The Psychology Book (11 page)

publishes
Studies on Hysteria.

PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS 31

A PECULIAR

DESTRUCTION OF THE

INTERNAL CONNECTIONS

OF THE PSYCHE

EMIL KRAEPELIN (1856–1926)

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

G
erman physician Emil second, paranoia, manifests in

Kraepelin believed that

patients as a state of fear and

the origins of most mental

persecution; they report being

illnesses are biological, and he is

“spied upon” or “talked about.” The

Medical psychiatry

often regarded as the founder of

third, hebephrenia, is marked by

modern medical psychiatry. In his

incoherent speech, and often by

BEFORE

Textbook of Psychiatry
, published

inappropriate emotional reactions

C.50 BCE
Roman poet and

in 1883, Kraepelin offered a detailed

and behavior, such as laughing

philosopher Lucretius uses

classification of mental illnesses,

loudly at a sad situation. The fourth

the term “dementia” to mean

including “dementia praecox,”

category, catatonia, is marked by

“being out of one’s mind.”

meaning “early dementia,” to

extremely limited movement and

1874
Wilhelm Wundt,

distinguish it from late-onset

expression, often in the form of

Kraepelin’s tutor, publishes

dementia, such as Alzheimer’s.

either rigidness, such as sitting in

Principles of Physiological

the same position for hours, or

Psychology.

Schizophrenia

excessive activity, such as rocking

In 1893, Kraepelin described

backward and forward repeatedly.

AFTER

dementia praecox, now called

Kraepelin’s classification still

1908
Swiss psychiatrist

schizophrenia, as consisting

forms the basis of schizophrenia

Eugen Bleuler coins the term

“of a series of clinical states

diagnosis. In addition, postmortem

“schizophrenia,” from the

which hold as their common a

investigations have shown that

Greek words
skhizein (
to split)

peculiar destruction of the internal

there are biochemical and structural

and
phren
(the mind).

connections of the psychic

brain abnormalities, as well as

personality.” He observed that the

impairments of brain function, in

1948
The World Health

illness, characterized by confusion

schizophrenia sufferers. Kraepelin’s

Authority (WHO) includes

and antisocial behavior, often starts

belief that a great number of mental

Kraepelin’s classifications

in the late teens or early adulthood.

illnesses are strictly biological in

of mental illnesses in its

Kraepelin later divided it into four

origin exerted a lasting influence

International Classification

subcategories. The first, “simple”

on the field of psychiatry, and many

of Diseases (ICD).

dementia, is marked by slow

mental disorders are still managed

1950s
Chlorpromazine, the

decline and withdrawal. The

with medication today. ■

first antipsychotic drug, is

See also:
Wilhelm Wundt 32–37 ■ R.D. Laing 150–51

used to treat schizophrenia.

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE

MENTAL LIFE DATE FROM THE

BEGINNINGS

OF

WILHELM WUNDT (1832–1920)

LIFE

34 WILHELM WUNDT

IN CONTEXT

So all psychology

Consciousness is

APPROACH

must begin with

“inner experience
.
”

Experimental psychology

self-observation
…

BEFORE

5th century
Ancient Greek

philosophers Aristotle and

Plato claim that animals have

a low level, distinctly

…
recorded through

nonhuman consciousness.

Every living being
has

experimentation

this inner experience.

designed to expose

1630s
René Descartes says

involuntary reactions.

that animals are automata

without feeling.

1859
British biologist Charles

Darwin links humans to

animal ancestors.

Every living being must

This yields

AFTER

always have had

quantitative data

1949
Konrad Lorenz changes

this inner experience.

about consciousness.

the way people see animals by

showing their similarities to

humans in
King Solomon’s Ring
.

2001
American zoologist

Donald Griffin argues in

Animal Minds
that animals

The beginnings

Psychology is

have a sense of the future,

of the mental life

the
scientific study

complex memory, and perhaps

date from the

of the mental life.

consciousness itself.

beginnings of life.

T
he idea that nonhuman The similarity of humans to animals on animals might be revealing.

animals have minds and

was a critical issue for philosophers,

This was the position held by the

are capable of some form of

but even more so for psychologists.

German physician, philosopher,

thought dates back to the ancient

In the 15th century, the French

and psychologist Wilhelm Wundt,

Greek philosophers. Aristotle

philosopher René Descartes claimed

who described a continuum of life

believed that there are three kinds

that animals are no more than

from even the smallest animals to

of mind: plant, animal, and human.

reflex-driven, complex machines.

ourselves. In his book
Principles of

The plant mind is concerned only

If Descartes was correct, observing

Physiological Psychology
, he claimed

with nutrition and growth. The

animals could tell us nothing about

that consciousness is a universal

animal mind has these functions,

our own behavior. However, when

possession of all living organisms,

but can also experience sensations,

Charles Darwin asserted some 200

and has been since the evolutionary

such as pain, pleasure, and desire,

years later that humans are linked

process began.

as well as initiating motion. The

to other animals genetically, and

To Wundt, the very definition of

human mind can do all this and

that consciousness operates from

life includes having some kind of

reason; Aristotle claims that only

the creatures at the very lowest end

mind. He declared: “From the

humans have self-awareness and

of the evolutionary scale to ourselves,

standpoint of observation, then, we

are capable of higher-level cognition.

it became clear that experiments

must regard it as a highly probable

PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS 35

See also:
René Descartes 20–21 ■ William James 38–45 ■ Edward Thorndike 62–65 ■ John B. Watson 66–71 ■

B.F. Skinner 78–85

physical bodies—for example,

in stimulus and response

experiments. If a nerve fiber in

a dead frog is given a small electric

shock, the connecting muscles

twitch, causing the legs to move.

The beginnings of a

The fact that this happens even in

differentiation of mental

a dead animal illustrates that such

function can be found

movements can occur without any

even in the protozoa.

consciousness. In living creatures,

Wilhelm Wundt

such actions are the basis of the

automatic behavior that we call

Even single-celled organisms
have

“reflexes,” such as immediately

some form of consciousness, according

moving your hand when you touch

to Wundt. He suggested the amoeba’s

ability to devour food items indicates

something hot.

a continuity of mental processes.

Wundt’s second type of

observation, termed “introspection”

hypothesis that the beginnings

of which were modeled on his

or “self-observation,” is internal

of the mental life date from as far

original laboratory and were led by

observation. This involves noticing