Psychology 3950F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: William Morris Hunt, Louis Agassiz, Insomnia
3 Dec 2013
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William james (1842-1910) born in new york city to a wealthy family. Entered louis agassiz to the amazon (1865) Then went to germany in search of helmholtz and wundt. Development ailments including depression, insomnia, eye problems, and digestive disorders. Gave his first lecture on psychology in 1875. Writing: the principles of psychology (1980, the briefer course (1892, topics included, consciousness. Four characteristics: personal, always changing, continuous, nonetheless selective. Functionalism well received in america: memory. Faculty theory: memory is something like an organ - can be exercised and trained: doesn"t matter what you are lifting, as long as you are working the muscles, prevailing theory of memory at the time. Association theory: memories involve the excitement of a brain area by some other brain area. Argued for a general capacity for memory that varied from person to person. Probably some genetic component to memory, but also due to exercise of certain brain pathways. Concluded that practice improves only specific memory.
