From classicism and idealism to scientific naturalism: Titchener’s Oxford years and their impact upon his early intellectual development.

Abstract

Edward Titchener (1867-1927) is one of the most prominent figures in the history of American psychology from the early 20th century. Accordingly, his psychological system-structuralism-has received due attention in the secondary literature. However, a closer look at traditional interpretations of the development of Titchener's ideas reveals a series of missing elements, such as his early studies before going to Leipzig. The central goal of this article is to present the main elements of Titchener's intellectual education in Oxford, thereby showing the influence of the British tradition of the 19th century upon his early intellectual development. On the basis of hitherto unexplored primary sources, we discuss Titchener's relationship with British idealism and scientific naturalism, two movements that shaped a significant part of British psychological thinking in the 19th century. We conclude that Titchener's Oxford years are much more relevant to understanding his intellectual development than the literature has so far assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Early Experimental Psychology: How did Replication Work Before P-Hacking?

“…While Titchener adopted many salient features of Wundt’s laboratory practices (Boring, 1927; 1950), there were also some striking differences between their philosophies of science, theories, and working styles. Titchener rejected Wundt’s (parallelist) body–mind theory, as we have seen, and his epistemological stance was closer to that of the British empiricists as well as Mach (Araujo & Marcellos, 2017; Leahey, 1981).…”

“Professor Spearman has drawn over-hasty conclusions”: Unravelling psychometrics’ “Copernican Revolution”

“…Compared to Titchener, Spearman’s attitude stands out as at least a dereliction of intellectual duty. Both these pioneers were well equipped to analyse the concept of measurement: Spearman (1930a) studied philosophy autodidactically as a schoolboy and throughout his military service; and Titchener studied it at Oxford (Araujo & Marcellos, 2017) before commencing with Wundt in 1890. Recognising the threat that the quantity objection posed for psychophysical measurement, Titchener (1905) composed a 171-page introduction, “The Rise and Progress of Quantitative Psychology,” to his textbook, which examined the issue.…”

Psicologia, ciência e tecnologia, de Saulo de Freitas Araújo e Cíntia Fernandes Marcellos

“…Nas notas explicativas finais de cada capítulo, portanto, os leitores podem se deparar com uma laboriosa lista de cientistas, filósofos e outros autores pertencentes a variadas tradições intelectuais. 6 Sobre a relação de Titchener com o idealismo, conferir:Araújo & Marcellos (2017).…”