Constructing Scientific Psychology

"In this fascinating book, Nadine M. Weidman throws new light on the cross-currents and controversies that characterized the teething decades of scientific psychology. Weidman's courtesy and balanced perspective never falters. The book's ideal mix of measured distance and intimate insight makes it a trustworthy and valuable analysis. The book is an excellent introduction to a formative time whose afterglow and ideational fallout can still be felt. Weidman herself alludes to this, noting that Lashley's legacy is a mixed one." Zoltan L. Torey, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

• Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Lashley and Jennings: the origins of a hereditarian; 2. Lashley, Watson, and the meaning of behaviorism; 3. The pursuit of a neutral science; 4. Neuropsychology and hereditarianism; 5. Psychobiology and progressivism; 6. Psychobiology and its discontents: the Lashley–Herrick debate; 7. Hull and psychology as a social science; 8. Intelligence testing and thinking machines: the Lahley–Hull debate; 9. Pure psychology; 10. Public science and private life; 11. Genetics, race biology, and depoliticization; Epilogue: Lashley and American neuropsychology; Appendix: archives holding Lashley material; Bibliography; Index.