“Victor the Wild Boy” as a Teaching Tool for the History of Psychology

Abstract

The article describes an innovative technique for teaching the History of Psychology (HoP) using the story of Victor the “Wild Boy” of Aveyron. Students were given both a traditional history textbook and assignments, along with a novel on the life of Victor and a themed writing assignment. The goal was to elicit connections between Victor’s story and the HoP to increase enthusiasm and engagement in the material. Pre- and postcourse assessments were collected and compared to a senior seminar. Results indicated that students in HoP had higher ratings of overall knowledge and enthusiasm than seminar students. In particular, the Victor reading and assignment were positively evaluated. Students were able to connect the story of Victor to a wide range of people and ideas in the HoP. Using Victor’s story as a teaching tool was effective and engaging in this challenging course.

Keywords

history of psychology Victor the Wild Boy teaching tool

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abramson

C. I.

Burke-Bergmann

Nolf

Swift

(2009). Use of board games, historical calendars, and trading cards in history of psychology class. Psychological Reports, 104, 529–544.

Benjamin

L. T.

(1979). Instructional strategies in the history of psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 6, 15–17.

Fuchs

A. H.

Viney

(2002). The course in the history of psychology: Present status and future concerns. Teaching of Psychology, 5, 3–15.

Gerstein

(1998). Victor: A novel based on the life of the savage of Aveyron. New York, NY: Frances Forster Books.

Itard

J.-M.-G.

(1962). The wild boy of Aveyron (Muriel Humphrey, Trans.). New York, NY: Appleton & Lange.

Lane

(1976). The wild boy of Aveyron. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Newton

(2004). Savage girls and wild boys: A history of feral children. New York, NY: Picador.

Nisim-Sabat

(1980). Teaching history of psychology through art and music. Teaching of Psychology, 7, 223–226.

Raphelson

(1979). The unique role of the history of psychology in undergraduate education. Teaching of Psychology, 6, 12–14.

10.

Rymer

(1993). Genie: A scientific tragedy. New York, NY: Harper.

11.

Smith

A. H.

(1982). Different approaches for teaching the history of psychology course. Teaching of Psychology, 9, 180–182.

12.

Thorne

(1999). Using irony in teaching the History of Psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 222–225.

13.

Zehr

(2004). Two active learning experiences for a history of psychology class. Teaching of Psychology, 31, 54–56.