Publications

Publication details [#7199]

Leary, David E., Mitchell G. Ash and William R. Woodward. 1990. Metaphors in the History of Psychology (Cambridge Studies in the History of Psychology Series). Cambridge , UK: Cambridge University Press . 383 pp.
Publication type
Book – monograph
Publication language
English
ISBN
0521421527

Abstract

When psychologists speak of human memory as a matter of "retrieving" earlier "input" from "storage," they are basing their discussion of memory upon a series of metaphors drawn from cybernetic theory (the science of communication and control) and computer technology. Similarly, when clinical psychologists try to "relieve" the "pressure" that someone has been "repressing" inside, their actions are directed by the hydraulic metaphors that have shaped their understanding of the "inner workings" of "psychodynamics." The contributors to this volume argue that psychologists and their predecessors have invariably turned to metaphor in order to articulate their descriptions, theories, and practical interventions with regard to psychological functioning. By specifying the major metaphors in the history of psychology, these contributors have offered a new "key" to understanding this critically important area of human knowledge. Metaphors in the History of Psychology describes and analyzes the ways in which psychological accounts of brain functioning, consciousness, cognition, emotion, motivation, learning, and behavior have been shaped - and are still being shaped - by the central metaphors used by contemporary psychologists and their predecessors. The volume is a stylistically and substantively coherent collection of essays on a theme that has become an issue of central concern in a variety of disciplines ranging from linguistics and literary studies to cognitive science, psychology, and philosophy. Through the identification of these metaphors, the contributors to this volume have provided a remarkably useful guide to the history, current orientation, and future prospects of modern psychology. (Publisher Book Description) Table of Contents 1. Psyche’s music: the role of metaphor in the history of psychology David E. Leary 2. From metaphors to models: the use of analogy in neuropsychology Karl H. Pribram 3. Inner feelings, works of the flesh, the beast within, diseases of the mind, driving force, and putting on a show: six metaphors of emotion and their theoretical extensions James R. Averill 4. Motives metaphors: a study in scientific creativity Paul McReynolds 5. Cognitive metaphors in experimental psychology Robert R. Hoffman, Edward L. Cochran and James M. Nead 6. Metaphors of consciousness and cognition in the history of psychology Jerome Bruner and Carol Fleisher Feldman 7. Metaphors of knowledge and behaviour in the behaviorist tradition Laurence D. Smith 8. Metaphor, metatheory, and the social world Kenneth J. Gergen 9. Metaphors of unwanted conduct: a historical sketch Theodore R. Sarbin 10. Generative metaphor and the history of psychological discourse Kurt Danziger 11. Metaphor, theory, and practice in the history of psychology David E. Levy

Articles in this volume