Glossary W
Glossary W
- William Harvey (1578–1657) : William Harvey refers to a British physician born in 1578. His work published in 1628 entitled "An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals", first explained how blood was pumped from the heart throughout the body, then returned to the heart.
William James was born in New York City. His family lived in several countries affording James a multicultural education, including schools in the U.S., England, France, Switzerland, and Germany. He became fluent in five languages by the time he earned his M.D. in 1869.
The publication of his first work, The Principles of Psychology, secured his place in the history books. He initiated the move of psychology away from Philosophy and toward a discipline of science. The application of scientific methods to the study of human psychology is perhaps his greatest donation to the field.
William James, most famous for his work - a book named Principles of Psychology, was born in New York in 1842. He received a medical degree from Harvard University in 1869 and at age 30 he accepted the teaching position at Harvard that launched his outstanding career in psychology.
William James refers to the Harvard University Psychologist who wrote the first book in Psychology, Principles of Psychology, published in 1897. James also wrote Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) that referred to spirituality, health , and psychology.
Moreover, William James was instrumental in the founding of Functionalistic psychology. James emphasized the function of both consciousness and behavior . For him the only valid criterion for evaluating a theory , thought, or act is whether it works. In keeping with his pragmatism, he claimed that psychology needs to employ both scientific and non-scientific procedures. Similarly, on the individual level, sometimes one must believe in free will and at other times in determinism .
- William McDougall (1871 - 1938) : William McDougall pursued a type of behaviorism very different from Watson's. McDougall's behaviorism emphasized purposive and instinctive behavior .
Please see also Hormic psychology .
William of Occam (ca. 1285- 1349) early Psychologist who denied the contention of the realists that what people experience are but manifestations of abstract principles. William of Occam sided with the Nominalists, instead who said that so-called abstract principles, or universals, were nothing more than verbal labels that people use to describe classes of experiences.
For William of Occam, there is no need to assume a "higher" reality beyond our senses, reality is what we experience directly
- Williams syndrome (WS) : Williams syndrome (WS) refers to a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a recognizable pattern of dysmorphic facial features, cardiovascular and physical abnormalities, mental retardation, a specific cognitive profile, and a distinct personality . It is a disorder that produces severe mental retardation but leaves language functions relatively intact.
Moreover, it is a type of mental retardation (low IQ) in which the person has relatively good language skills in spite of extremely limited abilities in other regards
Williard W. Hartup
Born: 1927 - Fremont, Ohio
Current: Regents Professor at the Institute of Child Development , University of Minnesota.
Education: Ed.D. Harvard University
Achievements: Performed major research on the impact of child friendships on development; G. Stanley Hall Award for Distinguished Contributions to Developmental Psychology , American Psychological Association , 1991.