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The History of PsychologyA Brief Overview

Carolyn R. Fallahi, Ph. D.

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The earliest known writings in psychology Aristotle was born in

384 BC in an area of Northern Greece.

He was the first known writer in the field of psychology.

Pursuit of knowledge. Life.

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The term “psyche” Aristotle used the term “psyche” to refer to

the essence of life. This term is translated to mean “soul” or

“mind”, but it is closely linked in meaning to the word “breath”

Psychology – comes from the word psyche + logos – the Greek word meaning “the study of”.

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The modern definition of psychology Today’s modern definition of psychology

incorporates: behavior and mental processes. controlled observation.

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Defining Psychology The term “behavior” refers to all of a person’s

overt actions that others can directly observe. The term “mental processes” refers to the

private thoughts, emotions, feelings, and motives that others cannot directly observe.

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Goals of Psychology Psychologists study people by using scientific

method. The goals of this scientific method include:

Describe Predict Understand Influence

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Aristotle versus Plato Aristotle believed that

one must also observe the thing being studied – look at it, listen to it, touch it.

Plato: discovery can occur by just thinking about it.

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Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Wundt

established the first Laboratory of psychology in Germany in 1879.

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What about William James? Others argue that

William James deserves the honor for a less publicized laboratory at Harvard University which opened in 1875.

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Wundt and Tichener Edward Titchener was

a student of Wundt. He taught at Cornell University. Titchener sought to identify the basic elements of conscious experience.

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Wundt and Titchener: The Structure of the Mind He and Wundt studied consciousness using a

method of looking inward at one’s own experiences = called introspection.

Structuralism

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The first psychology course & text William James taught the first course on

psychology and in 1890, published the first psychology text.

William James was influenced by Charles Darwin.

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Functionalism Functionalism is a part of contemporary

psychology today, even though it is no longer viewed as a separate school of thought. It has influenced the way psychologists emphasize the role played by thinking and perception in human behavior.

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Ivan Pavlov In the 1890s, Russian

physiologist Ivan Pavlov studied digestion in dogs.

Classical conditioning and the field of Behaviorism was born.

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John B. Watson 1920s John B. Watson

trained in Functionalism. But he rejected these ideas based on Pavlov’s work.

Little Albert Studies.

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Herman Ebbinhaus & Memory 1885 Germany’s Hermann

Ebbinhaus published a book entitled, “On Memory”.

He described in his book a series of experiments that he conducted over 6 years where he was both the scientist and the only subject!

Development of the nonsense syllable.

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Max Wertheimer: Gestalt Psychology Max Wertheimer, a

professor of psychology at the U. of Frankfurt, began developing their own ideas on perception about 25 years after the pioneering work of Wundt.

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Gestalt Psychologies The key concept: that human consciousness

could not be meaningfully broken down into raw elements as the structuralists proposed to do.

Instead, the mind must be studied in terms of large, meaningful units.

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Alfred Binet & Intelligence 1890s – the Paris

Ministry of Education asked Binet to help provide education for all “intelligent” children and more practical, less academic school for less intelligent children.

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Sigmund Freud Freud was an Austrian

physician who practiced neurology.

Unlike other founders of psychology, he was not a professor doing research.

He was working with physical problems.

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Psychoanalysis The unconscious mind. Psychoanalysis.

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Women in Psychology Many of the founders in psychology were

white males. This had a lot to do with sexual

discrimination. For example, in 1900 Christine Ladd-Franklin completed the doctoral program at John Hopkins, but was never give a degree b/c John Hopkins was an all-male institution at the time.

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Christine Ladd-Franklin Christine Ladd-

Franklin went on to combine a field of mathematics and psychology to come up with a theory of color blindness.

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Women in Psychology In the early days most institutions refused

qualified female applicants. Even if they did receive their degree, they were rarely offered teaching positions. Further, if they married, that was the end of their career.

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Mary Whiton Calkins Mary Whiton Calkins

was a student of William James at Harvard. She completed the requirements of her Ph.D., but was not ever allowed to graduate.

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Margaret Floy Washburn Margaret Floy

Washburn was the first woman to actually receive her Ph. D. in psychology – from Cornell University.

1920 elected president APA.

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Minorities in Psychology Similar prejudices affected the entry of

African Americans, Latinos, and other ethnic minorities in psychology.

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Famous African American Psychologists Gilbert Haven Jones: first African American

to receive his Ph. D. in 1901. J. Henry Alston – first research published in a

journal. His study provided the basis for understanding how skin receptors of warmth and cold work together to create the sensation of intense heat.

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Famous African American Psychologists Inez Prosser – first African American woman

to receive her Ph. D. in psychology in the US – University of Cincinnati. Tragically, she was killed in an auto accident shortly after receiving her degree.

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Famous Hispanic Psychologists Santiago Ramon y Cajal – a Spanish scientist

working around the turn of the century played a significant role in the development of psychology by identifying the neuron – cells that make up the brain and nervous system. He was also a scholar in the areas of hypnosis and culturally biased tests for minority school children.

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Basic Areas of Modern Psychology Biological psychology Sensation and perception Learning and memory Developmental Psychology Motivation and Emotion Personality Social psychology Sociocultural psychology

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Applied Areas of Modern Psychology Clinical Counseling Industrial – organizational Educational and school psychology Health Psychology