Tag Archives: historical psychology

Call for Submissions: Society for the History of Psychology at APA in San Francisco Aug. 9-12th, 2018

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The Society for the History of Psychology (Division 26 of the American Psychological Association) has issued its Call for Submissions for the 2018 meeting in San Francisco, August 9-12th. (Full disclosure: Elissa Rodkey and I are the 2018 Co-Program Chairs.) This year’s theme is Hidden Figures as we hope to highlight some the unacknowledged, unrecognized, or otherwise invisible figures in psychology’s past. Full details, including some of our other themes for 2018, as well as submission deadlines, are included in the full call for submissions below.

More details on submissions and the online submission system can be found here.

New HoP: “Active Touch” Pre-Gibson, Health Psych & S. Africa, & Digital History

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James Gibson (left) and Julian Hochberg. Ecological Optics conference, Cornell University, 1970. (photo: Sverker Runeson)

The May issue of History of Psychology is now online. Articles in this issue address the (lack of) health psychology in post-apartheid South Africa , the concept of “active touch” before the work of James Gibson, the Lvov-Warsaw School of historical psychology, and the teaching of the history of psychology in Spain. Two further articles contribute to the digital history of psychology: John Benjamin offers a Zipfian analysis of the anglophone vocabulary of psychology, while Michael Pettit argues for caution in using the Google Books Ngram Viewer as a means of assessing cultural change over time. Full titles, authors, and abstracts follow below.

“Psychology and health after apartheid: Or, Why there is no health psychology in South Africa,” by Jeffery Yen. The abstract reads,

As part of a growing literature on the histories of psychology in the Global South, this article outlines some historical developments in South African psychologists’ engagement with the problem of “health.” Alongside movements to formalize and professionalize a U.S.-style “health psychology” in the 1990s, there arose a parallel, eclectic, and more or less critical psychology that contested the meaning and determinants of health, transgressed disciplinary boundaries, and opposed the responsibilization of illness implicit in much health psychological theorizing and neoliberal discourse. This disciplinary bifurcation characterized South African work well into the postapartheid era, but ideological distinctions have receded in recent years under a new regime of knowledge production in thrall to the demands of the global market. The article outlines some of the historical-political roots of key trends in psychologists’ work on health in South Africa, examining the conditions that have impinged on its directions and priorities. It raises questions about the future trajectories of psychological research on health after 20 years of democracy, and argues that there currently is no “health psychology” in South Africa, and that the discipline is the better for it.

“Pre-Gibsonian observations on active touch,” by Armin Wagner. The abstract reads, Continue reading New HoP: “Active Touch” Pre-Gibson, Health Psych & S. Africa, & Digital History →

New Issue of Memorandum: Memory & History in Psychology

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A new issue of the open access journal Memorandum: Memory & History in Psychology (Memorandum: Memória e História em Psicologia) is now online.  Included in this issue are six articles in Portugese and one in English. Full titles, authors, and abstracts – in both Portugese and English, where provided – follow below.

“Editorial,” by Miguel Mahfoud and Marina Massimi. No abstract provided.

“Extra! Brazilian psychology in the news in 62: brief time, lasting meanings,” by Helena Beatriz Kochenborger Scarparo, Thais de Souza Sottili, Carla Estefanía Albert and Luciana Oliveira de Jesus. The abstract reads,

O artigo busca compreender práticas psicológicas no ano da regulamentação da psicologia no Brasil. A pesquisa se baseia em matérias sobre as relações políticas, o comportamento cotidiano e a divulgação científica do jornal Correio do Povo. A coleta ocorreu no Museu de Comunicação Hipólito José da Costa, em Porto Alegre onde foi feita a seleção e fotografia de materiais referentes à psicologia. Posteriormente, foi criado um banco de dados para análise temática e discussão do material. Dentre os resultados sobressaíram-se algumas estratégias voltadas para a legitimação da área como a inserção na mídia impressa com a divulgação de cursos, pesquisas, debates e aconselhamentos. Foram evidentes as correspondências entre as práticas psicológicas explicitadas no Jornal e o contexto sócio político da época pautado pela ênfase no desenvolvimento econômico e tecnológico, pela evitação de conflitos e pela crença de que a ciência psicológica poderia promover a humanização das relações.

This research paper aims to understand the psychological practices in 1962, the year of formalization of Psychology in Brazil. The research is based on contents about political relations, behavior and science popularization in the newspaper “Correio do Povo”. Data were collected at Hipólito José da Costa Museum of Communication in Porto Alegre where all material related to psychology was selected and photographed. Afterwards, a database for analysis and material discussion was created. Among the results, some strategies oriented to the field’s legitimation stood out, as the insertion in the print media with the promotion of courses, researches, debates and advices. There was an evident correspondence between the psychological practices explained in the newspaper and the socio-political context guided by the economical and technological development emphasis, by the conflict avoidance and by the belief in the psychological science as a promoter of humanization in relationships.

“Promises of life in times of threat: women, music and resistance during the military dictatorship in Brazil,” by Ingrid Faria Gianordoli-Nascimento, Sara Angélica Teixeira da Cruz Silva, Jaíza Pollyanna Dias da Cruz, Flaviane da Costa Oliveira, Flávia Gotelip Corrêa Veloso and Laís Di Bella Castro Rabelo. The abstract reads, Continue reading New Issue of Memorandum: Memory & History in Psychology →