Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

SAGE Journal User Guide

Article 1: Windholz, G. (1996). Pavlov’s conceptualization of paranoia within the theory of higher nervous activity. History of Psychiatry, 7, (25). 159-166.

[This article reviews Pavlov’s efforts in clinical and laboratory settings to expand his theory of higher nervous activity in order to address paranoia.]

Questions to Consider:

1. Explain how Pavlov approached the investigation of paranoia in clinical and laboratory settings.
2. What is the relationship between “pathological inertness” in dogs and paranoid behavior in humans as described in the article.
3. Describe Pavlovian conceptualization of paranoid processes. Identify historical circumstances that possibly played a role in the development of Pavlov’s interest in paranoia.

Article 2:  Greenwood, J. D. (2008). Mechanism, purpose and progress: Darwin and early American psychology. History of the Human Sciences, 21, (1). 103-126.

[In this article, it is argued that although early American psychology was influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution, early American psychology did not emphasize the hereditarian determinism of Darwin’s theory.]

Questions to Consider:

1. Explain what  hereditarian determinism is as it is described in the article.
2. Briefly describe the principle of “strong continuity”. What role did the principle of “strong continuity” play in the development of functionalist and behaviorist theories?
3. How did the "strong continuity" principle influence the development of comparative psychology? Briefly discuss examples of comparative studies.
4. What was the perspective of moral philosophers regarding Darwin’s theory?
5. Discuss the main premises behind ideas about the plasticity of human behavior and psychology. How did those ideas relate to hereditarian determinism?