William James was born in 1842 in New York City to a wealthy family. He studied physiology, chemistry, and attended medical school but struggled with deciding on a career path due to ongoing back pain. After becoming depressed due to this indecision, he found new purpose in psychology. James went on to make major contributions to the fields, including establishing pragmatism and functionalism as philosophical approaches and proposing the James-Lange theory of emotion. He is regarded as the father of American psychology.

1. By Me! Hunter Salada!

2. This is William
James
Staring into the distance…

3. Early Life
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(Pre-College)

4. The Father of American Psychology
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 James was born into a very wealthy family on
January 11, 1842 in New York City
 He went to the best schools and explored Europe as a
child
 Wanted to be a painter (that didn’t work out)
 Developed back pains at a very early age
 Joined the army

5. College Life
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6. Early College
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Started out studying physiology
Added Chemistry to that
And then medical school
He worked really hard

7. Indecision
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 He left Medical School to go to Brazil and study with
Louis Agassiz, but couldn’t go due to back pain
 Went back to medical school
 He left again to go to Germany in search for help
with his back pain
 Came back to finally get his MD (but still had back
pain)

8. Depression
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9. Hopelessness
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 After becoming extremely well educated he realized
he didn’t know what to do in life
 He became severely depressed
 James was considering suicide until he read an
article by Charles Renouvier which gave him hope
when he had none

10. Personal Life
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11. Family
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 His father was Henry James Sr.
 He had three brothers: Wilkinson (Wilky), Robertson
(Bob), Henry, and he had one sister: Alice James
 He married a girl he met in college and had five
children!

12. PSYCHOLOGY!!!!!
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yay

13. Principles in Psychology
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 This book was James’s masterpiece
 James hated it
 Expresses many of his philosophical views as well as
psychological
 Published by Henry Holt (founder of the company
that makes most of your textbooks)

14. Pragmatism
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 This is the thought process in which you say that
truth is only truth for as long as it “works”
 It’s a lot like challenging the truth to only be
temporary
 James was the first to put it into a text

15. Functionalism
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 You take a thing, and make it practical
 The idea of looking at something not by its little tiny
pieces, but by the grand scheme

16. James-Lange Theory of
Emotion
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 The idea that you have a physiological reaction to an
event, and that is where your emotions come from
 So, your body reacts, and you look at how it reacts to
know your emotion

17. Theory of Self
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You have four selfs:
Material- your clothes and other “things” you own
Social- how you present yourself in public
Spiritual- your emotions and views on things
Pure Ego- The only “I” self. James thought it was like
your soul