Tag Archives: Interamerican Society of Psychology

New Issue: Psychologia Latina

The May 2012 issue of Psychologia Latina is now online. Included in this issue are four new articles on the history of psychology. In the issue’s three Spanish language articles the work of William James (right) on brain plasticity and habit is explored, the founding of the Interamerican Society of Psychology in the mid-twentieth century is described, and the history of the Freudian concept of “track switch” is discussed. In an English language article, the 1903 meeting at which both Pavlov introduced conditioned reflexes and Ramón y Cajal introduced the neuron theory is discussed. Full titles, authors, and abstracts, in both Spanish and English, follow below.

“Plasticidad Cerebral y Hábito en William James: un Antecedente para la Neurociencia Social,” (or, “Brain Plasticity and Habit in William James: an Antecedent for Social Neuroscience”) by Carlos María Alcover and Fernando Rodríguez Mazo. The abstract reads,

William James, in the chapter on the habits of “The Principles of Psychology” (1890) introduced as a key concept of plasticity of brain and nervous system. James could not study this phenomenon experimentally, but his proposal was derived from the results of contemporary research in different fields of Biology and Physiology. Plasticity refers to how learning, skill acquisition, interpersonal and social influences and other contextual variables can influence on the physical structure of the brain, modifying and establishing new relationships and neural circuits that in turn can impair their functioning. This concept was studied experimentally in the late Twentieth Century, and it’s a key concept in the current Social Neuroscience, a discipline that seeks to combine and integrate different conceptual and methodological elements from Neuroscience and Social Psychology. This analysis has allowed us, first, to emphasize the meaning and value that James gave to the concept of plasticity in its analysis of habit, and second, to review the meaning of this concept in modern Social Neuroscience, stressing background of the James’ hypotheses in the current concept of brain plasticity. Continue reading New Issue: Psychologia Latina

New, Multi-Lingual History of Psych Blog: RIPeHP

A new, multi-lingual blog devoted to the history of psychology has come online. The Rede Iberoamericana de Historiadores da História da Psicologia (RIPeHP), or Iberoamerican Network of Researchers in the History of Psychology, features posts written in Portuguese, Spanish, and English from an international group of contributors. As described on the blog itself,

RIPeHP is a blog that brings together: the Iberoamerican Network of Researchers in the History of Psychology (RIPeHP), the Working Group in the History of Psychology (GT History of Psychology) of the National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Psychology (ANPEPP) and the Working Group in the History of Psychology (GT History of Psychology) of the Interamerican Society of Psychology (SIP).

This blog is constantly updated.  Its goal is to bring together those interested in History of Psychology and related disciplines. In addition, it aims to disseminate the productions of the researchers involved with the RIPeHP, GTs History of Psychology of ANPEPP and of SIP.

The networks and groups that support this blog are made of a group of researchers from different countries whose aim is to promote joint research and scientific and academic exchanges through conferences, collective participation in agreements and institutional accords.

The RIPeHP blog officially launches later this week in Buenos Aires during the 12th annual Encuentro Argentino de Historia de La Psicología, de La Psiquiatría y de La Psicoanálisis (Argentinean Meeting of the History of Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychoanalysis).