What “firsts” in American psychology can be attributed to Hall? Why was he called a genetic psychologist?
Stanley Hall was another notable American psychologist. He is known to be the ‘firsts’ in the history of American psychology. The American Psychological Association got its first president in the form of Hall. The first applied psychologist in the history of psychology was Halls. He is credited to establishing the first laboratory for psychology. He is also the first person to start the American journal of psychology.
Hall was interested since the beginning in one thing, evolutionary theory. He laid emphasis on the animal and human development and hence, is known as a genetic psychologist. Hall’s interest in genetics caused him, to enter child psychology. He later made child psychology his core area of research.
Hall wanted child psychology to develop in America. The child study movement was developed by him, due to his interest in psychology. He prepared questionnaires for his research, which his students also helped him prepare. His students made 194 questionnaires.
The child study movement gathered a lot of attention in its initial years, but lost momentum soon enough. The fall came because of inadequate data collection, inaccurate, and inconsistent subjects.