The Nature of Psychology; a selection of papers, essays, and other writings.
Edited by Stephen L. Sherwood.
- 1st ed.
- Cambridge [Eng.] University Press, 1966.
- xx, 184 p. 24 cm.
In his brilliant and tragically brief career, Kenneth Craik anticipated certain ideas in biology and psychology which have since his death found wide acceptance. Craik was one of the first to realise that the machines of his and our day share some of the principles of functioning with brains. Kenneth Craik was killed in an accident in 1945 and left a large number of unpublished papers, a selection of which have here been sorted and edited by Dr Stephen L. Sherwood. The selection includes the draft for a book on the 'Mechanism of Human Action' with important ideas on learning, thinking, decision-making and on models of brain mechanism. There is also fascinating material on the measurement of perception, sensory physiology and the relationship of nervous function to machines. There are some philosophical discussions and a few introspective comments.
1. Introductory 2. Principles of automatic regulation and servo-mechanisms 3. Review of synthetic principles and their application to living systems 4. Brain mechanisms: levels 5. Cyclical action in men and machinery 6. On human behaviour Part III. Experimental Work: 7. Anderson Stuart's Contrast phenomenon 8. Brightness, discrimination, borders, and subjective brightness 9. On the effects of looking at the sun 10. Localized aniseikonia following 'eclipse blindness' 11. Correspondence regarding amblyopia 12. The photochemical stimulation of the optic nerve 13. Theories on dark-adaptation 14. Introspections on learning the Link Trainer by a mixed visual and instrument method Part IV. Sensory Quantification: 15. Crawford's results in binocular summation (unpublished) 16. Measurability of sensation 17. In defence of the measurability of sensation-intensity 18. Quantitative estimates of sensory events 19. On the question of sensation scales Part V. Aspects of Psychology: 20. Lectures on psychology for medical students 21. The nature of animal behaviour 22. Laws of association 23. Psychological effects of the black-out Part VI. Philosophy: 24. The nature of explanation - reply to critics 25. Causes and purposes 26. Man's extension of himself 27. On the working of the mind 28. On the inductive study of language and the meaning of particular words 29. Induction, coherence, relational systems, and the objective validity of thought, 30. Life 31. Claustrophobia 32. 'The Marxist Philosophy and the Sciences' 33. Disagreement 34. War as a part of life 35. Songs of creation Bibliography of the writings of K. J. W. Craik References.