Mind. (University of California Press).
• Attendance. Class attendance is mandatory and will count toward the course grade. Students will sign in on
attendance sheets circulated during each class. Up to three missed classes over the course of the semester are
considered acceptable. If there are circumstances that lead to missed classes please see us to discuss the
situation. Each unexcused absence and each one thereafter will result in lowering the final grade by one notch
(that is, from A to A-, or from A- to B+).
• Research credits. All core courses in Psychology and Cognitive Science include a research participation
 requirement. This requirement is described in the accompanying flier. The research credit sign-up system is
online: https://utdallas.sona-systems.com. Use your UTD NetID to login and sign up for experiments. New
experiments appear every few days throughout the semester; keep checking the schedule if you cannot find a
suitable time slot.
• Disability services. If you require special accommodations for learning, sensory or physical disabilities
please contact Kerry Tate (972-883-2098; disabilityservice@utdallas.edu).

Dates Topics Readings

Jan 9 General introduction

Jan 11 17th century background Fancher, Chapter 1
Jan 16 Martin Luther King Day holiday
Jan 18 European rationalism: Descartes Fancher, Chapter 2
Jan 23 European rationalism: Spinoza and Leibniz
Jan 25 British empiricism: Hobbes, Locke
Jan 30 British empiricism: Berkeley, Hume Fancher, Chapter 4
Feb 1 Kant's synthesis of rationalism & empiricism
Feb 6 Helmholtz Fancher, Chapter 3
Feb 8 Quiz
Feb 13 Rise of neuroscience Fancher, Chapter 5
th
Feb 15 19 century experimental psychology
Feb 20 Wundt
Feb 22 Midterm Exam
Feb 27 Darwin and the theory of evolution Fancher, Chapter 6
Mar 1 Galton and individual differences Fancher, Chapter 7
Mar 6-11 Spring Break
Mar 13 Peirce and James Fancher, Chapter 8
Mar 15 Russian reflex school; Pavlov Fancher, Chapter 9
Mar 20 Behaviorism I: Watson
Mar 22 Behaviorism II: Skinner Fancher, Chapter 10
Mar 27 Freud; changing conceptions of mental illness Fancher, Chapter 11
Mar 29 Ethology and animal behavior
Apr 3 Piaget and development Fancher, Chapter 12
Apr 5 Approaches to the study of language
Apr 10 Rise and fall of radical behaviorism Term paper due
Apr 12 Information processing and cognitive psychology Fancher, Chapter 13
Apr 17 Impact of computers; Minds, machines, free will
Apr 19 Review
Apr 24 Final exam