Competition in the Field

I will take this time to reflect on last week's discussion of the competition between the three (and more) moving forces in the field of psychology in the late 1800's. Psychology was a pretty new science during this time. In fact, William James was teaching psychology even before the date which we consider to be the "birth" of psychology (1879 - Wundt's lab). I found it interesting throughout the readings that the professors and practitioners of psychology were forming their own new and innovative ideas. Not only that, but they didn't necessarily agree with one another. It was interesting because James & Hall were pretty close in age, and Hall studied under James. However even though this science was brand new, they both (including Cattell later) went off to do their own things. Both Hall and Cattell also did a term with Wundt. You'd think that they would have had similar paths of study considering the close time frame and the novelty of the field and just the lack of diverse ideas in the field. Yet they all contributed different things... James and his stream of consciousness, Cattell and his mental testing, and Hall and his sexism (just kidding, Hall contributed alot besides his sexism and obsession with adolescent girls like the APA and the Child Study Movement). The fact that they all went their separate ways with the basis of philosophy, physiology, biology, and physics just goes to show that psychology has been and always will be a very diverse field with many approaches.