Monitor on Psychology - November 2011 - (Page 32)

capsule tIme the latter half of the 19th century, and lavishly illustrated lectures on popular science drew mass audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. When the British physicist John Tyndall toured eastern U.S. cities in 1872, his lectures were attended by crowds of up to 1,500 enthusiasts. The New York Daily Tribune published each lecture as it was given, then compiled them into a special edition that sold over 300,000 copies. Such widespread interest led to the prolific manufacture of magic lanterns in the United States, as well as the development of new and improved models, such as Marcy’s Sciopticon, a version of the lantern that had brighter illumination, and yet was more compact and lighter in weight. Numerous books were published on the use of lanterns in science teaching. By the time the new psychology reached American shores in the late 1800s, college students had developed a strong appetite for image-driven science. These students had many attractive options for sciences to pursue, and psychology professors recognized that their new and still-marginal discipline needed to match the pedagogical flair of the older sciences. In 1897, Scripture wrote that “comparisons are constantly drawn between the various departments, and merely as a matter of self-preservation the psychological laboratory must offer courses equal in attractiveness and value to those of physics, chemistry and biology. A lecture room with at least a single lantern ... should be provided. ... The students are no longer a ‘class’ to be taught; they are an ‘audience’ that must be led.” Thus the magic lantern, which arrived from Germany in tandem with scientific psychology, was seen as a crucial means of attracting the student following that would help psychology survive against the competition of entrenched sciences. Like Scripture, Titchener, who had three magic lanterns at his disposal, saw such equipment as critical to psychology’s ability to compete for students on even terms with the natural sciences. At Columbia, James McKeen Cattell followed Scripture in hailing the lantern as a boon to the economy of classroom instruction, claiming that the time required to teach psychophysical methods could be reduced by half with the aid of projected images. Other proponents of the magic lantern included Edmund Sanford at Clark, as well as Harvard’s Münsterberg, but its popularity was widespread. Only with the invention of Kodachrome film in the 1930s did enthusiasm for the magic lantern begin to wane. However proud we may be of our colorful PowerPoint “slides” (a term curiously carried over from the lantern era), we should remember that the idea of multimedia is new in name but not in concept. And one can honestly wonder whether the animation features available in today’s presentation software can measure up to the drama of a gargantuan frog’s heart beating in real time before students’ eyes. n Laurence D. Smith, PhD, is associate professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Maine. Katharine S. Milar, PhD, of Earlham College is the historical editor of “Time Capsule.” Dolbear, A.E. (1888). The art of projecting: A manual of experimentation in physics, chemistry and natural history with the porte lumiere and magic lantern (2nd rev. ed.). Boston: Lee and Shepard. Hall, G.S. (1879). The graphic method. The Nation, 29, 238–239. Hankins, T.L., & Silverman, R.J. (1995). Instruments and the imagination. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [Chap. 3 on “The Magic Lantern and the Art of Demonstration”] Novotney, A. (2010, March). New research suggests that offering variety may be the best way to engage today’s undergraduates. Monitor on Psychology, 61–62. Pingree, G.B., & Gitelman, L. (2003). Introduction: What’s new about new media? In G. B. Pingree & L. Gitelman (Eds.), New media: 1740-1915 (pp. xi-xxii). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Schmidgen, H. (2004). Pictures, preparations, and living processes: The production of immediate visual perception (Anschauung) in late-19th-century physiology. Journal of the History of Biology, 37, 477–513. Scripture, E. W. (1897). Principles of laboratory economy. Studies from the Yale Psychological Laboratory, 5, 93–103. Further reading 32 M o n i to r o n p s yc h o l o g y • n ov e M b e r 2 0 1 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - November 2011

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
Guest Column
‘Grand Challenges’ offers blueprint for mental health research
Documentary seeks to reach parents of LGBT kids
Treating veterans will cost at least $5 billion by 2020
Selfless volunteering might lengthen your life
Combat and stress up among U.S. military in Afghanistan
South Africa to host international psychology conference
Study uncovers a reason behind sex differences in mental illness
Navy psychologist gives a voice to combat trauma
In Brief
Psychologist suicide
On Your Behalf
Journey back to Heart Mountain
Psychology is key to pain management, report finds
ACT goes international
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Time Capsule
Questionnaire
Science Watch
Behavior change in 15-minute sessions?
Health-care reform 2.0
Perspective on Practice
Giving a heads up on concussion
Practice Profile
Searching for meaning
Inspiring young researchers
Aging, with grace
Public Interest
Thank you!
APA News
Division Spotlight
American Psychological Foundation
The man who gave Head Start a start
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011