In 1890 in his «Principles of Psychology» William James wrote that «Psychology is the science of mental life». But the conception of what a science of mental life should be has changed greatly since James’s time. At the time James wrote, scientific psychology was very young and the mental life (that psychologists had been able to study) was largely limited to the conscious mental life of sane, well-educated, adult Western European human beings. As the science of mental life developed, its base broadened. It also included children, animals, the mentally retarded, die insane. It is not obvious that all these newcomers share anything we could call a mental life, in the sense understood during the nineteendi century. At the time James wrote, his claim that psychology was a science was little more than an expression of hope and enthusiasm. By 1890 a few small laboratories had been founded, a few methods of measurement had been adopted, a few preliminary results had been reported. Since James wrote his Principles there has been a remarkable growth in both the quantity and the quality of scientific research on psychological problems. And, like all sciences, psychology has influenced our lives in many ways and has changed our conception of human nature.

Exercises

1. Translate from English into Russian the following words and phrases and find in the text or make up your own sentences with the phrases

mental life, concious mental life of a human being, the science of mental life, the conception of what a science of mental life should be, to develop the science of mental life; a sane man, the insane, die mentally retarded, an expression of hope and enthusiasm, to found a laboratory, to adopt methods of measurements, to report preJiminaiy results, to influence our lives in many ways, to change the conception of human nature; research, a scientific research, a scientific research on psychological problems.

2. Find in the text English equivalents

основы психологии, наука о психической жизни, научная пси­хология, сознательная психическая жизнь, научные исследования по проблемам психологии, нормальный человек, душевнобольные, ум­ственно отсталые, как все естественные науки; как количество, так и качество, расширять базу, изменять концепцию, основывать лабора­торию, сообщать предварительные результаты, оказывать влияние на...

3. Put in the missing prepositions

1. The conception of what a science of mental life should be has changed greatly ... James’s time. 2. At that time the mental life was largely limited ... the conscious mental life of sane, well-educated, adult. Western European 8

human beings. 3.... ihc science of mental life developed, its base broadened.

4. Since James wrote his Principles there has been a remarkable growth ... both the quantity and the quality of scientific research ... psychological problems. 5. Psychology has influenced Щ our lives I many ways.

4. Retell the test by answering the following questions

1. What is psychology according to William James? 2. Docs the conception of what a science of mental life should be remain unchanged since James's time? 3. What was meant by menial life when scientific psychology was young? 4. How did the base of psychology broaden later?

5. Why wasn’t it obvious that psychology was a science at the lime James wrote his Principles? 6. Psychology has greatly changed our conception of human nature, hasn’t it?

5. Read and translate

THE STORY OF THE BOY «WHO COULD DO BETTER*

Episode III

The primary school, despite its best efforts, could not deal with him. At 8, we sent him to a private prep school, where the high expectations and discipline were another major change. The facilities were excellent, and his aptitude for sports began to show through again. The rugby scrum was somewhere he seemed able to vent his feelings of anger and frustration. However, things started to go wrong. He was severely bullied, we thought at the time because of his small stature. The dreaded school reports and parents’ evenings became a repetitive round of: “He could do better ... he is an able boy who doesn’t try ... if only he’d put as much effort into his written work as he does orally’. I started searching for reasons for his unhappiness. Could there be something in his genes? Although Tim was considered too young for anyone to establish clearly if he had specific learning difficulties, we decided to consult an educational psychologist. The report revealed borderline dyslexia E above average intelligence on the verbal scale, below average on reading and writing. Neither we nor the school fully understood the seriousness of the problem, and he duly received one or two extra English and maths sessions per week. But over the next two years his behaviour worsened.