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Applied Psychology
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Applied Psychology
Delanté G. Keys
September 2018
Origins and Opportunities for Applied Psychology
Darwin proposed that necessity encouraged evolution in individuals or groups of organisms (Schultz & Schultz, 2016).
Origins and Opportunities for Applied Psychology
Darwin proposed that necessity encouraged evolution in individuals or groups of organisms (Schultz & Schultz, 2016).
This same logic can be applied to the evolution or progression of sciences and ideologies as well. The field of psychology shifted from structuralism to functionalism, evolving into applied psychology, due to the overwhelming influence of both economics and war, facilitating its need in supporting our society.
Economic and Applied Psychology in the U.S.
Growth of the psychological industry left many without the academic roles previously dominating employment opportunities in the field.
Practitioners with graduate and doctoral degrees had to be more creative in the field. This incentivized many to take their methods out of scholarly journals and lecture halls and into society (Schultz & Schultz, 2016).
Economic and Applied Psychology in the United States:
Growth of the psychological industry left many without the academic roles previously dominating employment opportunities in the field. Practitioners with graduate and doctoral degrees had to be more creative in the field. This incentivized many to take their methods out of scholarly journals and lecture halls and into society (Schultz & Schultz, 2016).
In fact, some struggling psychologists even found financial stability through the application of their science to real-world problems. Harry Hollingworth was one such practitioner, who benefited from his work on behalf of Coca-Cola. “Harry Hollingworth’s 1911 investigation of the behavioral effects of caffeine is one of the earliest examples of psychological research contracted by a large corporation” (Benjamin, Rogers, & Rosenbaum, 1991).
War and Applied Psychology in the U.S.
World War One ushered in large-scale opportunities for the application of recent advancements in the field of psychology, such as mental testing (Schultz & Schultz, 2016).
War and Applied Psychology in the United States:
World War One ushered in large-scale opportunities for the application of recent advancements in the field of psychology, such as mental testing (Schultz & Schultz, 2016).
Walter Dill Scott utilized his expertise in business aptitude testing to establish a Committee on Classification of Personnel in the Army, which consisted of 7,000 specialists who assessed and placed over 3,000,000 employees (Shepard, 2015).
The army eventually awarded Scott a medal, further endorsing the necessity and legitimacy of applied psychology.
Overall, the national view of applied psychology was gaining both interest and influence. “Thus, America embraced psychology with enthusiasm. The scope of the field today is far broader than its founders ever thought possible” (Schultz & Schultz, 2016).
Opportunities to Advance Diversity and Inclusivity
have the opportunity and the obligation to reexamine the work of our predecessors for evidence of bias and cultural complacency.
With the rapid growth and stabilization of applied psychology, modern practitioners (especially those concerned with the advancement of social justice) .
Opportunities to Advance Diversity and Inclusivity:
With the rapid growth and stabilization of applied psychology, modern practitioners (especially those concerned with the advancement of social justice) have the opportunity and the obligation to reexamine the work of our predecessors for evidence of bias and cultural complacency.
As with the rigorous scholarly opposition to texts like The Bell Curve, it is increasingly valuable to advocate the ideology that mental testing does not depict the inferiority of a select group, but more precisely the discrimination which that collection of persons has experienced over time (Schultz & Schultz, 2016).
Furthermore, we must alternatively prioritize new innovative ways to investigate how our collection and analysis of data itself may succumb to systematic prejudice.
“...a comprehensive science of human behavior must pay careful and systematic attention to macro variables such as race, country of national origin, and other demographic factors that influence people we study and make efforts to assist” (Davidson 2006).
References
Benjamin, L. T., Rogers, A. M., & Rosenbaum, A. (1991). Coca-Cola, caffeine, and mental deficiency: Harry Hollingworth and the Chattanooga trial of 1911. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 27(1), 42-55. doi:10.1002/1520-6696(199101)27:13.0.co;2-1
Davison, G. C. (2006). Context and Current and Future Activities of the Society of Clinical Psychology. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 13(3), 269-272. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.2006.00036.x
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2016). A history of modern psychology. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Shephard, Ben. Psychologist. Nov2015, Vol. 28 Issue 11, p944-946. 3p.