Psychological Science: Introducing the discipline through the persuasion of history

This paper examines the history sections of ten contemporary introductory psychology textbooks. Two major levels of analysis are used to analyze and interpret the material. First, Thematic Analysis (TA) is used to construct common themes from the literature, the results of which are; Titles of history narratives, Liberation from philosophy, Wundt and the birth of psychology, Scientific schools and pioneers, Developing scientific definitions, and Acceptance of minority groups. Second, five perennial questions of historiography, as outlined by Leahy, Greer, LeFrancois, Reiner, Spencer, Wickremasekerall, and Willmarth (2014), are examined in relation to the above themes to contextualize the “types” of history represented in the surveyed literature. The research concludes that the historical narratives from the sample exhibit the features of “old” histories of psychology. As outlined by historians such as Laurel Furumoto, Kurt Danziger, and Benjamin Harris, “old” histories reiterate origin myths regarding psychology’s past and function to validate the status-quo of the discipline. Within the context of introductory psychology, “old” histories function to persuade the reader of a narrow definition of psychological science, which inhibits historical understanding and critical thought