History of Psychology Evaluation - Book Report/Review Example

The evaluation brings forth the key concepts contained in the review regarding the significance of the work of the two authors considered and how the historical evolution of the realm of psychology correlated with them. The evaluation ends on a personal note by the scribe. The review titled 'Neurology and Psychology', written by Jessica Hamel, evaluated two different articles from The American Journal of Psychology. These articles included 'On the Relation of Neurology to Psychology' written by Henry H.

Donaldson in 1889, and 'The Psychologist's Use of Neurology' written by Madison Bentley in 1937. The author states their decision to review these two articles revolved around their interest in the psychologist's use of neurology in their studies. They state, very plainly, that the articles should be relatively similar yet comparable due to the fact that they are written nearly fifty years apart from each other. The idea of comparison due to forty-eight years of progression is understandable. Donaldson's article in 1889 came just after the founding of the psychological field of study.

Just a decade earlier, Wilhelm Wundt founded the first formal laboratory of psychology at the University of Leipzig and just a year earlier from that Stanley Hall acquired the first American Ph.D. in psychology (3). In the next forty-eight years many things would happen to advance the field of psychology including the foundation of many additional subsections and the advancement of several theories. By the time Bentley wrote his article in 1937 he had much more experience to build upon such as the theories of Sigmund Freud or the ideas of Gestalt psychology.

Not to mention the beginning of treatments for illnesses within the field of abnormal psychology (1).Significance of the Articles and the AuthorsThe quality and importance of the articles themselves seem to reflect on the quality and importance of the authors. I could find very little data on Henry H. Donaldson yet the article reviewed by him seems to be of importance. The main advancement within this article seemed to be the use of dyes in order to better inspect neural tissues (4). The review also states the article made a point of identifying the, now plainly known fact, that lesser creatures live mostly on instinct while more developed animals, such as humans, have moved away from instinct to live mostly on conscious thought.

The article did mention the idea of certain areas of the brain fulfilling certain functions but it did not seem to go into very much depth on the subject. Madison Bentley, on the other hand, seemed to contribute a great deal more to psychological research including work on memory image. This article seemed to go into more depth on the idea of certain areas of the brain performing certain tasks. It goes so far as to include removing certain areas of the brain from animals in an attempt to ascertain its function.

It also states the fact that psychology and neurology are so closely related that we can never study one without studying the other. By studying neurology, psychologists can see the physical implications for many of their theories (3). By studying psychology, neurologists can gain insight on how