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What is Psychology?
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3-4
3-5 The Other Senses 84
3-6 ESP: Is there Perception without Sensation? 87
1 What Is Psychology? 2
1-1 Psychology as a Science 4
1-2 Historical Foundations of Psychology 7
1-3 Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology 11
1-4 How Psychologists Study Behavior and Mental Processes 15
1-5 Methods of Research 18
1-6 Ethics in Psychological Research 23
1-7 Critical Thinking 24
2 Biology and Psychology 30
2-1 The Nervous System: On Being Wired 32
2-2 The Divisions of the Nervous System 38
2-3 The Brain: Wider than the Sky 41
2-4 A Voyage through the Brain 43
2-5 The Cerebral Cortex 46
2-6 The Endocrine System 49
2-7 Evolution and Heredity 52
3 Sensation and Perception 62
3-1 Sensation and Perception 63
3-2 Vision 67
3-3 Visual Perception 73
4 Consciousness 92
4-1 What is Consciousness? 93
4-2 Sleep and Dreams 96
4-3 Altering Consciousness: Hypnosis, Meditation, and Biofeedback 102
4-4 Altering Consciousness through Drugs 106
4-5 Depressants 108
4-6 Stimulants 110
4-7 Hallucinogenics 114
5 Learning 120
5-1 Learning, Experience, and Change 121
5-2 Classical Conditioning: Learning What is Linked to What 122
5-3 Applications of Classical Conditioning 126
5-4 Operant Conditioning: Learning What does What to What 129
5-5 Applications of Operant Conditioning 136
5-6 Cognitive Factors in Learning 138
6 Memory: Remembrance of Things Past—and
Future 146
6-1 Kinds of Memory 147
6-2 Processes of Memory 150
6-3 Sensory Memory 153
6-4 Short-Term Memory 154
6-5 Long-Term Memory 157
6-6 Forgetting 161
6-7 The Biology of Memory 167
10
Personality: Theory and Measurement 260
10-1 The Psychodynamic Perspective 262
10-2 The Trait Perspective 268
10-3 Learning-Theory Perspectives 271
10-4 The Humanistic–Existential Perspective 273
10-5 The Sociocultural Perspective 277
7 Thinking, Language, and Intelligence 174
7-1 Thinking 175
7-2 Language 181
7-3 Language Development: The Two-Year Explosion 185
7-4 Theories of Intelligence 189
7-5 The Measurement of Intelligence 193
7-6 Nature and Nurture in Intelligence 198
8 Motivation and Emotion 204
8-1 The Psychology of Motivation 205
8-2 Theories of Motivation 206
8-3 Hunger 209
8-4 Sexual Motivation and Sexual Orientation 214
8-5 Achievement Motivation 219
8-6 Emotion 220
8-7 Theories of Emotion 224
9 The Voyage through the Life Span 232
9-1 Prenatal Development 233
9-2 Childhood: Physical Development 235
9-3 Childhood: Cognitive Development 237
9-4 Childhood: Social and Emotional Development 244
9-5 Adolescence 247
9-6 Emerging Adulthood 251
9-7 Adulthood 252
10-6 Measurement of Personality 279
11
Stress, Health, and Coping 286
11-1 Stress: What it is, Where it Comes from 288
11-2 Psychological Moderators of Stress 293
11-3 Stress and the Body 295
11-4 Psychology and Chronic Health Problems 299
12 Psychological Disorders 308
12-1 What are Psychological Disorders? 309
12-2 Anxiety Disorders 312
12-3 Obsessive–Compulsive and Related Disorders 315
12-4 Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders 316
12-5 Dissociative Disorders 317
12-6 Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders 318
12-7 Mood Disorders 319
12-8 Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders 324
12-9 Personality Disorders 328
13 Methods of Therapy 334
13-1 What is Psychotherapy? 336
13-2 Psychodynamic Therapies 338
13-3 Humanistic Therapies 339
13-4 Behavior Therapy 341
13-5 Cognitive Therapies 345
13-6 Group Therapies 347
13-7 Does Psychotherapy Work? 349
13-8 Biological Therapies 352
14 Social Psychology 358
14-1 Attitudes 360
14-2 Prejudice and Discrimination 364
14-3 Attraction and Love 365
14-4 Social Perception 368
14-5 Social Influence 370
14-6 Aggression 375
14-7 Group Behavior 377
Appendix: Statistics 386 Answers to Study Tools Questions 400 References 402 Index 427
1 What Is Psychology?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, you will be able to…
1-1 Define psychology and describe what psychologists do.
1-2 Describe the origins of psychology and discuss people who have made significant contributions to the field.
1-3 Identify the theoretical perspectives from which psychologists today view behavior and mental processes.
1-4 Outline the scientific method, and explain the relationship between samples and populations.
1-5 Explain how psychologists engage in research— including methods of observation, correlation, and experimentation—to learn about behavior and mental processes.
1-6 Discuss ethical standards that govern psychological research and practice with humans and animals.
1-7 Identify and discuss principles of critical thinking.
After you finish this chapter, go to PAGE 25 for STUDY TOOLS
My favorite place: The checkout counter of the supermarket. After being buffeted about by the crowds in the aisles and trying to convince myself that I really will survive until the people in line ahead of me are checked out, I am rewarded by the display of all the supermarket tabloids. The headlines cry out. Each week, there are 10 new sightings of Elvis and 10 new encounters with extraterrestrials. There are 10 new “absolutely proven effective” ways to take weight off and 10 new ways to conquer stress and depression. There are 10 new ways to tell if your partner has been cheating and, of course, 10 new predictions by astrologers and psychics.
Truth or Fiction.
The world is flooded with sense and nonsense. How can you sort out truth from fiction?
Extraterrestrials regularly kidnap us Earthlings. Although they possess the technology to leap between the stars, aliens must apparently prod and poke us to figure out how we work. While we update our iPhones with the latest apps and music, tabloid drawings suggest that aliens have been flying the same model flying saucer for decades. Their sense of style is nothing to text home about.
Although we can find some humor in tales of abduction by aliens, psychologists and other scientists are interested in the questions these tales raise about human nature and the distinction between sensationalism and science. What do we know about people who claim to have been abducted by aliens? How can we sort truth from fiction and decide whether we will believe them?
Psychologists who have studied claimed alien kidnappings conclude that the kidnappings never occurred. However, the people making the claims are not necessarily mentally ill, nor are they necessarily lying (Ladd & Borshuk, 2013). By and large, these are people who have
remembered their experiences while undergoing therapy, often under hypnosis. Tales of alien abduction are widely known throughout our culture, so it is not at all surprising that the “memories” of people who claim to have been inducted by aliens would tend to coincide (Meyersburg et al., 2009; Swami et al., 2009).
Abductees generally claim that they are awakened in their sleep by the aliens and unable to move. Psychologists know that many of our voluntary muscles—the ones involved in movement—are “paralyzed” when we sleep, which is why we usually don’t thrash about (and assault our bed partners) when we dream (Torontali et al., 2014). Hallucinations—seeing and hearing things that are not really there—are quite common as we are waking from a sleep-paralyzed state, and it seems that the reported experiences of “abductees” fit the pattern.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? FOLKLORE, COMMON SENSE, OR NONSENSE? SELECT T FOR “TRUTH” OR F FOR “FICTION,” AND THEN CHECK THE ACCURACY OF YOUR ANSWERS AS YOU READ THROUGH THE CHAPTER.
T F More than 2,000 years ago, Aristotle wrote a book on psychology with contents similar to those in the book you’re now reading.
T F The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates suggested a research method that is still used in psychology.
T F Men receive the majority of doctoral degrees in psychology.
T F Even though she had worked to complete all the degree requirements, the first female president of the American Psychological Association turned down the doctoral degree that was offered to her.
T F You could survey millions of voters and still not accurately predict the outcome of a presidential election.
T F In many experiments, neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the real treatment and who is not.
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
Psychologists also know that people are quite open to suggestion (Bernstein & Loftus, 2009; Vyse, 2014). Memories are not perfect snapshots. When trial witnesses are asked leading questions— questions that might encourage them to recall events in a certain way—the opposing attorney will usually object (“Leading the witness, your Honor”). Sometimes, the person interviewing the supposed kidnap victim asks leading questions, looking for experiences with aliens.
All in all, “UFO memories may be constructed from bits and pieces of sleep-related hallucinations, nightmares, and media attention, and fixed solidly into place with the suggestion of hypnosis and the validation of support groups” (Clark & Loftus, 1996 ). “Abductees” may also be trying to escape, temporarily, from their humdrum lives—as might be buyers of supermarket tabloids (Clancy et al., 2002).
Psychologists have thus worked to explain how it can be that many people report being abducted by aliens and being subjected to tests by them. But is there scientific evidence that people have been abducted by aliens? In sum, when we subject the stories in the supermarket tabloids to scientific analysis, we usually find that they fall short of any reasonable requirements of evidence.
This book will take you on a journey. It’s not a journey into outer space. It’s a journey into the inner space of thinking critically about the world around you, about stories and arguments made by other people, about human behavior and mental processes. In our overview of reported alien abductions, we touched on people’s memories, the state of consciousness known as sleep, hallucinations, hypnosis, the search for stimulating events, social influences on witnesses, and the effects of social support and the media. All these, and much, much more, lie within the province of psychology. We will see who psychologists are, what they do, what they have learned, and perhaps most important, how they sort out truth from fiction.
1-1 PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE
Psychology is the scienti c study of behavior and mental processes. Topics of interest to psychologists include the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, intelligence, language, thought, growth and development, personality, stress and health, psychological disorders, ways of treating those disorders, sexual behavior, and the behavior of people in social settings such as groups and organizations.
psychology the science that studies behavior and mental processes
theory a set of hypothesized statements about the relationships among events
Sciences have certain goals. Psychology, like other sciences, seeks to describe, explain, predict, and control the events it studies. Psychology thus seeks to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior and mental processes. Note that the goal of controlling behavior and mental processes doesn’t mean that psychologists seek ways to make people do their bidding, like puppets on strings. Rather, psychologists seek to understand the factors that influence
behavior and apply this knowledge for the public good— for example, to help individuals cope with problems such as anxiety and depression.
When possible, descriptive terms and concepts— such as anxiety and depression—are interwoven into theories . Theories propose reasons for relationships among events, as in perception of a threat can arouse feelings of anxiety. They allow us to derive explanations and predictions. Many psychological theories combine statements about behavior (such as eating or aggression), mental processes (such as attitudes and mental images), and biological processes. For instance, many of our responses to drugs such as alcohol and marijuana can be measured as overt behavior, and they are presumed to reflect our (mental) expectations of the drugs and the biological effects of the drugs themselves.
A satisfactory psychological theory allows us to predict behavior. For instance, a theory of hunger should allow us to predict when people will or will not eat. If our observations cannot be adequately explained by, or predicted from, a given theory, we should consider revising or replacing it.
The remainder of this chapter presents an overview of psychology as a science. You will see that psychologists have diverse interests and elds of specialization. We discuss the history of psychology and the major perspectives from which today’s psychologists view behavior. Finally, we consider the research methods psychologists use to study behavior and mental processes.
1-1a WHAT PSYCHOLOGISTS DO
Psychologists share a keen interest in behavior, but they may differ markedly in other ways. Psychologists engage in research, practice, and teaching. Some researchers engage primarily in basic, or pure, research. Pure research is undertaken because the researcher is interested in the research topic. Pure research has no immediate application to personal or social problems and has therefore been characterized as research for its own sake. However, although pure research is sparked by curiosity and the desire to know and understand, today’s pure research frequently enhances tomorrow’s way of life. For example, pure research on learning and motivation in pigeons, rats, and monkeys done early in the 20th century has found applications in today’s school systems. It has shown, for example, that learning often takes time and repetition and also pro ts from “booster shots” (repetition after the learning goal has been reached). Pure research into the workings of the nervous system has enhanced knowledge of disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Other psychologists engage in applied research , which is designed to nd solutions to speci c personal or social problems.
Many psychologists do not conduct research. Instead, they practice psychology by applying psychological knowledge to help individuals change their behavior so that they can meet their own goals more effectively. Still other psychologists primarily teach. They share psychological knowledge in classrooms, seminars, and workshops. Psychologists may also engage in all three: research, practice, and teaching.
1-1b FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Psychologists are found in a number of specialties. Although some psychologists wear more than one hat, most carry out their functions in the following elds. Clinical psychologists help people with psychological disorders adjust to the demands of life. Clinical psychologists evaluate problems such as anxiety and depression through interviews and psychological tests. They help clients resolve problems and change
self-defeating behavior. For example, they may help clients face “threats,” such as public speaking, by exposing them gradually to situations in which they make presentations to actual or virtual groups (see virtual therapy in Chapter 13). Clinical psychologists are the largest subgroup of psychologists (see Figure 1.1 on page 6). Counseling psychologists, like clinical psychologists, use interviews and tests to de ne their clients’ problems. Their clients typically have adjustment problems but not serious psychological disorders. For example, clients may have trouble making academic or vocational decisions; LGBT clients may have dif culty coping with prejudice and discrimination.
School psychologists are employed by school systems to identify and assist students who have problems that interfere with learning. They help schools make decisions about the placement of students in special classes. Educational psychologists , like school psychologists, attempt to facilitate learning, but they usually focus on course planning and instructional methods for a school system rather than on individual children. Educational psychologists research issues such as how learning is affected by psychological factors such as motivation and intelligence, sociocultural factors such as poverty and acculturation, and teachers.
Developmental psychologists study the changes— physical, cognitive, social, and emotional—that occur throughout the life span. They attempt to sort out the in uences of heredity and the environment on development.
Personality psychologists identify and measure human traits and determine in uences on human thought processes, feelings, and behavior. They are particularly concerned with issues such as anxiety, aggression, sexual orientation, and gender roles.
Social psychologists are concerned with the nature and causes of individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior in social situations. Whereas personality psychologists tend to look within the person to explain behavior, social psychologists tend to focus on social in uences.
Environmental psychologists study the ways that people and the environment—the natural environment and the human-made environment—influence one another. For example, we know that extremes of temperature and loud noises interfere with learning in school. Environmental psychologists study ways to encourage people to recycle and to preserve bastions of wilderness.
pure research research conducted without concern for immediate applications applied research research conducted in an effort to find solutions to particular problems
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
FIG.1.1 THE PSYCHOLOGISTS: PSYCHOLOGISTS WITH NEW DOCTORATES VERSUS MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (APA)
Clinical Child Psychology
School Psychology
Counse ling Psychology
Clinical Psychology
WORK SETTING
School s/Educational
Busi ne ss and Gove rnme nt
Independent Practi ce
Othe r Human Se rvice
College or Universi ty Hospital s
TYPE OF DEGREE
HUMAN SERVICE PROVIDER SUBFIELDS an an an an Ph.D Psy.D.
APA Members
New Doctorates
MEMBERS OF MINORITY GROUPS
More women and members of ethnic minorities are entering the field of psychology today. The percentage of new psychologists with Psy.D. degrees is also growing.
Psychologists in all specialties may conduct experiments. However, those called experimental psychologists specialize in basic processes such as the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, thought, motivation, and emotion. For example, experimental psychologists have studied what areas of the brain are involved in processing math problems or listening to music. They use people or animals, such as pigeons and rats, to study learning.
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
Cimmerian/Getty
The Origins of Aggression?
Why are TV crime shows so popular? Why are people fascinated by psychopaths? Why do so many boys and men enjoy playing video games such as Grand Theft Auto, God of War, Call of Duty, and Battlefield? Psychologists investigate the origins of aggression and violence. They have found that aggressive people and mass murderers are more likely to play violent video games. Does this mean that violent video games cause violent behavior? Could it also mean that violent individuals are more likely to seek out the games? Could both be true? (More on this in Chapter 5.)
Industrial psychologists focus on the relationships between people and work. Organizational psychologists study the behavior of people in organizations such as businesses. Human factors psychologists make technical systems such as automobile dashboards and computer keyboards more user-friendly. Consumer psychologists study the behavior of shoppers in an effort to predict and in uence their behavior. They advise store managers on how to lay out the aisles of a supermarket in ways that boost impulse buying, how to arrange window displays to attract customers, and how to make newspaper ads and television commercials more persuasive.
Health psychologists study the effects of stress on health problems such as headaches, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Health psychologists also guide clients toward healthier behavior patterns, such as exercising and quitting smoking.
T F Men receive the majority of doctoral degrees in psychology.
It is not true that men receive the majority of doctoral degrees in psychology. Women do.
Forensic psychologists apply psychology to the criminal justice system. They deal with legal matters such as whether a defendant was sane when he or she committed a crime. Forensic psychologists may also treat psychologically ill offenders, consult with attorneys on matters such as picking a jury, and analyze offenders’ behavior and mental processes. They may conduct research on matters ranging from evaluation of eyewitness testimony to methods of interrogation.
Sport psychologists help athletes concentrate on their performance and not on the crowd, use cognitive strategies such as positive visualization (imagining themselves making the right moves) to enhance performance, and avoid choking under pressure.
1-2 HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Have you heard the expression “Know thyself”? It was proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates about 2,500 years ago. Psychology, which is in large part the endeavor to know ourselves, is as old as history and as modern as today. Knowledge of the history of psychology allows us to appreciate its theoretical con icts, its place among the sciences, the evolution of its methods, and its social and political roles.
ARISTOTLE
Although he lived 2,400 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle made many contributions to contemporary
▸ He argued that science could rationally treat only information senses.
▸ He enumerated the so-called five senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
▸ He explored the nature of cause and effect.
▸ He pointed out that people differ from other living things in their capacity for rational thought.
▸ He outlined laws of associationism that have lain at the heart of learning theory for more than two millennia.
▸ He also declared that people are more motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain—a view that remains as current today as it was in ancient Greece.
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
Cengage Learning
Another ancient contributor to psychology was the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 bce). Aristotle argued that human behavior, like the movements of the stars and the seas, is subject to rules and laws. Then he delved into his subject matter topic by topic: personality, sensation and perception, thought, intelligence, needs and motives, feelings and emotion, and memory.
T F More than 2,000 years ago, Aristotle wrote a book on psychology with contents similar to those of the one you’re now reading.
It is true that Aristotle wrote a book on psychology with contents similar to the one you’re now reading more than 2,000 years ago. In fact, the outline for PSYCH could have been written by Aristotle.
Other ancient Greek philosophers also contributed to psychology. Around 400 bce, Democritus suggested that we could think of behavior in terms of a body and a mind. (Contemporary psychologists still talk about the interaction of biological and mental processes.) He pointed out that our behavior is in uenced by external stimulation. Democritus was one of the rst to raise the question of whether there is free will or choice. Putting it another way, where do the in uences of others end and our “real selves” begin?
Socrates suggested that we should rely on rational thought and introspection—careful examination of one’s own thoughts and emotions—to gain selfknowledge. He also pointed out that people are social creatures who in uence one another.
Had we room enough and time, we could trace psychology’s roots to thinkers farther back in time than the ancient Greeks, and we could trace its development through the great thinkers of the Renaissance. As it is,
introspection deliberate looking into one’s own cognitive processes to examine one’s thoughts and emotions
structuralism the school of psychology that argues that the mind consists of three basic elements— sensations, feelings, and images— that combine to form experience
Yes, Socrates did suggest a research method that is still used in psychology— introspection. The method is based on Socrates’ advice to “Know thyself,” which has remained a motto of psychology ever since.
we must move on to the development of psychology as a laboratory science during the second half of the 19th century. Some historians set the marker date at 1860. It was then that Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801–1887) published his landmark book Elements of Psychophysics, which showed how physical events (such as lights and sounds) are related to psychological sensation and perception. Fechner also showed how we can scienti cally measure the effect of these events. Most historians set the debut of modern psychology as a laboratory science in the year 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt established the rst psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
1-2a STRUCTURALISM
The German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) looked as if he were going to be a problem child. He did poorly in elementary school—his mind would wander— and he had to repeat a grade. Eventually he attended medical school because he wanted to earn a good living. But he did not like working with patients and dedicated himself to philosophy and psychology.
WILHELM WUNDT
Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of structuralism, attempted to break down conscious experience into sensations such as sight and taste, emotions, and mental imagery. Cengage Learning
Like Aristotle, Wundt saw the mind as a natural event that could be studied scienti cally, like light, heat, and the ow of blood. Wundt used introspection to try to discover the basic elements of experience. Wundt and his students founded the school of psychology called structuralism Structuralism attempted to break conscious experience down into objective sensations, such as sight or taste, and subjective feelings, such as emotional responses, and mental images such as memories or dreams. Structuralists
T F The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates suggested a research method that is still used in psychology.
believed that the mind functions by combining objective and subjective elements of experience.
1-2b FUNCTIONALISM
WILLIAM JAMES
Toward the end of the 19th century, psychologist William James (1842–1910) became a major gure in the development of psychology in the United States. He focused on the relation between conscious experience and behavior. He argued, for example, that the stream of consciousness is uid and continuous. Introspection convinced him that experience cannot be broken down into objective sensations and subjective feelings as the structuralists maintained.
William James wrote the first modern psychology textbook in 1890. He wrote, “I wished, by treating a natural science, to help her become one.”
William James was a founder of the school of functionalism, which focused on behavior as well as the mind or consciousness. Functionalists looked at how our experience helps us function more adaptively in our environments—for example, how habits help us cope with common situations. (When eating with a spoon, we do not create an individual plan to bring each morsel of food to our mouths.) They also turned to the laboratory for direct observations as a way to supplement introspection. Structuralists tended to ask, “What are the pieces that make up thinking and experience?” In contrast, functionalists tended to ask, “How do behavior and mental processes help people adapt to the requirements of their lives?”
James was also in uenced by Charles Darwin’s (1809–1882) theory of evolution. Earlier in the 19th century, the British naturalist Darwin had argued that organisms with adaptive features—that is, the “ ttest”—survive and reproduce. Functionalists adapted Darwin’s theory and proposed that adaptive behavior patterns are learned and maintained. Maladaptive behavior patterns tend to drop out, and only the ttest behavior patterns survive. These adaptive actions tend to be repeated and become habits. James wrote that “habit is the enormous ywheel of society.” Habit keeps the engine of civilization running.
1-2c BEHAVIORISM
Imagine you have placed a hungry rat in a maze. It meanders down a pathway that ends in a T. It can then turn left or right. If you consistently reward the rat with food for turning right at this point, it will learn to turn right when it arrives there, at least when it is
hungry. But what does the rat think when it is learning to turn right?
Does it seem absurd to try to place yourself in the “mind” of a rat? So it seemed to John Broadus Watson (1878–1958), the founder of American behaviorism. Watson was asked to consider the contents of a rat’s “mind” as one of the requirements for his doctoral degree, which he received from the University of Chicago in 1903. Functionalism was the dominant view of psychology at the University of Chicago, and functionalists were concerned with the stream of consciousness as well as observable behavior. But Watson (1913) believed that if psychology was to be a natural science, like physics or chemistry, it must limit itself to observable, measurable events—that is, to behavior alone—hence the term behaviorism
Behaviorism is the school of psychology that focuses on learning observable behavior. The term observable refers to behaviors that are observable by means of specialized instruments, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and brain waves. These behaviors are public —they can be measured easily and different observers would agree about their existence and features. Given their focus on behavior, behaviorists de ne psychology as the scienti c study of behavior, not of behavior and mental processes.
B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) also contributed to behaviorism. He believed that organisms learn to behave in certain ways because they have been reinforced for doing so—that is, their behavior has a positive outcome. He demonstrated that laboratory animals can be trained to carry out behaviors through strategic use of reinforcers, such as food. He trained rats to turn in circles, climb ladders, and push toys across the floor. Because Skinner demonstrated that remarkable combinations of behaviors could be taught by means of reinforcement, many psychologists adopted the view that, in principle, one could
functionalism the school of psychology that emphasizes the uses or functions of the mind rather than the elements of experience
behaviorism the school of psychology that defines psychology as the study of observable behavior and studies relationships between stimuli and responses
reinforcement a stimulus that follows a response and increases the frequency of the response
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
Cengage
FIG.1.2 THE POWER OF REINFORCEMENT
Behaviorists have shown that we can teach animals (and people) complex behaviors by first reinforcing approximations to the goal or target behavior. For example, we might first drop a food pellet into our feathered friend’s cage when she drops the star anywhere on the tray, and then demand closer tries before reinforcing her. With people, of course, we can reinforce desired behavior by saying things like “Good” and “That’s right,” or “You’re getting there.”
explain complex human behavior in terms of thousands of instances of learning through reinforcement (see Figure 1.2).
1-2d GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
In the 1920s, another school of psychology— Gestalt psychology—was prominent in Germany. In the 1930s, the three founders of the school—Max Wertheimer (1880–1943), Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), and Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967)—left Europe to escape the Nazi threat. They carried on their work in the United States, giving further impetus to the growing American ascendance in psychology.
Gestalt psychologists focused on perception and how perception in uences thinking and problem solving. The German word Gestalt translates roughly to “pattern” or “organized whole.” In contrast to behaviorists, Gestalt psychologists argued that we cannot hope to understand human nature by focusing only on overt behavior. In contrast gestalt psychology the school of psychology that emphasizes the tendency to organize perceptions into wholes and to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
to structuralists, they claimed that we cannot explain human perceptions, emotions, or thought processes in terms of basic units. Perceptions are more than the sums of their parts: Gestalt psychologists saw our perceptions as wholes that give meaning to parts, as we see in Figure 1.3.
Gestalt psychologists showed that we tend to perceive separate pieces of information as integrated wholes depending on the contexts in which they occur. In Figure 1.3A, the dots in the centers of the con gurations are the same size, yet we may perceive them as being different in size because of their surroundings. The second symbol in each line in part B is identical,
A. Are the dots in the center of the configurations the same size? Why not take a ruler and measure them?
B. Is the second symbol in each line the letter B or the number 13?
C. Which of the gray squares is brighter?
Gestalt psychologists have shown that we tend to interpret objects and people according to their context. You interpret somebody’s running toward you differently when you are in a dark alley or watching a football game. Interpret the examples shown above.
Tom McHugh/Science Source
FIG.1.3 GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT
but in the top row we may perceive it as a B and in the bottom row as the number 13. The symbol has not changed, but its context has. The inner squares in part C are equally bright, but they do not appear so because of their contrasting backgrounds.
SIGMUND FREUD
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, is the often the first person that comes to mind when people are asked to name a
Gestalt psychologists believed that learning could be active and purposeful, not merely responsive and mechanical as in Watson’s and Skinner’s experiments. They demonstrated that much learning, especially in problem solving, is accomplished by insight, not by mechanical repetition.
Consider Köhler’s classic research with chimpanzees, as shown in Figure 1.4. At rst, the chimp is unsuccessful in reaching bananas suspended from the ceiling. Then it suddenly stacks the boxes and climbs up to reach the bananas. It seems the chimp has experienced a sudden reorganization of the mental elements of the problem—that is, he has had a “ ash of insight.” Köhler’s ndings suggest that we often manipulate the elements of problems until we group them in such a way that we can reach a goal. The manipulations may take quite some time as mental trial and error proceeds. But once the proper grouping has been found, we seem to perceive it all of a sudden.
1-2e PSYCHOANALYSIS
Psychoanalysis is the name of both the theory of personality and the method of psychotherapy developed by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). As a theory of personality, psychoanalysis proposes that much of our lives is governed by unconscious ideas and impulses that originate in childhood conflicts. As a method of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis aims to help patients gain insight into their conflicts and to find socially acceptable ways of expressing wishes and gratifying needs. We’ll discuss psychoanalysis in more depth in Chapter 10.
1-3 CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES IN PSYCHOLOGY
Today, we no longer nd psychologists who describe themselves as structuralists or functionalists. Although the school of Gestalt psychology gave birth to current research approaches in perception and problem solving, few would label themselves Gestalt psychologists. But we do nd Gestalt therapists who focus on helping clients integrate con icting parts of their personality (making themselves “whole”). The numbers of orthodox behaviorists and psychoanalysts have been declining (Robins et al., 1999). Many contemporary psychologists in the behaviorist tradition look on themselves as social–cognitive theorists, who see much of human learning as intentional rather than mechanical.
Have you ever had an “Aha” experience? The chimpanzee from Köhler’s research is shown here having just such an experience. At first, it cannot reach the bananas hanging from the ceiling. After some time has passed, it has an apparent “flash of insight” and rapidly piles the boxes on top of one another to reach the fruit.
psychoanalysis the school of psychology that emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as determinants of human behavior
FIG.1.4 GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY: SOME INSIGHT INTO INSIGHT
The history of psychological thought has taken many turns, and contemporary psychologists differ in their approaches. Today, there are several broad, influential perspectives in psychology: biological, cognitive, humanistic–existential, psychodynamic, learning, and sociocultural. Each approaches its topics in its own way.
CHARLES DARWIN
In the mid-19th century, the British naturalist Charles Darwin presented his theory that the animal and plant species that occupy the world today—including homo sapiens (us)—have evolved from earlier species. Cengage
1-3a THE BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Psychologists with a biological perspective seek the relationships between the brain, hormones, heredity, and evolution, on the one hand, and behavior and mental processes on the other. Psychologists assume that thoughts, fantasies, and dreams—and the inborn or instinctive behavior patterns of various species—are made possible by the nervous system and especially by the brain.
Biologically oriented psychologists also study the role of heredity in behavior and mental processes such as psychological disorders, criminal behavior, and thinking. Generally speaking, our heredity provides a broad range of behavioral and mental possibilities. Environmental factors interact with inherited factors to determine speci c behavior and mental processes.
biological perspective the approach to psychology that seeks to understand the nature of the links between biological processes and structures such as the functioning of the brain, the endocrine system, and heredity, on the one hand, and behavior and mental processes, on the other
cognitive having to do with mental processes such as sensation and perception, memory, intelligence, language, thought, and problem solving
Biologically oriented psychologists focus on the evolution of behavior and mental processes as well. Charles Darwin argued that in the age-old struggle for existence, only the ttest (most adaptive) organisms manage to reach maturity and reproduce. For example, sh that swim faster or people who are naturally immune to certain diseases are more likely to survive and transmit their genes to future generations. Therefore, species tend to evolve in adaptive directions. Evolutionary psychologists suggest that much human social behavior, such as aggressive behavior and mate selection, has a hereditary basis. People may be influenced by social rules, cultural factors, and personal choice, but evolutionary psychologists believe that inherited tendencies sort of whisper in people’s ears and tend to move them in certain directions.
1-3b THE COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
Psychologists with a cognitive perspective venture into the realm of mental processes to understand human nature. They investigate the ways we perceive and mentally represent the world, how we learn, remember the past, plan for the future, solve problems, form judgments, make decisions, and use language. Cognitive psychologists, in short, study those things we refer to as the mind.
The cognitive tradition has roots in Socrates’ advice to “Know thyself” and in his suggested method of introspection. We also nd cognitive psychology’s roots in structuralism, functionalism, and Gestalt psychology, each of which, in its own way, addresses issues that are of interest to cognitive psychologists.
1-3c THE HUMANISTIC–EXISTENTIAL PERSPECTIVE
The humanistic–existential perspective is cognitive in avor, yet it emphasizes the role of subjective (personal) experience. Let’s consider each of the parts of this perspective: humanism and existentialism.
Humanism stresses the human capacity for selfful llment and the central roles of consciousness, selfawareness, and decision making. Humanists believe that self-awareness, experience, and choice permit us, to a large extent, to “invent ourselves” and our ways of relating to the world as we progress through life. Consciousness— our sense of being in the world—is seen as the force that uni es our personalities. Existentialism views people as free to choose and as being responsible for choosing ethical conduct. Grounded in the work of Carl Rogers (1951) and Abraham Maslow (1970), the humanistic–existential perspective has many contemporary adherents.
1-3d THE PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE
In the 1940s and 1950s, psychodynamic theory dominated the practice of psychotherapy and was in uential in scienti c psychology and the arts. Most psychotherapists were psychodynamically oriented. Many renowned artists and writers consulted psychodynamic therapists as a way to liberate the expression of their unconscious ideas. Today, Freud’s in uence continues to be felt,
although it no longer dominates psychotherapy. Contemporary psychologists who follow theories derived from Freud are likely to call themselves neoanalysts. Famous neoanalysts such as Karen Horney (1885–1952) and Erik Erikson (1902–1994) focused less on unconscious processes and more on conscious choice and self-direction.
1-3e PERSPECTIVES ON LEARNING
Many contemporary psychologists study the effects of experience on behavior. Learning, to them, is the essential factor in describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling behavior. The term learning has different meanings to psychologists of different persuasions, however. Some students of learning nd roles for consciousness and insight. Others do not. This distinction is found today among those who adhere to the behavioral and social–cognitive perspectives.
Early proponents of behaviorism, such as John B. Watson, viewed people as doing things because of their learning histories, their situations, and rewards, not because of conscious choice. Like Watson, contemporary behaviorists emphasize environmental in uences and the learning of habits through repetition and reinforcement. Social cognitive theorists, in contrast, suggest that people can modify and create their environments. They also grant cognition a key role. They note that people engage in intentional learning by observing others. Since the 1960s, social cognitive theorists have gained in uence in the areas of personality development, psychological disorders, and psychotherapy.
Psychologists focus on the individual but believe that we cannot understand individuals without referring to their diversity, such as their gender, their ethnic backgrounds, and their physical condition.
1-3f THE SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
The profession of psychology focuses mainly on the individual and is committed to the dignity of the individual. However, many psychologists believe we cannot understand people’s behavior and mental processes without reference to their diversity (Miville et al., 2016).
The sociocultural perspective addresses many of the ways that people differ from one another. It studies the in uences of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status on behavior and mental processes (ComasDiaz & Greene, 2013). For example, what is often seen as healthful, self-assertive, outspoken behavior by most U.S. women may be interpreted as brazen behavior in Latin American or Asian American communities.
ETHNICITY One kind of diversity involves ethnicity. Members of an ethnic group share their cultural heritage, race, language, or history. The experiences of various ethnic groups in the United States highlight the impact of social, political, and economic factors on human behavior and development (Miville et al., 2016). In the 1940s, Kenneth Bancroft Clark (1914–2005) and Mamie Phipps Clark (1917–1983) conducted research that showed the negative effects of school segregation on African American children. In one such study, African American children were shown white and brown dolls and asked to “Give me the pretty doll,” or “Give me the doll that looks bad.”
social cognitive theory a school of psychology in the behaviorist tradition that includes cognitive factors in the explanation and prediction of behavior; formerly termed social learning theory
sociocultural perspective the view that focuses on the roles of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status in behavior and mental processes
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Most children’s choices showed that they preferred the white dolls more than the brown ones. The Clarks concluded that the children had swallowed the larger society’s prejudiced views that favored European Americans. The Clark’s research was cited by the Supreme Court in 1954 when it overturned the “separate but equal” schools doctrine that had allowed inequalities in school services for various ethnic groups.
Latin American and Asian American psychologists have also made their mark. Jorge Sanchez was among the first to show how intelligence tests are culturally biased—to the disadvantage of Mexican American children. Latina American psychologist Lillian Comas-Diaz (2013) has edited a journal on multicultural mental health. Asian American psychologist Richard M. Suinn (2001) studies mental health and the development of identity among Asians and Asian Americans.
Figure 1.1 shows that the percentage of psychologists from ethnic minorities is higher among psychologists with new doctorates than among APA members who include psychologists from older generations. Psychologists are becoming more diverse.
the percentage of new doctorates received by women (American Psychological Association, 2009, 2012).
Women have made indispensable contributions to psychology. Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930) introduced the method of paired associates to study memory (see Chapter 7), discovered the primacy and recency effects, and engaged in research into the role of the frequency of repetition in the vividness of memories. Calkins had studied psychology at Harvard University, which she had to attend as a “guest student,” because Harvard was not yet admitting women. When she completed her Ph.D. requirements, Harvard would not award her the degree because of her sex. Instead, Harvard offered to grant her a doctorate from its sister school, Radcliffe. As a form of protest, Calkins declined the offer. Even without the Ph.D., Calkins went on to become president of the American Psychological Association.
GENDER Gender refers to the culturally defined concepts of masculinity and femininity Gender is not fully defined by anatomic sex. It involves a com plex web of cultural expectations and social roles that affect people’s self-concepts and hopes and dreams as well as their behavior. Just as members of ethnic minority groups have experienced prejudice, so too have women.
In more recent years, Mary Salter Ainsworth (1913–1999) revolutionized our understanding of attachment between parents and children by means of her cross-cultural studies. Loftus, E. (2015) has shown that our memories are not snapshots of the past. Instead, they often consist of something old (what actually happened), something new (i.e., influenced by more recent events), something borrowed (e.g., further shaped by our biases and prejudices), and something blue (altered by tinges of color or emotion).
Although American women have attended college only since 1833, when Oberlin College opened its doors to women, most American college students today are in fact women. Women APA members outnumber APA members (refer back to Figure 1.1), and their numbers are growing dramatically, as shown by
The contributions of members of diverse ethnic groups and women have broadened our understanding of the in uences of ethnicity and gender on behavior and mental processes. They have also increased our knowledge of differences among Europeans. For example, Southern European singles (from Italy, Greece, and Portugal) are more likely than Northern
How did “the Doll Experiment” by Kenneth Bancroft Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark influence a Supreme Court decision?
MARY WHITON CALKINS
At a time when men dominated the discipline of psychology, Mary Whiton Calkins was one of the pioneers who fought the male-centered bias and encouraged psychology to incorporate the values of the “new woman” (Rogers, 2009). She pioneered research in memory at Wellesley College, where she founded a psychology laboratory in 1891. She introduced the method of paired associates, discovered the primacy and recency effects, and engaged in research into the role of the frequency of repetition in the vividness of memories.
European singles (from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Scandinavia) to live with their parents until they get married (Giuliano, 2007). The researcher suggests that the family ties of Southern Europeans seem to be relatively stronger.
T F Even though she had worked to complete all the degree requirements, the first female president of the American Psychological Association turned down the doctoral degree that was offered to her.
It is true that the first female president of the American Psychological Association, Mary Whiton Calkins, turned down the doctoral degree that was offered to her by Radcliffe. Radcliffe was Harvard University’s “sister school,” and she rejected the sexism that was preventing her from receiving the degree that she had actually earned at Harvard.
1-4 HOW PSYCHOLOGISTS STUDY BEHAVIOR AND MENTAL PROCESSES
Does alcohol cause aggression? Does watching violence on television cause children to be violent? Why do some people hardly ever think of food, whereas others are obsessed with it and snack all day? Why do some unhappy people attempt suicide, whereas others
don’t? How does having people of different ethnic backgrounds collaborating in their work affect feelings of prejudice?
Many of us have expressed opinions—maybe strong opinions—on questions like these. But as we saw in our discussion of people who claim to be abducted by aliens from outer space, scientists insist on evidence. Psychologists, like other scientists, use careful means to observe and measure behavior and the factors that in uence behavior.
Psychologists use the scienti c method to decide what kind of evidence they need and how to pursue it. They also select the population they intend to study, such as U.S. teenagers or older adults, and try to obtain a representative sample of that population.
1-4a THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The scientific method is an organized way of using experience and testing ideas to expand and refine knowledge. Psychologists do not necessarily follow the steps of the scienti c method as we might follow a recipe in a cookbook, but research is guided by certain principles.
Psychologists usually begin by formulating a research question . Research questions can have many sources. Our daily experiences, psychological theory, and even folklore all help generate questions for research. Daily experience in using day-care centers may motivate us to conduct research on whether day care affects the development of social skills or the bonds of attachment between children and their parents. Social cognitive principles of observational learning may prompt research on the effects of television violence. Research questions may also arise from common knowledge. Consider familiar adages such as “misery loves company” and “opposites attract.” Psychologists may ask: Does misery love company? Do opposites attract?
A research question may be studied as a question or reworded as a hypothesis (see Figure 1.5). A hypothesis is a statement about behavior or mental processes that is testable through research. A hypothesis about day care might be that preschoolers who are placed in day care will acquire greater social skills in relating to peers than preschoolers who are cared for in the home.
scientific method an organized way of using experience and testing ideas to expand and refine knowledge
hypothesis in psychology, a specific statement about behavior or mental processes that is tested through research
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Psychological theory Daily experiences
Commonly held beliefs
Research questions Hypotheses
Examining the research questions
Hypothesis testing
Evidence (observations)
Drawing conclusions
Theory construction or modification
New research questions or hypotheses
The scientific method is a systematic way of organizing and expanding scientific knowledge.
Psychologists next examine the research question or test the hypothesis through controlled methods such as the experiment. For example, we could take a group of preschoolers who attend day care and another group who do not and introduce each to a new child in a controlled setting such as a child-research center. We could then observe how children in each group interact with the new acquaintance.
correlation an association or relationship among variables, as we might find between height and weight, or between study habits and school grades
selection factor a source of bias that may occur in research findings when participants are allowed to choose for themselves a certain treatment in a scientific study
hypotheses were derived. Research ndings often suggest re nements to psychological theories and new avenues of research. In our research on day care, we might nd that children in day care show greater social skills than children who are cared for in the home (Belsky et al., 2001).
As psychologists draw conclusions from research evidence, they are guided by principles of critical thinking. For example, they try not to confuse correlations or associations—between ndings with cause and effect. Although more aggressive children apparently spend more time watching violent television shows, it may be erroneous to conclude from this kind of evidence that television violence causes aggressive behavior. A selection factor may be at work because the children being studied choose (select) for themselves what they will watch. Perhaps more aggressive children are more likely than less aggressive children to tune in to violent television shows.
1-4b SAMPLES AND POPULATIONS
Consider a piece of history that never quite happened: The Republican candidate Alf Landon defeated the incumbent president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1936. Or at least Landon did so in a poll conducted by a popular magazine of the day, the Literary Digest In the actual election, however, Roosevelt routed Landon by a landslide. In effect, the Literary Digest accomplished something like this when they predicted a Landon victory. How was so great a discrepancy possible?
The Literary Digest , you see, had surveyed voters by phone. Today, telephone sampling is still widely practiced, but the Literary Digest poll was taken during the Great Depression, when people who had telephones were much wealthier than those who did not. People at higher income levels are also more likely to vote
Psychologists draw conclusions about their research questions or the accuracy of their hypotheses on the basis of their observations or findings. When their observations do not bear out their hypotheses, they may modify the theories from which the
T F You could survey millions of voters and still not accurately predict the outcome of a presidential election.
It is true that you could survey millions of voters and still not predict the outcome of a presidential election. Samples must be representative; size alone may not matter.
FIG.1.5
The Importance of Sample Selection
You may ask 20,000 people like this who they will vote for in the U.S. presidential election, but it will probably not help you determine the winner. Wealthy people tend to vote Republican, and in order to make your prediction, you need to sample people who represent the target population—that is, Americans of various income levels who are likely to vote.
Republican, in this case, for Landon. Question: Is telephone sampling valid if it omits people—like many college students!—whose only telephone is a cellphone?
The Literary Digest poll failed because of its method of sampling. A sample is a segment of a population that must be drawn so that it accurately represents that population. Only representative samples allow us to generalize—or extend—our ndings from research samples to target populations, such as U.S. voters, and not subgroups such as southern Californians or European American members of the middle class.
do not extend to college women, who, as we see in Chapter 4, are affected more quickly than men are by alcohol.
Also, compared to the general adult male population, college men are younger and score higher on intelligence tests. Social drinkers may also differ biologically and psychologically from alcoholics, who have dif culty controlling their drinking.
By and large, we must also question whether ndings of research with men can be generalized to women, and whether research with European American men can be extended to members of ethnic minority groups.
RANDOM AND STRATIFIED SAMPLING
“All generalizations are dangerous, even this one.”
One way to achieve a representative sample is by means of random sampling. In a random sample , each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected to participate. Researchers can also use a stratified sample, which is selected so that identi ed subgroups in the population are represented proportionately in the sample. For instance, 13% of the American population is African American. A strati ed sample would thus be 13% African American. As a practical matter, a large randomly selected sample will show reasonably accurate strati cation. A random sample of 1,500 people will represent the broad American population reasonably well. However, a sample of 20,000 European Americans or men will not.
1-4c PROBLEMS IN GENERALIZING FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Many factors must be considered when interpreting the accuracy of the results of scienti c research. One is the nature of the research sample. Later in the chapter, we consider research in which the participants were drawn from a population of college men who were social drinkers. That is, they tended to drink at social gatherings but not when alone. Who do college men represent other than themselves? To whom can we extend, or generalize, the results? For one thing, they
Large-scale magazine surveys of sexual behavior ask readers to ll out and return questionnaires. Although many thousands of readers complete the questionnaires and send them in, do the survey respondents represent the American population? Probably not. These and similar studies may be in uenced by volunteer bias. People who offer or volunteer to participate in research studies differ systematically from
sample part of a population
population a complete group of interest to researchers, from which a sample is drawn
random sample a sample drawn so that each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected to participate stratified sample a sample drawn so that identified subgroups in the population are represented proportionately in the sample
volunteer bias a source of bias or error in research reflecting the prospect that people who offer to participate in research studies differ systematically from people who do not
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
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Alexandre Dumas
people who do not. In the case of research on sexual behavior, volunteers may represent subgroups of the population—or of readers of the magazines in question— who are willing to disclose intimate information and therefore may also be likely to be more liberal in their sexual behavior (Rathus et al., 2017). Volunteers may also be more interested in research than other people, as well as have more spare time. How might such volunteers differ from the population at large? How might such differences slant or bias the research outcomes?
1-5 METHODS OF RESEARCH
Many people consider themselves experts on behavior and mental processes. How many times, for example, have you or someone else been eager to share a life experience that proves some point about human nature?
We see much during our lifetimes, but our personal observations tend to be eeting and unsystematic. We sift through experience for the things that interest us. We often ignore the obvious because it does not t our assumptions about the way things ought to be. Scientists, however, have devised more controlled ways of studying others.
1-5a METHODS OF OBSERVATION
Nearly all kinds of psychological research involve observation of the behavior of samples of populations. But some methods—the case study, the survey, and naturalistic observation— are mainly descriptive in nature.
THE CASE STUDY Case studies collect information about individuals and small groups. Many case studies are clinical; that is, they are descriptions of a person’s psychological problems and how a psychologist treated
case study a carefully drawn biography that may be obtained through interviews, questionnaires, and psychological tests
them. Case studies are sometimes used to investigate rare occurrences, as in the case of Chris Sizemore, who was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder (“multiple personalities”). A psychiatrist identi ed three distinct personalities in Chris. Her story was made into a movie called The Three Faces of Eve (a ctitious name). One personality, “Eve White,” was a mousy, wellmeaning woman. “Eve Black,” a irtatious and promiscuous personality sometimes emerged and took control of Eve. A third personality, “Jane,” was well-adjusted and integrated parts of the personalities of the Eves.
Case studies are subject to inaccuracies. We find gaps and factual errors in people’s memories (Bernstein & Loftus, 2009). People may also distort their pasts to please or to antagonize the interviewer. Interviewers may also have certain expectations and may subtly encourage participants to fill in gaps in ways that are consistent with these expectations. Psychoanalysts, for example, have been criticized for guiding people who seek their help into viewing their own lives from the psychodynamic perspective (Hergenhahn & Henley, 2014). No wonder, then, that many people provide “evidence” that is consistent with psychodynamic theory—such as, “My parents’ inept handling of my toilet training is the source of my compulsive neatness.” However, interviewers of any theoretical viewpoint may subtly prod people into saying what they want to hear.
The Kinsey Studies. In the film biography Kinsey, Liam Neeson played Alfred Kinsey, the scientist who investigated human sexuality during a time when even talking about sex was considered indecent.
THE SURVEY Just as computers and pollsters predict election results and report national opinion on the basis of scienti cally selected samples, psychologists conduct surveys to learn about behavior and mental processes that cannot be observed in the natural setting or studied experimentally. Psychologists conducting surveys may employ questionnaires and interviews or examine public records. One of the advantages of the survey is that by distributing questionnaires and analyzing answers with a computer, psychologists can study many thousands of people at a time.
One of the best-known surveys, the so-called Kinsey reports, provided surprising information about people’s sexual behavior during the middle of the 20th century, a time of widespread sexual repression in the United States. Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues published two surveys of sexual behavior, based on interviews: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). The nation was shocked to hear that masturbation was virtually universal in his sample of men in a day when masturbation was still widely thought to impair health. At the time, it was also widely believed that nearly all single women were virgins. Yet Kinsey found that about one woman in three who remained single at age 25 reported having engaged in sexual intercourse. Surveys, like case studies, also have sources of inaccuracy (Schwartz, 2007). People may recall their behavior inaccurately or deny or lie about it. Some people try to ingratiate themselves with their interviewers by answering in a socially desirable direction. (You can learn whether you tend to respond in the social desirable direction by taking the self-assessment at the end of the chapter.)
The Kinsey studies all relied on male interviewers, but it has been speculated that female interviewees might have been more open with female interviewers. Similar problems may occur when interviewers and the people surveyed are from different ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds. Other people may falsify attitudes and exaggerate problems to draw attention to themselves or to intentionally foul up the results.
Consider some survey errors caused by inaccurate self-reports of behavior. If people brushed their teeth as often as they claimed and used the amount of toothpaste they indicated, three times as much toothpaste would be sold in the United States as is actually sold (Koerber et al., 2006). People also over report the extent to which they follow doctors’ orders (Wilson et al., 2009) and underreport how much they smoke (Swan et al., 2007). Why do you think this is so?
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION You use naturalistic observation —that is, you observe people in their natural habitats—every day. Naturalistic observation allows psychologists and other scientists to observe behavior where it happens, or “in the eld.” Observers use unobtrusive measures to avoid interfering with the behaviors they are observing. For example, Jane Goodall has observed the behavior of chimpanzees in their natural environment to learn about their social behavior, sexual behavior, use of tools, and other facts of chimp life (Peterson, 2006; Pusey et al., 2008). Her observations have shown us that (a) we were incorrect to think that only humans use tools and (b) kissing on the lips, as a greeting, is used by chimps as well as humans.
Naturalistic Observation.
Jane Goodall’s naturalistic observations revealed that chimpanzees—like humans—use tools and greet one another with a kiss.
1-5b CORRELATION
Once psychologists have observed the behavior of their samples, they often use correlation to try to answer questions such as, are people with higher intelligence more likely to do well in school? Are people with a stronger need for achievement likely to climb higher up the corporate ladder? What is the relationship between stress and health?
survey a method of scientific investigation in which a large sample of people answer questions about their attitudes or behavior naturalistic observation a scientific method in which organisms are observed in their natural environments
CHAPTER 1: What Is Psychology?
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Correlation follows observation. By using the correlational method , psychologists investigate whether observed behavior or a measured trait is related to, or correlated with, another. Consider the variables of intelligence and academic performance. These variables are assigned numbers such as intelligence test scores and academic averages. Then the numbers are mathematically related and expressed as a correlation coefficient (r). A correlation coef cient is a number that varies from r = +1.00 to r = −1.00.
Studies report positive correlations between intelligence test scores and academic achievement, as measured, for example, by grade point averages. That is, the higher people score on intelligence tests, the better their academic performance is likely to be. Intelligence test scores tend to be positively correlated (about r = +0.30 to r = +0.60) with academic achievement (see Figure 1.6). But factors other than performance on intelligence tests also contribute to academic success. These include early learning opportunities, desire to get ahead, self-discipline, ability to manage stress, and belief in one’s ability to succeed (Nisbett, 2013; Jennings et al., 2009; Thomas, 2008).
Many correlations are negative correlations ; that is, as one variable increases, the other variable decreases. For example, there is a negative correlation between stress and health. As the amount of stress affecting us increases, the functioning of our
correlational method a mathematical method of determining whether one variable increases or decreases as another variable increases or decreases
correlation coefficient a number between +1.00 and −1.00 that expresses the strength and direction (positive or negative) of the relationship between two variables
experiment a scientific method that seeks to confirm cause-and-effect relationships by introducing independent variables and observing their effects on dependent variables
immune system decreases. Under high levels of stress, many people show poorer health.
What kinds of correlations (positive or negative) would you expect to nd among behavior patterns such as the following: Churchgoing and crime? Language ability and musical ability? Grades in school and delinquency? Why?
Correlational research may suggest, but does not prove, cause and effect. For example, it may seem logical to assume that high intelligence makes it possible for children to pro t from education. However, research has also shown that education contributes to higher scores on intelligence tests (Nisbett, 2009). Preschoolers who are placed in stimulating Head Start programs later attain higher scores on intelligence tests than age-mates who did not have this experience. What of the link between stress and health? Does stress impair health, or is it possible that people in poorer health encounter more stress?
1-5c THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
The preferred method for answering questions about cause and effect is the experiment. In an experiment, a group of participants obtains a treatment, such as a dose
When there is a positive correlation between variables, as there is between intelligence and achievement, one increases as the other increases. By and
experience increases, the functioning of our immune system tends to decrease.
FIG.1.6 CORRELATIONS
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people’s bad treatment of us, and that she must prevent her Traders from killing us with their measles, and from telling us lies to make us do bad conduct to Missi! If they come to us and talk as before, our hearts are very dark and may again lead us to bad conduct to Missi.”
After this little parley, the Commodore invited us all on board, along with the Chiefs. They saw about three hundred brave marines ranked up on deck, and heard a great cannon discharged. For all such efforts to impress them and open their eyes, I felt profoundly grateful; but too clearly I knew and saw that only the grace of God could lastingly change them!
They were soon back to their old arguments, and were heard saying to one another, “If no punishment is inflicted on the Erromangans for murdering the Missi there, we fear the bad conduct of the Tannese will continue.”
No punishment was inflicted at Erromanga, and the Tannese were soon as bold and wicked as ever. For instance, while the Man-of-war lay in the Harbour, Nowar kept himself closely concealed; but no sooner had she sailed than the cowardly fellow came out, laughing at the others, and protesting that he was under no promise and was free to act as he pleased! Yet in the hour of danger he generally proved to be our friend; such was his vacillating character. Nor was Miaki very seriously impressed. Mr. Mathieson shortly thereafter sent his boat round to me, being again short of European food. On his crew leaving her to deliver their message to me, some of Miaki’s men at once jumped into the boat and started off round the island in search of kava. I went to Miaki, to ask that the boat might be brought back soon, but on seeing me he ran for his club and aimed to strike me. I managed to seize it, and to hold on, pleading with God and talking with Miaki, till by the interference of some friendly Natives his wrath was assuaged a little. Returning home, I sent food overland to keep them going till the boat returned, which she did in about eight days. Thus light and shadow pursued each other, the light brightening for a moment, but upon the whole the shadows deepening.
CHAPTER X. FAREWELL SCENES.
The War Fever.—Forced to the War Council.—A Truce among the Chiefs.—Chiefs and People.—The Kiss of Judas.—The Death of Ian.—The Quivering Knife.—A War of Revenge.—In the Thick of the Battle.—Tender Mercies of the Wicked.—Escape for Life. —The Loss of All.—Under the Tomahawk.—Jehovah is Hearing.—The Host Turned Back.—The War against Manuman.—Traps Laid.—House Broken Up.—War against our Friends.—A Treacherous Murderer.—On the Chestnut Tree.— Bargaining for Life.—Five Hours in a Canoe.—Kneeling on the Sands.—Faimungo’s Farewell.—“Follow! Follow!”—A Race for Life.—Ringed Round with Death.—Faint yet Pursuing.—Out of the Lion’s Jaws.—Brothers in Distress.—Intervening Events.— A Cannibal’s Taste.—Pillars of Cloud and of Fire.—Passing by on the other Side.—Kapuku and the Idol Gods.—A Devil Chief. —In Perils Oft.—Through Fire and Water.—“Sail O! Sail O!”— Let Me Die.—In Perils on the Sea.—Tannese Visitors.—The Devil Chief of Tanna.—Speckled and Spotted.—Their Desired Haven.—“I am Left Alone.”—My Earthly All.—Eternal Hope.— Australia to the Rescue.—For my Brethren’s Sake.—A New Holy League.—The Uses of Adversity.—The Arm-Chair Critics Again.—Concluding Note.—Prospectus of Part Second.
A time of great excitement amongst the Natives now prevailed. War, war, nothing but war was spoken of! Preparations for war were being made in all the villages far and near. Fear sat on every face, and armed bands kept watching each other, as if uncertain where the war was to begin or by whom. All work was suspended, and that war
spirit was let loose which rouses the worst passions of human nature. Again we found ourselves the centre of conflict, one party set for killing us or driving us away; the other wishing to retain us, while all old bitter grievances were also dragged into their speeches.
Miaki and Nouka said, “If you will keep Missi and his Worship, take him with you to your own land, for we will not have him to live at the Harbour.”
Ian, the great Inland Chief, rose in wrath and said, “On whose land does the Missi live, yours or ours? Who fight against the Worship and all good, who are the thieves and murderers, who tell the lies, you or we? We wish peace, but you will have war. We like Missi and the Worship, but you hate them and say, ‘Take him to your own land!’ It is our land on which he now lives; it is his own land which he bought from you, but which our fathers sold Missi Turner long ago. The land was not yours to sell; it was really ours. Your fathers stole it from us long ago by war; but we would not have asked it back, had you not asked us to take Missi away. Now we will defend him on it, and he will teach us and our people in our own land!”
So meeting after meeting broke into fiery speech, and separated with many threats.
To the next great meeting I was invited, but did not go, contenting myself with a message pleading that they should live at peace and on no account go to war with each other. But Ian himself came for me.
I said, “Ian, I have told you my whole heart. Go not to that meeting. I will rather leave the island or die, than see you going to war about me!”
He answered, “Missi, come with me, come now!”
I replied, “Ian, you are surely not taking me away to kill me? If you are, my God will punish it.”
His only reply was, “Follow me, follow me quickly.”
I felt constrained to go.
He strode on before me till we reached the great village of his ancestors. His followers, armed largely with muskets as well as native weapons, filled one half the Village Square or dancing ground. Miaki, Nouka, and their whole party sat in manifest terror upon the other half. Marching into the centre, he stood with me by his side, and proudly looking round, exclaimed,—
“Missi, these are my men and your friends! We are met to defend you and the Worship.” Then pointing across to the other side, he cried aloud, “These are your enemies and ours! The enemies of the Worship, the disturbers of the peace on Tanna! Missi, say the word, and the muskets of my men will sweep all opposition away, and the Worship will spread and we will all be strong for it on Tanna. We will not shoot without your leave; but if you refuse they will kill you and persecute us and our children, and banish Jehovah’s Worship from our land.”
I said, “I love all of you alike. I am here to teach you how to turn away from all wickedness, to worship and serve Jehovah, and to live in peace. How can I approve of any person being killed for me or for the Worship? My God would be angry at me and punish me, if I did!”
He replied, “Then, Missi, you will be murdered and the Worship destroyed.”
I then stood forth in the middle before them all and cried, “You may shoot or murder me, but I am your best friend. I am not afraid to die. You will only send me the sooner to my Jehovah God, whom I love and serve, and to my dear Saviour Jesus Christ, who died for me and for you, and who sent me here to tell you all His love. If you will only love and serve Him and give up your bad conduct, you will be happy. But if you kill me, His messenger, rest assured that He will in His own time and way punish you. This is my word to you all; my love to you all!”
So saying, I turned to leave; and Ian strode sullenly away and stood at the head of his men, crying,—
“Missi, they will kill you! they will kill us, and you will be to blame!”
Miaki and Nouka, full of deceit, now cried out,—
“Missi’s word is good! Let us all obey it. Let us all worship.”
An old man, Sirawia, one of Ian’s under-chiefs, then said,—
“Miaki and Nouka say that the land on which Missi lives was theirs; though they sold it to him, and he has paid them for it, they all know that it was ours, and is yet ours by right; but if they let Missi live on it in peace, we will all live at peace, and worship Jehovah. And if not, we will surely claim it again.”
Miaki and his party hereon went off to their plantations, and brought a large present of food to Ian and his men as a peaceoffering. This they accepted; and the next day Ian and his men brought Miaki a return present and said,—
“You know that Missi lives on our land? Take our present, be friends, and let him live quietly and teach us all. Yesterday you said his word was good, obey it now, else we will punish you and defend the Missi.”
Miaki accepted the token, and gave good promises for the future. Ian then came to the hill-top near our house, by which passed the public path, and cried aloud in the hearing of all,—
“Abraham, tell Missi that you and he now live on our land. This path is the march betwixt Miaki and us. We have this day bought back the land of our fathers by a great price to prevent war. Take of our bread-fruits and also of our cocoa-nuts what you require, for you are our friends and living on our land, and we will protect you and the Worship!”
For some time things moved on quietly after this. An inland war, however, had continued for months. As many as ten men, they said, were sometimes killed in one day and feasted on by the warriors. Thousands had been thereby forced down from the mountains, and sought protection under Ian and his people. All the people claiming connection with his Tribe were called Naraimini; the people in the Volcano district were called the Kaserumini; and the Harbour Tribes were the Watarenmini; and so on all over the island. In such divisions, there might be from two to twenty Chiefs and Villages under one leader, and these stood by each other for purposes defensive and offensive. Now Nouka and Miaki had been frustrated in all their plans to get the Inland and the Harbour people involved in the war, as their own followers were opposed to it. In violation of his promises, however, Nouka invited all the men who wished to go to the war to meet him one morning, and only one appeared! Nouka, in great wrath, marched off to the war himself, but, as no one followed, he grew faint-hearted, and returned to his own village. On another morning, Miaki summoned all his fighting men; but only his own brother and six lads could be induced to accompany him, and with these he started off. But the enemy, hearing of his coming, had killed two of his principal allies the night before, and Miaki, learning
this, turned and fled to his own house, and was secretly laughed at by his tribe.
Next day, Nouka came to me professing great friendship and pleading with me to accompany him and Miaki to talk with the Kaserumini, and persuade them to give up the war. He was annoyed and disappointed when I refused to go. Nowar and others informed me, two days thereafter, that three persons had died in that district, that others were sick, and that the Heathen there had resolved to kill me in revenge as the cause of all. As Nouka’s wife was one of the victims, this scheme was concocted to entrap me. I was warned on no account to leave my house at night for a considerable time, but to keep it locked up and to let no one in after dark. The same two men from that district who had tried to kill Mr. Johnston and me, were again appointed and were watching for Abraham and me, lurking about in the evenings for that purpose. Again I saw how the Lord had preserved me from Miaki and Nouka! Truly all are safe who are in God’s keeping; and nothing can befall them, except for their real good and the glory of their Lord.
Chafed at the upsetting of all their plans and full of revenge, Nouka and Miaki and their allies declared publicly that they were now going to kill Ian by sorcery, i.e., by Nahak, more feared by the poor Tannese than the field of battle. Nothing but the grace of God and the enlightenment of His Spirit through the Scriptures, has ever raised these Natives above that paralyzing superstition. But, thank God, there are now, while I write this (1887), about twelve thousand in the New Hebrides who have been thus enlightened and lifted out of their terrors, for the Gospel is still, as of old, the power of God unto salvation! Strange to say, Ian became sick shortly after the Sacred Men had made the declaration about their Nahak-sorcery. I attended him, and for a time he recovered, and appeared very grateful. But he soon fell sick again. I sent him and the Chief next under him a blanket each; I also gave shirts and calico to a number of his leading men. They wore them and seemed grateful and pleased. Ian, however, gradually sank and got worse. He had every symptom of being poisoned, a thing easily accomplished, as they know and use many deadly poisons. His sufferings were very great, which prevented me from ascribing his collapse to mere superstitious terror. I did all that could be done; but all thought him dying, and of
course by sorcery. His people were angry at me for not consenting before to their shooting of Miaki; and Miaki’s people were now rejoicing that Ian was being killed by Nahak.
One night, his brother and a party came for me to go and see Ian, but I declined to go till the morning for fear of the fever and ague. On reaching his village, I saw many people about, and feared that I had been led into a snare; but I at once entered into his house to talk and pray with him, as he appeared to be dying. After prayer, I discovered that I was left alone with him, and that all the people had retired from the village; and I knew that, according to their custom, this meant mischief. Ian said,—
“SUDDENLY HE DREW ... A LARGE BUTCHER-LIKE KNIFE.”
“Come
near me, and sit by my bedside to talk with me, Missi.”
I did so, and while speaking to him he lay as if lost in a swoon of silent meditation. Suddenly he drew from the sugar-cane leaf thatch close to his bed, a large butcher-like knife, and instantly feeling the
edge of it with his other hand, he pointed it to within a few inches of my heart and held it quivering there, all a-tremble with excitement. I durst neither move nor speak, except that my heart kept praying to the Lord to spare me, or if my time was come to take me home to Glory with Himself. There passed a few moments of awful suspense. My sight went and came. Not a word had been spoken, except to Jesus; and then Ian wheeled the knife around, thrust it into the sugar-cane leaf, and cried to me,—
“Go, go quickly!”
Next moment I was on the road. Not a living soul was to be seen about the village. I understood then that it had been agreed that Ian was to kill me, and that they had all withdrawn so as not to witness it, so that when the Man-of-war came to inquire about me Ian would be dead, and no punishment could overtake the murderer. I walked quietly till quite free of the village, lest some hid in their houses might observe me. Thereafter, fearing that they, finding I had escaped, might overtake and murder me, I ran for my life a weary four miles till I reached the Mission House, faint, yet praising God for such a deliverance. Poor Ian died soon after, and his people strangled one of his wives and hanged another, and took out the three bodies together in a canoe and sank them in the sea.
Miaki was jubilant over having killed his enemy by Nahak; but the Inland people now assembled in thousands to help Sirawia and his brother to avenge that death on Miaki, Nouka and Karewick. These, on the other hand, boasted that they would kill all their enemies by Nahak-sorcery, and would call up a hurricane to destroy their houses, fruit trees, and plantations. Miaki and a number of his men also came to the Mission House; but, observing his sullen countenance, I asked kindly after his wife who was about to be confined, and gave a blanket, a piece of calico, and a bit of soap as a present for the baby. He seemed greatly pleased, whispered something to his men, and peaceably withdrew. Immediately after Miaki’s threat about bringing a storm, one of their great hurricanes actually smote that side of the island and laid everything waste. His enemies were greatly enraged, and many of the injured people united with them in demanding revenge on Miaki. Hitherto I had done everything in my power to prevent war, but now it seemed inevitable, and both parties sent word that if Abraham and I kept to the Mission
House no one would harm us. We had little faith in any of their promises, but there was no alternative for us.
On the following Saturday, 18th January, 1862, the war began. Musket after musket was discharged quite near us, and the bush all round rang with the yell of their war-cry, which if once heard will never be forgotten. It came nearer and nearer, for Miaki fled, and his people took shelter behind and around our house. We were placed in the heart of danger, and the balls flew thick all around us. In the afternoon Ian’s brother and his party retired, and Miaki quickly sent messengers and presents to the Inikahimini and Kaserumini districts, to assemble all their people and help him “to fight Missi and the Tannese who were friends of the Worship.” He said,—
“Let us cook his body and Abraham’s, and distribute them to every village on this side of the island!”
Yet all the while Miaki assured me that he had sent a friendly message. The war went on, and poor Nowar the Chief protected us, till he had a spear broken into his right knee. The enemy would have carried him off to feast on his body; but his young men, shouting wildly his name and battle-cry, rushed in with great impetuosity and carried their wounded Chief home in triumph. The Inland people now discharged muskets at my house and beat against the walls with their clubs. They smashed in the door and window of our store-room, broke open boxes and casks, tore my books to pieces and scattered them about, and carried off everything for which they cared, including my boat, mast, oars, and sails. They broke into Abraham’s house and plundered it; after which they made a rush at the bedroom, into which we were locked, firing muskets, yelling, and trying to break it in. A Chief, professing to be sorry for us called me to the window, but on seeing me he sent a tomahawk through it, crying,—
“Come on, let us kill him now!”
I replied, “My Jehovah God will punish you; a Man-of-war will come and punish you, if you kill Abraham, his wife, or me.”
He retorted, “It’s all lies about a Man-of-war! They did not punish the Erromangans. They are afraid of us. Come on, let us kill them!”
He raised his tomahawk and aimed to strike my forehead, many muskets were uplifted as if to shoot, so I raised a revolver in my right
hand and pointed it at them. The Rev. Joseph Copeland had left it with me on a former visit. I did not wish it, but he insisted upon leaving it, saying that the very knowledge that I had such a weapon might save my life. Truly, on this occasion it did so. Though it was harmless, they fell back quickly. My immediate assailant dropped to the ground, crying,—
“Missi has got a short musket! He will shoot you all!”
After lying flat on the ground for a little, they all got up and ran to the nearest bush, where they continued yelling about and showing their muskets. Towards nightfall they left, loaded with the plunder of the store and of Abraham’s house. So God once more graciously protected us from falling into their cruel hands.
In the evening, after they left, I went to Miaki and Nouka. They professed great sorrow at what had taken place, and pretended to have given them a present of food not to do us further injury. But Nowar informed us that, on the contrary, they had hired them to return and kill us next morning and plunder everything on the Mission premises. Miaki, with a sneer, said,—
“Missi, where was Jehovah to-day? There was no Jehovah to-day to protect you. It’s all lies about Jehovah. They will come and kill you, and Abraham, and his wife, and cut your bodies into pieces to be cooked and eaten in every village upon Tanna.”
I said, “Surely, when you had planned all this, and brought them to kill us and steal all our property, Jehovah did protect us, or we would not have been here!”
He replied, “There was no Jehovah to-day! We have no fear of any Man-of-war. They dare not punish us. They durst not punish the Erromangans for murdering the Gordons. They will talk to us and say we must not do so again, and give us a present. That is all. We fear nothing. The talk of all Tanna is that we will kill you and seize all your property to-morrow.”
I warned him that the punishment of a Man-of-war can only reach the body and the land, but that Jehovah’s punishment reached both body and soul in Time and in Eternity.
He replied: “Who fears Jehovah? He was not here to protect you to-day!”
“Yes,” I said, “my Jehovah God is here now. He hears all we say, sees all we do, and will punish the wicked and protect His own people.”
After this, a number of the people sat down around me, and I prayed with them. But I left with a very heavy heart, feeling that Miaki was evidently bent on our destruction.
I sent Abraham to consult Nowar, who had defended us till disabled by a spear in the right knee. He sent a canoe by Abraham, advising me to take some of my goods in it to his house by night, and he would try to protect them and us. The risk was so great, we could only take a very little. Enemies were on every hand to cut off our flight, and Miaki, the worst of all, whose village had to be passed in going to Nowar’s. In the darkness of the Mission House, we durst not light a candle for fear of some one seeing and shooting us. Not one of Nowar’s men durst come to help us. But in the end it made no difference, for Nowar and his men kept what was taken there as their portion of the plunder. Abraham, his wife, and I waited anxiously for the morning light. Miaki, the false and cruel, came to assure us that the Heathen would not return that day. Yet, as daylight came in, Miaki himself stood and blew a great conch not far from our house. I ran out to see why this trumpet-shell had been blown, and found it was the signal for a great company of howling armed savages to rush down the hill on the other side of the bay and make straight for the Mission House. We had not a moment to lose. To have remained would have been certain death to us all, and also to Matthew, a Teacher just arrived from Mr. Mathieson’s Station. Though I am by conviction a strong Calvinist, I am no Fatalist. I held on while one gleam of hope remained. Escape for life was now the only path of duty. I called the Teachers, locked the door, and made quickly for Nowar’s village. There was not a moment left to carry anything with us. In the issue, Abraham, his wife, and I lost all our earthly goods, and all our clothing except what we had on. My Bible, the few translations which I had made into Tannese, and a light pair of blankets I carried with me.
To me the loss was bitter, but as God had so ordered it, I tried to bow with resignation. All my deceased wife’s costly outfit, her piano, silver, cutlery, books, etc., with which her dear parents had provided her, besides all that I had in the world; also a box worth £56, lately
arrived, full of men’s clothing and medicine, the gift of my dear friends, Samuel Wilson, Esq., and Mrs. Wilson, of Geelong. The Sandal-wood Traders bought all the stolen property for tobacco, powder, balls, caps, and shot. One Trader gathered together a number of my books in a sadly torn and wasted condition and took them to Aneityum, demanding £10 from Dr. Geddie for his trouble. He had to pay him £7 10s., which I repaid to him on my second return to the Islands. This, by way of digression, only to show how white and black Heathenism meet together.
Let us return to the morning of our flight. We could not take the usual path along the beach, for there our enemies would have quickly overtaken us. We entered the bush in the hope of getting away unobserved. But a cousin of Miaki, evidently secreted to watch us, sprang from behind a bread-fruit tree, and swinging his tomahawk, aimed it at my brow with a fiendish look. Avoiding it, I turned upon him and said in a firm bold voice,—
“If you dare to strike me, my Jehovah God will punish you. He is here to defend me now!”
The man, trembling, looked all round as if to see the God who was my defender, and the tomahawk gradually lowered at his side. With my eye fixed upon him, I gradually moved backwards in the track of the Teachers, and God mercifully restrained him from following me.
On reaching Nowar’s village unobserved, we found the people terror-stricken, crying, rushing about in despair at such a host of armed savages approaching. I urged them to ply their axes, cut down trees, and blockade the path. For a little they wrought vigorously at this; but when, so far as eye could reach, they saw the shore covered with armed men rushing on towards their village, they were overwhelmed with fear, they threw away their axes and weapons of war, they cast themselves headlong on the ground, and they knocked themselves against the trees as if to court death before it came. They cried,—
“Missi, it’s of no use! We will all be killed and eaten to-day! See what a host are coming against us.”
Mothers snatched up little children and ran to hide in the bush. Others waded as far as they could into the sea with them, holding their heads above the water. The whole village collapsed in a
condition of indescribable terror. Nowar, lame with his wounded knee, got a canoe turned upside-down and sat upon it where he could see the whole approaching multitude. He said,—
“Missi, sit down beside me, and pray to our Jehovah God, for if He does not send deliverance now, we are all dead men. They will kill us all on your account, and that quickly. Pray, and I will watch!”
They had gone to the Mission House and broken in the door, and finding that we had escaped, they rushed on to Nowar’s village. For, as they began to plunder the bedroom, Nouka said,—
“Leave everything. Missi will come back for his valuable things at night, and then we will get them and him also!”
So he nailed up the door, and they all marched for Nowar’s. We prayed as one can only pray when in the jaws of death and on the brink of Eternity. We felt that God was near, and omnipotent to do what seemed best in His sight. When the savages were about three hundred yards off, at the foot of a hill leading up to the village, Nowar touched my knee, saying,—
“Missi, Jehovah is hearing! They are all standing still.”
Had they come on they would have met with no opposition, for the people were scattered in terror. On gazing shorewards, and round the Harbour, as far as we could see, was a dense host of warriors, but all were standing still, and apparently absolute silence prevailed. We saw a messenger or herald running along the approaching multitude, delivering some tidings as he passed, and then disappearing in the bush. To our amazement, the host began to turn, and slowly marched back in great silence, and entered the remote bush at the head of the Harbour. Nowar and his people were in ecstasies, crying out,—
“Jehovah has heard Missi’s prayer! Jehovah has protected us and turned them away back.”
We were on that day His trusting and defenceless children; would you not, had you been one of our circle, have joined with us in praising the Lord God for deliverance from the jaws of death? I know not why they turned back; but I have no doubt it was the doing of God to save our lives.
We learned that they all assembled in a cleared part of the bush and there held a great wrangling palaver. Nouka and Miaki advised them first to fight Manuman and his people. They said,—
“His brother, the Sacred Man Kanini, killed Ian by Nahak. He is a friend of Missi and of the Worship. He also sent the hurricane to destroy us. They have plenty of yams and pigs. Let us fight and plunder them, and when they are out of the way, we will be strong to destroy Missi and the Worship.”
On this the whole mass went and attacked Manuman’s first village, where they murdered two of his men, two women, and two children. The inhabitants fled, and all the sick, the feeble, and the children who fell into their hands were reported to us to be murdered, cooked, and eaten. Led on by Miaki, they plundered and burned seven villages.
About mid-day, Nouka and Miaki sent their cousin Jonas, who had always been friendly to me, to say that I might return to my house in safety, as they were now carrying the war inland. Jonas had spent some years on Samoa, and been much with Traders in Sydney, and spoke English well; but we felt they were deceiving us. That night, Abraham ventured to creep near the Mission House, to test whether we might return, and save some valuable things, and get a change of clothing. The house appeared to stand as when they nailed up the door. But a large party of Miaki’s allies at once enclosed Abraham, and, after asking many questions about me, they let him go since I was not there. Had I gone there, they would certainly that night have killed me. Again, at midnight, Abraham and his wife and Matthew went to the Mission House, and found Nouka, Miaki, and Karewick near by, concealed in the bush among the reeds. Once more they enclosed them, thinking I was there too, but Nouka, finding that I was not, cried out,—
“Don’t kill them just now! Wait till Missi comes.”
Hearing this, Matthew slipped into the bush and escaped. Abraham’s wife waded into the sea, and they allowed her to get away. Abraham was allowed to go to the Mission House, but he too crept into the bush, and after an anxious waiting they all came back to me in safety. We now gave up all hope of recovering anything from the house.
Towards morning, when Miaki and his men saw that I was not coming back to deliver myself into their hands, they broke up my house and stole all they could carry away. They tore my books, and scattered them about. They took away the type of my printing-press,
to be made into bullets for their muskets. For similar uses they melted down the zinc lining of my boxes, and everything else that could be melted. What they could not take away, they destroyed. I lay on the ground all night, concealed in an outhouse of Nowar’s, but it was a sleepless and anxious night, not only to me and my Aneityumese, but also to Nowar and his people.
Next day, the attack was renewed by the three Chiefs on the district of my dear friend Manuman. His people fled; the villages were burned; all who came in their way were killed, and all food and property carried away. At night they returned to keep watch over Nowar and me. When darkness was setting in, Miaki sent for me to go and speak with him, but Nowar and the Aneityumese were all so opposed to it that I did not go. Messages were sent to Nowar, threatening to kill him and his people for protecting me, and great excitement prevailed.
Another incident added horror to the memories of this day. A savage from Erromanga, living with Nowar, had gone to the war that day. He got near a village unobserved, climbed into a tree, and remained there watching. After mid-day, Kamkali, a true friend of mine, the Chief of his village, came home wearied from the war, got his blanket, stealthily crept into a quiet place in the bush, rolled himself up, and lay down to sleep; for, according to their custom, the leading warriors in times of conflict seldom sleep in their own houses, and seldom twice in the same place even in the bush, for fear of personal danger. The Erromangan, having watched till he was sound asleep, crept to where he lay, raised his club and smashed in his skull. He told, when he came home, how the blood ran from nose, mouth, and ears, with a gurgling sound in his throat, and after a few convulsive struggles all was over! And the people around Nowar praised him for his deed. Cocoa-nuts were brought for him to drink, and food was presented before him in large quantities, as to one who had done something noble. For safety, he was put into the same house where I had to sit, and even Nowar honoured him. I watched for the workings of a natural man’s conscience under the guilt of murder. When left alone, he shook every now and then with agitation, and started round with a terrified gaze. He looked the picture of a man who felt that he had done to his neighbour what he would not have liked another to do to him. I wonder if that
consciousness ever dies out, in the lowest and worst, that last voice of God in the soul?
That very night, Nowar declared that I must leave his village before morning, else he and his people would be killed for protecting me. He advised me, as the sea was good, to try for Mr. Mathieson’s Station; but he objected to my taking away any of my property—he would soon follow with it himself! But how to sail? Miaki had stolen my boat, mast, sails, and oars, as also an excellent canoe made for me and paid for by me on Aneityum; and he had threatened to shoot any person that assisted me to launch either the one or the other. The danger, however, was so great that Nowar said,—
“You cannot remain longer in my house! My son will guide you to the large chestnut tree in my plantation in the bush. Climb up into it, and remain there till the moon rises.”
Being entirely at the mercy of such doubtful and vacillating friends, I, though perplexed, felt it best to obey. I climbed into the tree, and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me as if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe in the arms of Jesus! Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among these chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Saviour’s spiritual presence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then?
Gladly would I have lingered there for one night of comparative peace! But, about midnight, Nowar sent his son to call me down from the tree, and to guide me to the shore where he himself was, as it was now time to take to sea in the canoe. Pleading for my Lord’s continuing presence, I had to obey. My life and the lives of my Aneityumese now hung upon a very slender thread, and was almost equally at risk from our friends so-called, and from our enemies. Had I been a stranger to Jesus and to prayer, my reason would verily have given way, but my comfort and joy sprang up out of these: “I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee; lo, I am with you alway!” Pleading these promises, I followed my guide. We reached the beach, just inside the Harbour, at a beautiful white sandy bay on Nowar’s ground, from which our canoe was to start. A good number of the Natives had assembled there to see us off. Arkurat, having got a large roll of calico from me for the loan of his canoe, hid it away, and then refused the canoe, saying that if he had to escape with his family he would require it. He demanded, for the loan of his canoe, an axe, a sail for his canoe, and a pair of blankets. As Karis had the axe and another had the quilt, I gave the quilt to him for a sail, and the axe and blankets for the canoe. In fact, these few relics of our earthly all at Nowar’s were coveted by the savages and endangered our lives, and it was as well to get rid of them altogether. He cruelly proposed a small canoe for two; but I had hired the canoe for five, and insisted upon getting it, as he had been well paid for it. As he only laughed and mocked us, I prepared to start and travel overland to Mr. Mathieson’s Station. He then said,—
“My wrath is over! You may take it and go.”
We launched it, but now he refused to let us go till daylight. He had always been one of my best friends, but now appeared bent on a quarrel, so I had to exercise much patience with him and them. Having launched it, he said I had hired the canoe but not the paddles. I protested,—
“Surely you know we hired the paddles too. What could we do without paddles?”
But Arkurat lay down and pretended to have fallen asleep, snoring on the sand, and could not be awaked. I appealed to Nowar, who only said—
“That is his conduct, Missi, our conduct!”
I replied, “As he has got the blankets which I saved to keep me from ague and fever, and I have nothing left now but the clothes I have on, surely you will give me paddles.”
Nowar gave me one. Returning to the village, friends gave me one each till I got other three. Now Arkurat started up, and refused to let us go. A Chief and one of his men, who lived on the other side of the island near to where we were going, and who was hired by me to go with us and help in paddling the canoe, drew back also and refused
to go. Again I offered to leave the canoe, and walk overland if possible, when Faimungo, the Chief who had refused to go with us, came forward and said,—
“Missi, they are all deceiving you! The sea is so rough, you cannot go by it; and if you should get round the weather point, Miaki has men appointed to shoot you as you pass the Black Rocks, while by land all the paths are guarded by armed men. I tell you the truth, having heard all their talk. Miaki and Karewick say they hate the Worship, and will kill you. They killed your goats, and stole all your property yesterday. Farewell!”
The Teachers, the boy, and I now resolved to enter the canoe and attempt it, as the only gleam of hope left to us. After Faimungo came, the man to whom the canoe belonged had withdrawn from us, it having transpired that Miaki would not attack us that night, as other game had attracted his savage eyes. My party of five now embarked in our frail canoe; Abraham first, I next, Matthew after me, the boy at the steering paddle, and Abraham’s wife sitting in the bottom, where she might hold on while it continued to float. For a mile or more we got away nicely under the lee of the island, but when we turned to go south for Mr. Mathieson’s Station, we met the full force of wind and sea, every wave breaking over and almost swamping our canoe. The Native lad at the helm paddle stood up crying,—
“Missi, this is the conduct of the sea! It swallows up all who seek its help.”
I answered, “We do not seek help from it but from Jehovah Jesus.”
Our danger became very great, as the sea broke over and lashed around us. My faithful Aneityumese, overcome with terror, threw down their paddles, and Abraham said,—
“Missi, we are all drowned now! We are food for the sharks. We might as well be eaten by the Tannese as by fishes; but God will give us life with Jesus in heaven!”
I seized the paddle nearest me; I ordered Abraham to seize another within his reach; I enjoined Matthew to bail the canoe for life, and the lad to keep firm in his seat, and I cried,—
“Stand to your post, and let us return! Abraham, where is now your faith in Jesus? Remember, He is Ruler on sea as on land. Abraham, pray and ply your paddle! Keep up stroke for stroke with
me, as our lives depend on it. Our God can protect us. Matthew, bail with all your might. Don’t look round on the sea and fear. Let us pray to God and ply our paddles, and He will save us yet!”
Dear old Abraham said,—
“Thank you for that, Missi. I will be strong. I pray to God and ply my paddle. God will save us!”
With much labour, and amid deadly perils, we got the canoe turned; and after four hours of a terrible struggle, we succeeded, towards daylight as the tide turned, in again reaching smooth water. With God’s blessing we at last reached the shore, exactly where we had left it five hours ago!
Now drenched and weary, with the skin of our hands sticking to the paddles, we left the canoe on the reef and waded ashore. Many Natives were there, and looked sullen and disappointed at our return. Katasian, the lad who had been with us, instantly fled for his own land; and the Natives reported that he was murdered soon after. Utterly exhausted, I lay down on the sand and instantly fell into a deep sleep. By-and-by I felt some one pulling from under my head the native bag in which I carried my Bible and the Tannese translations—the all that had been saved by me from the wreck! Grasping the bag, I sprang to my feet, and the man ran away. My Teachers had also a hedging knife, a useless revolver, and a fowlingpiece, the sight of which, though they had been under the salt water for hours, God used to restrain the savages. Calling my Aneityumese near, we now in united prayer and kneeling on the sands committed each other unto the Lord God, being prepared for the last and worst.
As I sat meditating on the issues, Faimungo, the friendly Inland Chief, again appeared to warn us of our danger, now very greatly increased by our being driven back from the sea. All Nowar’s men had fled, and were hid in the bush and in rocks along the shore; while Miaki was holding a meeting not half a mile away, and preparing to fall upon us. Faimungo said,—
“Farewell, Missi, I am going home. I don’t wish to see the work and the murders of this morning.”
He was Nowar’s son-in-law. He had always been truthful and kindly with me. His home was about half-way across the island, on the road that we wanted to go, and under sudden impulse I said,—
“Faimungo, will you let us follow you? Will you show us the path? When the Mission Ship arrives, I will give you three good axes, blankets, knives, fish-hooks, and many things you prize.”
The late hurricanes had so destroyed and altered the paths, that only Natives who knew them well could follow them. He trembled much and said,—
“Missi, you will be killed. Miaki and Karewick will shoot you. I dare not let you follow. I have only about twenty men, and your following might endanger us all.”
I urged him to leave at once, and we would follow of our own accord. I would not ask him to protect us; but if he betrayed us and helped the enemy to kill us, I assured him that our God would punish him. If he spared us, he would be rewarded well; and if killed against his wishes, God would not be angry at him. He said,—
“Seven men are with me now, and thirteen are to follow. I will not now send for them. They are with Miaki and Nouka. I will go; but if you follow, you will be killed on the way. You may follow me as far as you can!”
Off he started to Nowar’s, and got a large load of my stolen property, blankets, sheets, etc., which had fallen to his lot. He called his seven men, who had also shared in the plunder, and, to avoid Miaki’s men, they ran away under a large cocoa-nut grove skirting the shore, calling,—
“Be quick! Follow and keep as near to us as you can.”
Though Nowar had got a box of my rice and appropriated many things from the plunder of the Mission House besides the goods entrusted to his care, and got two of my goats killed and cooked for himself and his people, yet now he would not give a particle of food to my starving Aneityumese or myself, but hurried us off, saying,—
“I will eat all your rice and keep all that has been left with me in payment for my lame knee and for my people fighting for you!”
My three Aneityumese and I started after Faimungo and his men. We could place no confidence in any of them; but, feeling that we were in the Lord’s hands, it appeared to be our only hope of escaping instant death. We got away unobserved by the enemies. We met several small parties of friends in the Harbour, apparently glad to see us trying to get away. But about four miles on our way, we met a
