Book ID: CBB001550241

The Science of Deception: Psychology and Commerce in America (2013)

unapi

Pettit, Michael (Author)


University of Chicago Press


Publication Date: 2013
Physical Details: ix + 311 pp.; ill.
Language: English

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Americans were fascinated with fraud. P. T. Barnum artfully exploited the American yen for deception, and even Mark Twain championed it, arguing that lying was virtuous insofar as it provided the glue for all interpersonal intercourse. But deception was not used solely to delight, and many fell prey to the schemes of con men and the wiles of spirit mediums. As a result, a number of experimental psychologists set themselves the task of identifying and eliminating the illusions engendered by modern, commercial life. By the 1920s, however, many of these same psychologists had come to depend on deliberate misdirection and deceitful stimuli to support their own experiments. The Science of Deception explores this paradox, weaving together the story of deception in American commercial culture with its growing use in the discipline of psychology. Michael Pettit reveals how deception came to be something that psychologists not only studied but also employed to establish their authority. They developed a host of tools---the lie detector, psychotherapy, an array of personality tests, and more---for making deception more transparent in the courts and elsewhere. Pettit's study illuminates the intimate connections between the scientific discipline and the marketplace during a crucial period in the development of market culture. With its broad research and engaging tales of treachery, The Science of Deception will appeal to scholars and general readers alike.

...More
Reviewed By

Review Herman, Ellen (2013) Review of "The Science of Deception: Psychology and Commerce in America". American Historical Review (p. 1536). unapi

Review Bunn, Geoff (2015) Review of "The Science of Deception: Psychology and Commerce in America". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 475-477). unapi

Review Nadis, Fred (2014) Review of "The Science of Deception: Psychology and Commerce in America". Journal of American History (pp. 901-902). unapi

Review White, Alice (2015) Review of "The Science of Deception: Psychology and Commerce in America". British Journal for the History of Science (pp. 184-185). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001550241/

Similar Citations

Book Walsh, Lynda; (2006)
Sins against Science: The Scientific Media Hoaxes of Poe, Twain, and Others (/isis/citation/CBB000931055/)

Article Francesco Paolo de Ceglia; Lorenzo Leporiere; (2020)
Becoming Eusapia: The rise of the “Diva of Scientists” (/isis/citation/CBB659360229/)

Article Dennis, Paul M.; (2011)
Press Coverage of the New Psychology by the New York Times during the Progressive Era (/isis/citation/CBB001033716/)

Article Shi, Bin; Jiang, Xiao-yuan; (2008)
Suspicion Regarding the Authenticity of the Apollo Moonlanding and Reflection on Public Discourse (/isis/citation/CBB000952297/)

Article Fenneke Sysling; (2018)
Science and Self-assessment: Phrenological Charts 1840–1940 (/isis/citation/CBB417278881/)

Book Waits, Robert K.; (2013)
The Medical Electricians: George A. Scott and His Victorian Cohorts in Quackery (/isis/citation/CBB001551885/)

Book Lavine, Matthew; (2013)
The First Atomic Age: Scientists, Radiations, and the American Public, 1895--1945 (/isis/citation/CBB001213740/)

Article Benjafield, John G.; (2010)
The Golden Section and American Psychology, 1892--1938 (/isis/citation/CBB000932859/)

Article Young, Jacy L.; (2012)
The Biologist as Psychologist: Henry Fairfield Osborn's Early Mental Ability Investigations (/isis/citation/CBB001250207/)

Book Mihm, Stephen; (2007)
A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States (/isis/citation/CBB000954283/)

Thesis Hackford, Heidi M.; (2004)
Malingering: Representations of Feigned Disease in American History, 1800--1920 (/isis/citation/CBB001561806/)

Book Christopher D. Green; (2018)
Psychology and Its Cities: A New History of Early American Psychology (/isis/citation/CBB358367573/)

Article Ferreri, Antonio M.; (2006)
The Contribution of William James to the Origins of “Scientific” Psychology (/isis/citation/CBB001023633/)

Book Tribble, Scott; (2009)
A Colossal Hoax: The Giant from Cardiff That Fooled America (/isis/citation/CBB001033391/)

Article R. Bruce Mcmillan; (2023)
Albert Koch’s Hydrarchos: A Hoax or A Bona Fide Collection of Bones (/isis/citation/CBB354774746/)

Authors & Contributors
Ferreri, Antonio M.
Alexa Geisthövel
Leporiere, Lorenzo
Bennett Harvey Holman
Sysling, Fenneke
Waits, Robert K.
Concepts
Psychology
Deceptions; hoaxes; frauds
Public understanding of science
Mass media
Advertising
Discipline formation
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century, late
18th century
Places
United States
Germany
United Kingdom
France
Europe
Great Britain
Institutions
Project Apollo (NASA)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment