Tag Archives: Journal of the History of Biology

New Issue Round-Up! JHBS, HHS, Memorandum

We’re popping in quickly from our annual summer vacation (read: dissertation writing) with a round up of recent journal issues for your summer reading pleasure. Now online are new issues of the Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, History of the Human Sciences, and Memorandum: Memory and History in Psychology (Memorandum: Memória e História em Psicologia). Full details, including titles, authors, and abstracts, follow below for each.

Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

“Operant Psychology Makes a Splash—In Marine Mammal Training (1955–1965),” by James Arthur Gillaspy Jr., Jennifer L. Brinegar and Robert E. Bailey. The abstract reads,

Despite the wide spread use of operant conditioning within marine animal training, relatively little is known about this unique application of behavioral technology. This article explores the expansion of operant psychology to commercial marine animal training from 1955 to 1965, specifically at marine parks such as Marine Studios Florida, Marineland of the Pacific, Sea Life Park, and SeaWorld. The contributions of Keller and Marian Breland and their business Animal Behavior Enterprises (ABE) as well as other early practitioners of behavioral technology are reviewed. We also describe how operant technology was introduced and formalized into procedures that have become the cornerstone of marine animal training and entertainment. The rapid growth of the marine park industry during this time was closely linked to the spread of behavioral technology. The expansion of operant training methods within marine animal training is a unique success story of behavioral technology.

“Beyond the Schools of Psychology 2: A Digital Analysis of Psychological Review, 1904–1923,” by Christopher D. Green, Ingo Feinerer and Jeremy T. Burman. The abstract reads, Continue reading New Issue Round-Up! JHBS, HHS, Memorandum

The Role of History in Science

In the latest issue of the Journal of the History of Biology philosopher of science Richard Creath (pictured at right) discusses “The role of history in science.” For those interested in the history of psychology, Creath’s article can easily be interpreted in terms of the role of history in psychology. In Creath’s view, “The study of history and the study of laws are not mutually exclusive but unavoidably linked. Neither can be pursued without the other.” The mutual interdependence of science and history is attributed to what Creath sees as the ubiquitity of historical knowledge in the sciences generally. It is historical knowledge that delimits the boundaries of the unknown, of the yet to be explored areas of a science. Related to this, are “historical judgements” that occur throughout scientific practice, as scientists seeks to ensure the originality and importance of their line of research. Continue reading The Role of History in Science