|
|
Science Odyssey, A: In Search of Ourselves
|
|
|
|
Program Overview
|
|
|
It's all in the genes. Or is it . . . ? "In Search of Ourselves"
traces the pendulum swing of psychological theory from nature to
nurture and back again. Case studies, classic experiments, and
research on the brain blaze this trail of discovery, revealing what
we have learned about ourselves and what still remains a riddle. We
also see the dark side of our faith in the perfectibility of human
nature, as scientific ideas are twisted to fit political agendas.
"In Search of Ourselves" is a story of the lessons learned, as well
as the ways in which we have learned them. As the century ends, the
workings of our minds remain an irresistible frontier.
Hour 1
Prologue
Neurasthenia
Introduction
Why do we think, act, and feel the way we do?
Hysteria
Societal and medical explanations
- A grab-bag of symptoms
- A woman's disease?
- J. M. Charcot blames poor heredity
- Neurologist Sigmund Freud questions Charcot
- Freud's new theory of mind
- Psychoanalysis gains critics and followers
Horrors of War
War trauma puts new theory to the test
- WWI brings shell shock, male hysteria
- Physicians find no causes for symptoms
- Talking cure heals many soldiers
Eugenics vs. Behaviorism
War of ideas
- Army intelligence testing
- Is there a gene for intelligence? Poverty?
- John Watson introduces behaviorism
- Scientific child rearing
- Behaviorism fits the American Dream
Theories in Practice
The downsides
- Eugenicists fear immigrants' genes
- Laws and customs promote "good" heredity
- Genetic research shows eugenics' flaws
- Watson and advertising—behaviorism at work
- Hitler uses behaviorism to promote eugenics
Hour 2
Introduction
Environment theory leads postwar era
Bringing Science Home
Postwar optimism
- B.F. Skinner—operant conditioning
- Behaviorism in education
- Benjamin Spock's baby book
- Harry Harlow—scientific study of love
Psychoanalysis
How powerful is it?
- Frieda Fromm Reichmann's technique
- Case study—Joanne Greenberg
Pills for the Mind
An empirical advancement
- Standard treatment of psychotics
- Chlorpromazine's accidental discovery
- Successful chemical therapy
Understanding the Brain
Why do medications work?
- Brain chemicals
- Neurotransmitters' link to behavior
- A biological breakthrough
A New Synthesis
Environment and biology interact
- Genealogy and genetics
- Colombian family study
- Search for early Alzheimer's gene
- Genes, brain, and environment shape human behavior
|
