Skip to main content

Adrian C Brock

Independent Scholar, Psychology, Emeritus

Independent Scholar, Independent Scholar, Emeritus

Followers

361

Following

0

Co-authors

3

Mentions

1

Public Views

I was born in Gibraltar and raised in Manchester, England. I have an MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Psychology from York University in Toronto, Canada. I taught at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, USA and University College Dublin in Ireland before taking early retirement.

less

Saulo de Freitas Araujo

Federal University of Juiz de Fora

York University

Brigitte Nerlich

University of Nottingham

Benjamin Steege

Columbia University

Brian J McVeigh

Princeton University

Annette Mülberger

University of Groningen

Wayne State University

Cintia Fernandes Marcellos

Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Sudeste de Minas Gerais

Stefanos Geroulanos

New York University

José E. García

Universidad Católica de Asunción

InterestsView All (7)

Uploads

Papers by Adrian C Brock

Otto Fenichel and the Left Opposition in Psychoanalysis (1991)

by Benjamin Harris and Adrian C Brock

David Rapaport's collection of Otto Fenichel's Rundbriefe (1934-1945) is described as a recently ... more David Rapaport's collection of Otto Fenichel's Rundbriefe (1934-1945) is described as a recently discovered, 2,500-page primary source for studying the intellectual and organizational history of European-American psychoanalysis. Beginning as a confidential newsletter of the Reich-Fenichel "Left opposition" within the International Psychoanalytic Association, its function became primarily intellectual as Fenichel's group ceased to function as a caucus. It ended when its editor decided to devote himself to the struggle against neo-Freudianism within psychoanalysis, and to practice as a licensed physician.

Imageless thought or stimulus error: The social construction of private experience (1991)

Was macht den psychologischen Expertenstatus aus? Eine Auseinandersetzung zwischen Wundt und Stumpf [What is Psychological Expertise? A Controversy between Wundt and Stumpf] (1991)

The article deals with a controversy between Wundt and Stumpf over the comparison of tone differe... more The article deals with a controversy between Wundt and Stumpf over the comparison of tone differences. The author maintains that behind the heated exchanges lay two very different views about the kind of expertise required to deal with this problem. Stumpf argued for his own observations as a trained musical expert, while Wundt argued for the observations that had been made in his laboratory using psychophysical methods. This situation arose because the precise nature of psychological expertise had yet to be clearly defined.

Charles Hubbard Judd: A Wundtian Social Psychologist in the United States (1992)

The fate of Wundt's Völkerpsychologie remains one of the great mysteries of psychology's history.... more The fate of Wundt's Völkerpsychologie remains one of the great mysteries of psychology's history. Wundt is often described as the 'founder' of modern psychology and yet his work on this subject has been virtually ignored. The story of Wundt's American students and their attempts to establish laboratories in the United States is one of the most frequently told in the history of psychology. There is a side to it, however, which has yet to be told. Of all Wundt's American students, the one who has the strongest claim to be regarded as his chief disciple in the United States is Charles Hubbard Judd. Judd accepted Wundt's voluntarism and the doctrine of creative synthesis. He also the view that experimental psychology needed to be completed by a non-experimental Völkerpsychologie. The article examines Judd's work on this subject and its reception in the United States.

Something Old, Something New: The 'Reappraisal' of Wilhelm Wundt in Textbooks (1993)

Between 1970 and 1980, Blumenthal and Danziger published a series of works in which they criticiz... more Between 1970 and 1980, Blumenthal and Danziger published a series of works in which they criticized the mythical accounts of Wundt in textbooks. The source of these accounts was E. G. Boring's History of Experimental Psychology (1929/1950). Subsequent generations of textbook writers had merely copied from other textbooks without consulting original sources. Boring's flawed account had become increasingly distorted as it was passed on from one generation to the next. How did the textbook writers of the 1980s respond to this challenge? This work examines some of the changes which were made and the explanations which were given for them.

Why I am not a Historian of Science (1995)

Freudian psychopolitics: The rivalry of Wilhelm Reich and Otto Fenichel, 1930-1935 (1992)

Was Wundt a 'Nazi'? Völkerpsychologie, Racism and Anti-Semitism (1992)

This article examines the widespread view that the Völkerpsychologie of Lazarus, Steinthal and Wu... more This article examines the widespread view that the Völkerpsychologie of Lazarus, Steinthal and Wundt was in some way related to the racial psychology of the Nazis. This was suggested in Gordon Allport's 'Historical Background of Modern Social Psychology'. I discuss Allport's essay in order to show that this is nothing more than an ugly rumor. Völkerpsychologie was a cultural psychology. It was heavily criticized by racial psychologists and was used by Franz Boas to undermine their theories. I conclude by examining the source of Allport's 'mistake'.

Review of "Red Vienna and the Golden Age of Psychology, 1918-1935" by Sheldon Gardner & Gwendolyn Stevens (1993)

History of Psychology in the German Democratic Republic: An Overview of the Last Ten Years (1990)

A country has gone but its history remains. This can be

The Uses and Abuses of Citation: A Reply to Green (1997)

Whatever Happened to Karl Bühler? (1994)

The work of Karl Bühler is not particularly well known in English-speaking countries. If Bühler i... more The work of Karl Bühler is not particularly well known in English-speaking countries. If Bühler is mentioned at all in texts on the history of psychology, it is in connection with his early work at the University of Würzburg. This work represents only the start of Bühler's career in psychology. He subsequently produced important work on perception, Gestalt theory, developmental psychology, theoretical psychology and the psychology of language. Bühler's work has had a profound - though largely unnoticed - influence on later thinkers. It has also been the subject of a revival of interest in Europe in recent years. This article provides an overview of Bühler's life and work.

Review of Wilhelm Wundt: Die Konzeption der Völkerpsychologie [Wilhelm Wundt: The conception of Völkerpsychologie] by B. Oelze (1995)

An Interview with Kurt Danziger (1995)

by Kurt Danziger and Adrian C Brock

In the autumn of 1994, Kurt Danziger retired from full-time teaching at York University in Toront... more In the autumn of 1994, Kurt Danziger retired from full-time teaching at York University in Toronto, Canada, where he coordinated the History/Theory option within the Psychology graduate programme. He was born in Germany and studied psychology in South Africa and England. He has taught psychology in Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, Germany, and Canada. In addition to his work on history and theory of psychology, Danziger has published research papers in experimental psychology, developmental psychology and social psychology. His books include Socialization (1971), Interpersonal Communication (1976) and Constructing the Subject: Historical Origins of Psychological Research (1990). Most recently, he has published a paper on the state of the art, “Does the history of psychology have a future?” (1994) which he refers to in this interview as “being on the point of appearing in print.” Shortly before his retirement, Danziger received the Canadian Psychological Association’s first Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training. This interview took place at York University on August 29, 1994. The interviewer is Adrian Brock, historian of psychology and former student of Danziger, now College Lecturer in Psychology at University College Dublin.

Constructing the subject: An interview with Kurt Danziger (1995)

Psychologie en Maatschappij, 1995

Review of In the Eye's Mind: Vision and the Hering-Helmholtz Controversy by R. Steven Turner (1996)

Reviews 291 soning, the logic of'projection', and the idea that a victim will repeat the form of ... more Reviews 291 soning, the logic of'projection', and the idea that a victim will repeat the form of his or her victimization in turn, is familiar today, and comprises part of contemporary 'common sense' on human psychology; but in 1896 it was scarcely emergent. References to 'psychic traumas', and versions of 'depth psychology' proliferate. Indeed, only ideas which bear some relation to what passes as common sense today contribute to their 'psychological' approach to the crimes and their perpetrator. Thus such outmoded, illiberal 'nonsense' as criminal 'atavism' (Lombroso was in reality more influential in the United States at this time than anywhere outside Italy), or degenerationism is either completely ignored or cursorily dismissed.

Review of "Putting Psychology in Its Place" by Graham Richards (1997)

Irish Psychologist, 1997

Pedagogy and Research (1998)

Adrian Brock examines the changing role of history and philosophy within the psychology curriculum.

Local Report: History and Philosophy of Psychology at University College Dublin (2001)

Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 2001

these different backgrounds affected the kind of psychology that was done in each university, wit... more

Comment on Bhatt and Tonks: Reports of Our Death are Greatly Exaggerated (2002)

Otto Fenichel and the Left Opposition in Psychoanalysis (1991)

by Benjamin Harris and Adrian C Brock

David Rapaport's collection of Otto Fenichel's Rundbriefe (1934-1945) is described as a recently ... more David Rapaport's collection of Otto Fenichel's Rundbriefe (1934-1945) is described as a recently discovered, 2,500-page primary source for studying the intellectual and organizational history of European-American psychoanalysis. Beginning as a confidential newsletter of the Reich-Fenichel "Left opposition" within the International Psychoanalytic Association, its function became primarily intellectual as Fenichel's group ceased to function as a caucus. It ended when its editor decided to devote himself to the struggle against neo-Freudianism within psychoanalysis, and to practice as a licensed physician.

Imageless thought or stimulus error: The social construction of private experience (1991)

Was macht den psychologischen Expertenstatus aus? Eine Auseinandersetzung zwischen Wundt und Stumpf [What is Psychological Expertise? A Controversy between Wundt and Stumpf] (1991)

The article deals with a controversy between Wundt and Stumpf over the comparison of tone differe... more The article deals with a controversy between Wundt and Stumpf over the comparison of tone differences. The author maintains that behind the heated exchanges lay two very different views about the kind of expertise required to deal with this problem. Stumpf argued for his own observations as a trained musical expert, while Wundt argued for the observations that had been made in his laboratory using psychophysical methods. This situation arose because the precise nature of psychological expertise had yet to be clearly defined.

Charles Hubbard Judd: A Wundtian Social Psychologist in the United States (1992)

The fate of Wundt's Völkerpsychologie remains one of the great mysteries of psychology's history.... more The fate of Wundt's Völkerpsychologie remains one of the great mysteries of psychology's history. Wundt is often described as the 'founder' of modern psychology and yet his work on this subject has been virtually ignored. The story of Wundt's American students and their attempts to establish laboratories in the United States is one of the most frequently told in the history of psychology. There is a side to it, however, which has yet to be told. Of all Wundt's American students, the one who has the strongest claim to be regarded as his chief disciple in the United States is Charles Hubbard Judd. Judd accepted Wundt's voluntarism and the doctrine of creative synthesis. He also the view that experimental psychology needed to be completed by a non-experimental Völkerpsychologie. The article examines Judd's work on this subject and its reception in the United States.

Something Old, Something New: The 'Reappraisal' of Wilhelm Wundt in Textbooks (1993)

Between 1970 and 1980, Blumenthal and Danziger published a series of works in which they criticiz... more Between 1970 and 1980, Blumenthal and Danziger published a series of works in which they criticized the mythical accounts of Wundt in textbooks. The source of these accounts was E. G. Boring's History of Experimental Psychology (1929/1950). Subsequent generations of textbook writers had merely copied from other textbooks without consulting original sources. Boring's flawed account had become increasingly distorted as it was passed on from one generation to the next. How did the textbook writers of the 1980s respond to this challenge? This work examines some of the changes which were made and the explanations which were given for them.

Why I am not a Historian of Science (1995)

Freudian psychopolitics: The rivalry of Wilhelm Reich and Otto Fenichel, 1930-1935 (1992)

Was Wundt a 'Nazi'? Völkerpsychologie, Racism and Anti-Semitism (1992)

This article examines the widespread view that the Völkerpsychologie of Lazarus, Steinthal and Wu... more This article examines the widespread view that the Völkerpsychologie of Lazarus, Steinthal and Wundt was in some way related to the racial psychology of the Nazis. This was suggested in Gordon Allport's 'Historical Background of Modern Social Psychology'. I discuss Allport's essay in order to show that this is nothing more than an ugly rumor. Völkerpsychologie was a cultural psychology. It was heavily criticized by racial psychologists and was used by Franz Boas to undermine their theories. I conclude by examining the source of Allport's 'mistake'.

Review of "Red Vienna and the Golden Age of Psychology, 1918-1935" by Sheldon Gardner & Gwendolyn Stevens (1993)

History of Psychology in the German Democratic Republic: An Overview of the Last Ten Years (1990)

A country has gone but its history remains. This can be

The Uses and Abuses of Citation: A Reply to Green (1997)

Whatever Happened to Karl Bühler? (1994)

The work of Karl Bühler is not particularly well known in English-speaking countries. If Bühler i... more The work of Karl Bühler is not particularly well known in English-speaking countries. If Bühler is mentioned at all in texts on the history of psychology, it is in connection with his early work at the University of Würzburg. This work represents only the start of Bühler's career in psychology. He subsequently produced important work on perception, Gestalt theory, developmental psychology, theoretical psychology and the psychology of language. Bühler's work has had a profound - though largely unnoticed - influence on later thinkers. It has also been the subject of a revival of interest in Europe in recent years. This article provides an overview of Bühler's life and work.

Review of Wilhelm Wundt: Die Konzeption der Völkerpsychologie [Wilhelm Wundt: The conception of Völkerpsychologie] by B. Oelze (1995)

An Interview with Kurt Danziger (1995)

by Kurt Danziger and Adrian C Brock

In the autumn of 1994, Kurt Danziger retired from full-time teaching at York University in Toront... more In the autumn of 1994, Kurt Danziger retired from full-time teaching at York University in Toronto, Canada, where he coordinated the History/Theory option within the Psychology graduate programme. He was born in Germany and studied psychology in South Africa and England. He has taught psychology in Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, Germany, and Canada. In addition to his work on history and theory of psychology, Danziger has published research papers in experimental psychology, developmental psychology and social psychology. His books include Socialization (1971), Interpersonal Communication (1976) and Constructing the Subject: Historical Origins of Psychological Research (1990). Most recently, he has published a paper on the state of the art, “Does the history of psychology have a future?” (1994) which he refers to in this interview as “being on the point of appearing in print.” Shortly before his retirement, Danziger received the Canadian Psychological Association’s first Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training. This interview took place at York University on August 29, 1994. The interviewer is Adrian Brock, historian of psychology and former student of Danziger, now College Lecturer in Psychology at University College Dublin.

Constructing the subject: An interview with Kurt Danziger (1995)

Psychologie en Maatschappij, 1995

Review of In the Eye's Mind: Vision and the Hering-Helmholtz Controversy by R. Steven Turner (1996)

Reviews 291 soning, the logic of'projection', and the idea that a victim will repeat the form of ... more Reviews 291 soning, the logic of'projection', and the idea that a victim will repeat the form of his or her victimization in turn, is familiar today, and comprises part of contemporary 'common sense' on human psychology; but in 1896 it was scarcely emergent. References to 'psychic traumas', and versions of 'depth psychology' proliferate. Indeed, only ideas which bear some relation to what passes as common sense today contribute to their 'psychological' approach to the crimes and their perpetrator. Thus such outmoded, illiberal 'nonsense' as criminal 'atavism' (Lombroso was in reality more influential in the United States at this time than anywhere outside Italy), or degenerationism is either completely ignored or cursorily dismissed.

Review of "Putting Psychology in Its Place" by Graham Richards (1997)

Irish Psychologist, 1997

Pedagogy and Research (1998)

Adrian Brock examines the changing role of history and philosophy within the psychology curriculum.

Local Report: History and Philosophy of Psychology at University College Dublin (2001)

Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 2001

these different backgrounds affected the kind of psychology that was done in each university, wit... more

Comment on Bhatt and Tonks: Reports of Our Death are Greatly Exaggerated (2002)