Elements of physiological psychology : a treatise of the activities and nature of the mind from the physical and experimental points of view (thoroughly rev. and re-written) / by George Trumball Ladd and Robert Sessions Woodworth.

  • George Trumbull Ladd
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Elements of physiological psychology : a treatise of the activities and nature of the mind from the physical and experimental points of view (thoroughly rev. and re-written) / by George Trumball Ladd and Robert Sessions Woodworth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE Ir is now nearly a quarter of a century since the appearance of the first edition of this treatise, which attempted to gather within the limits of a single volume the main results of the then modern study of psychology from the physiological and experimental points of view. It was at that time (1887) the only work of its kind in English; and so far as the author was aware, it was the only work in any language, with the sole exception of Professor Wundt’s Grundziige der physiologischen Psychologie, which was then in its second edition. ‘The task involved in any such attempt was even so long ago exceedingly large and difficult. But the prompt favora- ble response given to its accomplishment, not only in this country, but also from abroad, was on this account all the more unexpectedly gratifying. During the interval since the first edition, many trained and skilled workmen have assiduously devoted themselves to the solu- tion of the various subordinate problems involved in the study of mental life and mental development with the carefully guarded methods prescribed by modern science. Much light has been thrown on these problems, their nature and their probable solu- tion; while many new ones or new aspects of old problems have been uncovered and are still awaiting future investigation. And there is no prospect that this process will come to an end. But it is just this fact which evinces in an unmistakable way the vitality of the science of psychology, as it does the vitality of all the other forms of human knowledge. On the other hand, it is entirely safe to say that neither the extravagant hopes nor the extravagant fears of twenty-five years ago, with reference to the results of the so-called “new psychology,” have been verified. The fundamental problems with regard to the nature of man’s mind and its relations _ to the organism, its place in the scale of development and its destiny, remain essentially unchanged.