PSY 202 Module 3 James Video Transcript NARRATOR: Now let's turn our focus to America for the final person that we will discuss this week. William James was born in New York City in 1842. He experimented with a few fields including art and medicine. Like Wundt, he wasn't really interested in a career in medicine but instead wanted to know more about the science of medicine. He eventually became a professor of both philosophy and psychology at Harvard, and he is known as the father of American psychology as well as the greatest American philosopher.   James was an advocate of functionalism and had little respect for Wundt. He is also considered a pragmatist. His discussions with other Harvard grads focused on Darwin's concepts and how ideas had to compete with each other and only the best would last. Thus, they applied the idea of survival of the fittest. James was interested in several different areas including the self, free will versus determinism, and the understanding of consciousness. James' biggest obstacles seemed to be his health issues. He also suffered from depression and thoughts of suicide. He applied the power of free will to his own experiences and reported that his depressive symptoms improved. His interests in mysticism were also criticized by the scientific community although the public did not hold the same criticism. James wrote the first comprehensive psychology textbook, The Principles of Psychology, in 1890. He also wrote a shorter version, The Briefer Course, in 1892. Students referred to the shorter version as “the Jimmy.” Interestingly, James did not enjoy research and did not supervise many students. He did write several books including several on pragmatism. James had the opportunity to meet Freud in 1909. He was also a co-contributor to the James-Lange theory of emotions. James influenced many areas of psychology including social psychology, cognitive psychology, and Gestalt psychology. End James video