Who Can Be Said To Have Inaugurated The Era Of Modern Psychology?
Sabrina Sarro
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Contents
Who is considered to be the founder of modern psychology?
Learning Objectives – By the end of this section, you will be able to:
Understand the importance of Wundt and James in the development of psychology Appreciate Freud’s influence on psychology Understand the basic tenets of Gestalt psychology Appreciate the important role that behaviorism played in psychology’s history Understand basic tenets of humanism Understand how the cognitive revolution shifted psychology’s focus back to the mind
Psychology is a relatively young science with its experimental roots in the 19th century, compared, for example, to human physiology, which dates much earlier. As mentioned, anyone interested in exploring issues related to the mind generally did so in a philosophical context prior to the 19th century.
When was psychology said to have begun?
Psychology is defined as “the scientific study of behavior and mental processes”. Philosophical interest in the human mind and behavior dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Persia, Greece, China, and India, Psychology as a field of experimental study began in 1854 in Leipzig, Germany when Gustav Fechner created the first theory of how judgments about sensory experiences are made and how to experiment on them.
Fechner’s theory, recognized today as Signal Detection Theory foreshadowed the development of statistical theories of comparative judgment and thousands of experiments based on his ideas (Link, S.W. Psychological Science, 1995). Later, 1879, Wilhelm Wundt founded in Leipzig, Germany, the first Psychological laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research.
Wundt was also the first person to refer to himself as a psychologist. A notable precursor of Wundt was Ferdinand Ueberwasser (1752-1812) who designated himself Professor of Empirical Psychology and Logic in 1783 and gave lectures on empirical psychology at the Old University of Münster, Germany.
Other important early contributors to the field include Hermann Ebbinghaus (a pioneer in the study of memory ), William James (the American father of pragmatism ), and Ivan Pavlov (who developed the procedures associated with classical conditioning ). Soon after the development of experimental psychology, various kinds of applied psychology appeared.G.
Stanley Hall brought scientific pedagogy to the United States from Germany in the early 1880s. John Dewey ‘s educational theory of the 1890s was another example. Also in the 1890s, Hugo Münsterberg began writing about the application of psychology to industry, law, and other fields.
Lightner Witmer established the first psychological clinic in the 1890s. James McKeen Cattell adapted Francis Galton ‘s anthropometric methods to generate the first program of mental testing in the 1890s. In Vienna, meanwhile, Sigmund Freud developed an independent approach to the study of the mind called psychoanalysis, which has been widely influential.
The 20th century saw a reaction to Edward Titchener ‘s critique of Wundt’s empiricism. This contributed to the formulation of behaviorism by John B. Watson, which was popularized by B.F. Skinner, Behaviorism proposed emphasizing the study of overt behavior, because that could be quantified and easily measured.
Early behaviorists considered the study of the ” mind ” too vague for productive scientific study. However, Skinner and his colleagues did study thinking as a form of covert behavior to which they could apply the same principles as overt (publicly observable) behavior. The final decades of the 20th century saw the rise of cognitive science, an interdisciplinary approach to studying the human mind.
Cognitive science again considers the “mind” as a subject for investigation, using the tools of cognitive psychology, linguistics, computer science, philosophy, behaviorism, and neurobiology, This form of investigation has proposed that a wide understanding of the human mind is possible, and that such an understanding may be applied to other research domains, such as artificial intelligence,
There are conceptual divisions of psychology in so-called “forces” or “waves,” based on its schools and historical trends. This terminology is popularized among the psychologists to differentiate a growing humanism in therapeutic practice from the 1930s onwards, called the “third force,” in response to the deterministic tendencies of Watson’s behaviourism and Freud’s psychoanalysis.
Humanistic psychology has as important proponents Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, Gordon Allport, Erich Fromm, and Rollo May, Their humanistic concepts are also related to existential psychology, Viktor Frankl ‘s logotherapy, positive psychology (which has Martin Seligman as one of the leading exponents), C.R.
Cloninger ‘s approach to well-being and character development, as well as to transpersonal psychology, incorporating such concepts as spirituality, self-transcendence, self-realization, self-actualization, and mindfulness, In cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, similar terms have also been incorporated, by which “first wave” is considered the initial behavioral therapy ; a “second wave”, Albert Ellis ‘s cognitive one ; and a “third wave”, with the acceptance and commitment therapy, which emphasizes one’s pursuit of values, methods of self-awareness, acceptance and psychological flexibility, instead of challenging negative thought schemes,
A “fourth wave” would be the one that incorporates transpersonal concepts and positive flourishing, in a way criticized by some researchers for its heterogeneity and theoretical direction dependent on the therapist’s view. A “fifth wave” has now been proposed by a group of researchers seeking to integrate earlier concepts into a unifying theory.
Who was the first person referred to as a psychologist?
A Word From Verywell – Wundt was not only the very first person to refer to himself as a psychologist; he also established psychology as a formal discipline separate from philosophy and biology. While his introspective method does not meet the empirical rigor of research today, his emphasis on experimental methods did pave the way for the future of experimental psychology.
- Thanks to his work and contributions, a whole new field was established and inspired other researchers to explore and study the human mind and behavior.
- Obviously, not everyone is going to agree with these generalized titles.
- A few people might suggest that Freud is the father of psychology since he is perhaps one of its most “known” figures.
Others might suggest that Aristotle is the true father of psychology since he is responsible for the theoretical and philosophical framework that contributed to psychology’s earliest beginnings. Still others might argue that those earliest researchers such as Helmholtz and Fechner deserve credit as the founders of psychology.
No matter which side of the argument you are on, one thing that is easy to agree on is that all of these individuals had an important influence on the growth and development of psychology. While the theories of each individual are not necessarily as influential now, all of these psychologists were important in their own time and had a major impact on how psychology evolved into what it is today.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
- Rieber R, Robinson RW, eds. Wilhelm Wundt in History: The Making of A Scientific Psychology, New York, NY: Springer; 2001.
- Henley T. Hergenhahn’s An Introduction to the History of Psychology,8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning; 2019.
- Blumenthal A. The founding father we never knew, Contemporary Psychology,1979; 24(7):547-550. doi:10.1037/018836
- Kim A. Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Haggbloom SJ, Warnick R, Warnick JE, et. al. The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century, Review of General Psychology.2002;6(2) : 139–152. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139
Additional Reading
- Schultz DP, Schultz SE. A History of Modern Psychology,10th ed. Wadsworth Cengage Learning; 2011.
- Wertheimer MA. Brief History of Psychology,5th ed. New York: Taylor & Francis Group; 2012.
By Kendra Cherry Kendra Cherry, MS, is the author of the “Everything Psychology Book (2nd Edition)” and has written thousands of articles on diverse psychology topics. Kendra holds a Master of Science degree in education from Boise State University with a primary research interest in educational psychology and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Idaho State University with additional coursework in substance use and case management.
Who is the mother of modern psychology?
1921 APA President – Margaret Floy Washburn was the first woman to earn a doctoral degree in American psychology (1894) and the second woman, after Mary Whiton Calkins, to serve as APA President. Ironically, Calkins earned her doctorate at Harvard in 1894, but the university trustees refused to grant her the degree.
It was the general policy of the era that married women could not serve as teachers or professors in co-educational settings. Thus, Washburn never married and served as a professor at Vassar College for 36 years. She was a skilled researcher and prolific writer. As was the custom, Washburn brought many of her undergraduate students, all women, into her laboratory and included them as authors on many of her publications.
Her principal research interests were animal behavior and the basic psychological processes of sensation and perception. The book she is best known for was ” The Animal Mind ” (1908), which was the first book based on experimental work in animal cognition.
- The book went through many editions and was for a number of years the most widely used book in comparative psychology.
- Following her interest in basic processes, Washburn developed a motor theory of consciousness.
- The theory was most fully developed in her book, “Movement and Mental Imagery” (1916).
- There, she integrated the experimental method of introspection with an emphasis on motor processes.
The basic premise of her work was that thinking was based in movement. Thus, consciousness is linked to motor activity. Beyond serving as APA President, Washburn received many honors. Perhaps her highest honor was being named a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.
- She was only the second woman to ever receive that honor.
- A full account of her career can be found in Robert S.
- Woodworth (1948), Margaret Floy Washburn.
- Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, I 25, 275-295,” A more intimate portrait of her life and work that also sets her story in the context of her times can be found in Elizabeth Scarborough and Laurel Furumoto, “Untold Lives: The First Generation of American Women Psychologists” (1989).
Date created: 2012
What is modern psychology?
1.1 Paradigmatic: The Three Major Schools – Scientific paradigms are defined by their explanatory principles, the concomitant concepts and terms, and their preferred methods and values. They are established and maintained by a community of scientists that endorse one and only one paradigm.
- Modern psychology has spawned three major theoretical paradigms: cognitivism, behaviorism, and depth psychology, all of which continue longstanding philosophical traditions.
- In the tradition of rational philosophy, cognitivism regards human beings as reasonable, conscious, reflexive, and self-organizing.
In this view, each person is endowed with insight into natural, logical, and social laws, and may utilize their free will and foresight to plan and execute actions directed towards valued goals. Moreover, humans are seen as sociable and communicative.
- Language is a tool for representing imaginations and intentions both in a person’s own mind and in his or her interaction with others.
- Authors with a cognitive orientation (e.g., Broadbent, Köhler, Piaget) rely on introspection and self-reports (e.g., think-aloud protocols in studies of problem solving), but also collect behavioral data (e.g., operations in the course of problem solving).
Typically, cognitivistic studies employ methods from mathematics, physics (e.g., field theory), or engineering (e.g., information theory) to elucidate the intricacies of mind and behavior. In the tradition of materialism and utilitarianism, behaviorism (in Russia: reflexology) focuses on overt behavior (e.g., locomotion, instrumental acts) elicited by external stimuli (e.g., color signals) and internal stimuli (e.g., thirst), or emitted to take advantage of opportunities in the natural and social environment (e.g., food, praise).
According to this conception, a human being is an automaton capable of forming stimulus-response associations (habits) and of adapting to contingencies between acts and their rewards or punishments (reinforcements). Behaviorism assumes innate, species-specific habits, or instincts (e.g., mating). Authors such as Hull, Pavlov, and Skinner have studied the acquisition of new habits and the shaping of behavior by reinforcements.
Orthodox behaviorism opposes introspection, and relies exclusively on objective behavioral data. In the tradition of mysticism, depth psychology posits a pervading influence of unconscious ideas and affects on conscious thought, language, and action. Freud’s psychoanalysis, the most popular paradigm within depth psychology, contends that the unconscious originates from personal conflicts in early childhood when anxiety-provoking tendencies (primarily hostility towards the parent of opposite sex) are repressed and rejected from the conscious mind.
- In his analytical psychology, Jung even postulates an innate, species-specific unconscious consisting of archetypes.
- These archetypes are explained as fundamental experiences (e.g., motherhood, fire) which have been acquired and transmitted over generations.
- Depth psychology believes in the power of the enlightened human mind to reveal unconscious contents.
However, the revelation of unconscious contents requires skillful interpretations. Beyond straightforward observations, interpretations should offer explanations for the meaning of symbols from the unconscious (e.g., the moon as a symbol of femininity) which are encountered in dreams and other fantasies, as well as in achievements (e.g., in the arts) and failures (e.g., slips of the tongue).
The three major theoretical paradigms gained wide recognition during the first half of the twentieth century; they were also engaged in mutual antagonisms. However, no final verdict has been reached in the battles for dominance. There were some partially successful attempts to reconcile the conflicting paradigms.
At present, conflicts between ‘schools’ have attenuated and orthodoxy has been superseded by eclecticism. For instance, numerous behaviorists now regard cognitions (e.g., attitudes and beliefs) as determinants of behavior, despite their subjective nature, while cognitive theorists accept the notion of unconscious ideas (e.g., subliminal perceptions).
In which country was modern psychology developed?
Learning Objectives –
- Describe the precursors to the establishment of the science of psychology.
- Identify key individuals and events in the history of American psychology.
- Describe the rise of professional psychology in America.
- Develop a basic understanding of the processes of scientific development and change.
- Recognize the role of women and people of color in the history of American psychology.
It is always a difficult question to ask, where to begin to tell the story of the history of psychology. Some would start with ancient Greece; others would look to a demarcation in the late 19th century when the science of psychology was formally proposed and instituted.
These two perspectives, and all that is in between, are appropriate for describing a history of psychology. The interested student will have no trouble finding an abundance of resources on all of these time frames and perspectives ( Goodwin, 2011 ; Leahey, 2012 ; Schultz & Schultz, 2007 ). For the purposes of this module, we will examine the development of psychology in America and use the mid-19th century as our starting point.
For the sake of convenience, we refer to this as a history of modern psychology. The earliest records of a psychological experiment go all the way back to the Pharaoh Psamtik I of Egypt in the 7th Century B.C. Psychology is an exciting field and the history of psychology offers the opportunity to make sense of how it has grown and developed.
The history of psychology also provides perspective. Rather than a dry collection of names and dates, the history of psychology tells us about the important intersection of time and place that defines who we are. Consider what happens when you meet someone for the first time. The conversation usually begins with a series of questions such as, “Where did you grow up?” “How long have you lived here?” “Where did you go to school?” The importance of history in defining who we are cannot be overstated.
Whether you are seeing a physician, talking with a counselor, or applying for a job, everything begins with a history. The same is true for studying the history of psychology; getting a history of the field helps to make sense of where we are and how we got here.
Precursors to American psychology can be found in philosophy and physiology. Philosophers such as John Locke (1632–1704) and Thomas Reid (1710–1796) promoted empiricism, the idea that all knowledge comes from experience. The work of Locke, Reid, and others emphasized the role of the human observer and the primacy of the senses in defining how the mind comes to acquire knowledge.
In American colleges and universities in the early 1800s, these principles were taught as courses on mental and moral philosophy. Most often these courses taught about the mind based on the faculties of intellect, will, and the senses ( Fuchs, 2000 ).
- Philosophical questions about the nature of mind and knowledge were matched in the 19th century by physiological investigations of the sensory systems of the human observer.
- German physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894) measured the speed of the neural impulse and explored the physiology of hearing and vision.
His work indicated that our senses can deceive us and are not a mirror of the external world. Such work showed that even though the human senses were fallible, the mind could be measured using the methods of science. In all, it suggested that a science of psychology was feasible.
- An important implication of Helmholtz’s work was that there is a psychological reality and a physical reality and that the two are not identical.
- This was not a new idea; philosophers like John Locke had written extensively on the topic, and in the 19th century, philosophical speculation about the nature of mind became subject to the rigors of science.
The question of the relationship between the mental (experiences of the senses) and the material (external reality) was investigated by a number of German researchers including Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner. Their work was called psychophysics, and it introduced methods for measuring the relationship between physical stimuli and human perception that would serve as the basis for the new science of psychology ( Fancher & Rutherford, 2011 ). Wilhelm Wundt is considered one of the founding figures of modern psychology. The formal development of modern psychology is usually credited to the work of German physician, physiologist, and philosopher Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920). Wundt helped to establish the field of experimental psychology by serving as a strong promoter of the idea that psychology could be an experimental field and by providing classes, textbooks, and a laboratory for training students.
In 1875, he joined the faculty at the University of Leipzig and quickly began to make plans for the creation of a program of experimental psychology. In 1879, he complemented his lectures on experimental psychology with a laboratory experience: an event that has served as the popular date for the establishment of the science of psychology.
The response to the new science was immediate and global. Wundt attracted students from around the world to study the new experimental psychology and work in his lab. Students were trained to offer detailed self-reports of their reactions to various stimuli, a procedure known as introspection,
- The goal was to identify the elements of consciousness,
- In addition to the study of sensation and perception, research was done on mental chronometry, more commonly known as reaction time.
- The work of Wundt and his students demonstrated that the mind could be measured and the nature of consciousness could be revealed through scientific means.
It was an exciting proposition, and one that found great interest in America. After the opening of Wundt’s lab in 1879, it took just four years for the first psychology laboratory to open in the United States ( Benjamin, 2007 ). Wundt’s version of psychology arrived in America most visibly through the work of Edward Bradford Titchener (1867–1927).
A student of Wundt’s, Titchener brought to America a brand of experimental psychology referred to as ” structuralism,” Structuralists were interested in the contents of the mind—what the mind is. For Titchener, the general adult mind was the proper focus for the new psychology, and he excluded from study those with mental deficiencies, children, and animals ( Evans, 1972 ; Titchener, 1909 ).
Experimental psychology spread rather rapidly throughout North America. By 1900, there were more than 40 laboratories in the United States and Canada ( Benjamin, 2000 ). Psychology in America also organized early with the establishment of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1892.
- Titchener felt that this new organization did not adequately represent the interests of experimental psychology, so, in 1904, he organized a group of colleagues to create what is now known as the Society of Experimental Psychologists ( Goodwin, 1985 ).
- The group met annually to discuss research in experimental psychology.
Reflecting the times, women researchers were not invited (or welcome). It is interesting to note that Titchener’s first doctoral student was a woman, Margaret Floy Washburn (1871–1939). Despite many barriers, in 1894, Washburn became the first woman in America to earn a Ph.D. William James was one of the leading figures in a new perspective on psychology called functionalism. While Titchener and his followers adhered to a structural psychology, others in America were pursuing different approaches. William James, G. Stanley Hall, and James McKeen Cattell were among a group that became identified with ” functionalism,” Influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary theory, functionalists were interested in the activities of the mind—what the mind does.
- An interest in functionalism opened the way for the study of a wide range of approaches, including animal and comparative psychology ( Benjamin, 2007 ).
- William James (1842–1910) is regarded as writing perhaps the most influential and important book in the field of psychology, Principles of Psychology, published in 1890.
Opposed to the reductionist ideas of Titchener, James proposed that consciousness is ongoing and continuous; it cannot be isolated and reduced to elements. For James, consciousness helped us adapt to our environment in such ways as allowing us to make choices and have personal responsibility over those choices.
- At Harvard, James occupied a position of authority and respect in psychology and philosophy.
- Through his teaching and writing, he influenced psychology for generations.
- One of his students, Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930), faced many of the challenges that confronted Margaret Floy Washburn and other women interested in pursuing graduate education in psychology.
With much persistence, Calkins was able to study with James at Harvard. She eventually completed all the requirements for the doctoral degree, but Harvard refused to grant her a diploma because she was a woman. Despite these challenges, Calkins went on to become an accomplished researcher and the first woman elected president of the American Psychological Association in 1905 ( Scarborough & Furumoto, 1987 ).G.
- Stanley Hall (1844–1924) made substantial and lasting contributions to the establishment of psychology in the United States.
- At Johns Hopkins University, he founded the first psychological laboratory in America in 1883.
- In 1887, he created the first journal of psychology in America, American Journal of Psychology,
In 1892, he founded the American Psychological Association (APA); in 1909, he invited and hosted Freud at Clark University (the only time Freud visited America). Influenced by evolutionary theory, Hall was interested in the process of adaptation and human development.
Using surveys and questionnaires to study children, Hall wrote extensively on child development and education. While graduate education in psychology was restricted for women in Hall’s time, it was all but non-existent for African Americans. In another first, Hall mentored Francis Cecil Sumner (1895–1954) who, in 1920, became the first African American to earn a Ph.D.
in psychology in America ( Guthrie, 2003 ). James McKeen Cattell (1860–1944) received his Ph.D. with Wundt but quickly turned his interests to the assessment of individual differences, Influenced by the work of Darwin’s cousin, Frances Galton, Cattell believed that mental abilities such as intelligence were inherited and could be measured using mental tests.
Like Galton, he believed society was better served by identifying those with superior intelligence and supported efforts to encourage them to reproduce. Such beliefs were associated with eugenics (the promotion of selective breeding) and fueled early debates about the contributions of heredity and environment in defining who we are.
At Columbia University, Cattell developed a department of psychology that became world famous also promoting psychological science through advocacy and as a publisher of scientific journals and reference works ( Fancher, 1987 ; Sokal, 1980 ). Throughout the first half of the 20th century, psychology continued to grow and flourish in America.
It was large enough to accommodate varying points of view on the nature of mind and behavior. Gestalt psychology is a good example. The Gestalt movement began in Germany with the work of Max Wertheimer (1880–1943). Opposed to the reductionist approach of Wundt’s laboratory psychology, Wertheimer and his colleagues Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), Wolfgang Kohler (1887–1967), and Kurt Lewin (1890–1947) believed that studying the whole of any experience was richer than studying individual aspects of that experience.
The saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is a Gestalt perspective. Consider that a melody is an additional element beyond the collection of notes that comprise it. The Gestalt psychologists proposed that the mind often processes information simultaneously rather than sequentially.
- For instance, when you look at a photograph, you see a whole image, not just a collection of pixels of color.
- Using Gestalt principles, Wertheimer and his colleagues also explored the nature of learning and thinking.
- Most of the German Gestalt psychologists were Jewish and were forced to flee the Nazi regime due to the threats posed on both academic and personal freedoms.
In America, they were able to introduce a new audience to the Gestalt perspective, demonstrating how it could be applied to perception and learning ( Wertheimer, 1938 ). In many ways, the work of the Gestalt psychologists served as a precursor to the rise of cognitive psychology in America ( Benjamin, 2007 ).
- Behaviorism emerged early in the 20th century and became a major force in American psychology.
- Championed by psychologists such as John B.
- Watson (1878–1958) and B.F.
- Skinner (1904–1990), behaviorism rejected any reference to mind and viewed overt and observable behavior as the proper subject matter of psychology.
Through the scientific study of behavior, it was hoped that laws of learning could be derived that would promote the prediction and control of behavior. Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) influenced early behaviorism in America. His work on conditioned learning, popularly referred to as classical conditioning, provided support for the notion that learning and behavior were controlled by events in the environment and could be explained with no reference to mind or consciousness ( Fancher, 1987 ).
- For decades, behaviorism dominated American psychology.
- By the 1960s, psychologists began to recognize that behaviorism was unable to fully explain human behavior because it neglected mental processes.
- The turn toward a cognitive psychology was not new.
- In the 1930s, British psychologist Frederic C.
- Bartlett (1886–1969) explored the idea of the constructive mind, recognizing that people use their past experiences to construct frameworks in which to understand new experiences.
Some of the major pioneers in American cognitive psychology include Jerome Bruner (1915–), Roger Brown (1925–1997), and George Miller (1920–2012). In the 1950s, Bruner conducted pioneering studies on cognitive aspects of sensation and perception. Brown conducted original research on language and memory, coined the term ” flashbulb memory,” and figured out how to study the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon ( Benjamin, 2007 ).
Miller’s research on working memory is legendary. His 1956 paper “The Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information”is one of the most highly cited papers in psychology. A popular interpretation of Miller’s research was that the number of bits of information an average human can hold in working memory is 7 ± 2.
Around the same time, the study of computer science was growing and was used as an analogy to explore and understand how the mind works. The work of Miller and others in the 1950s and 1960s has inspired tremendous interest in cognition and neuroscience, both of which dominate much of contemporary American psychology.
In America, there has always been an interest in the application of psychology to everyday life. Mental testing is an important example. Modern intelligence tests were developed by the French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857–1911). His goal was to develop a test that would identify schoolchildren in need of educational support.
His test, which included tasks of reasoning and problem solving, was introduced in the United States by Henry Goddard (1866–1957) and later standardized by Lewis Terman (1877–1956) at Stanford University. The assessment and meaning of intelligence has fueled debates in American psychology and society for nearly 100 years.
Much of this is captured in the nature-nurture debate that raises questions about the relative contributions of heredity and environment in determining intelligence ( Fancher, 1987 ). Applied psychology was not limited to mental testing. What psychologists were learning in their laboratories was applied in many settings including the military, business, industry, and education.
The early 20th century was witness to rapid advances in applied psychology. Hugo Munsterberg (1863–1916) of Harvard University made contributions to such areas as employee selection, eyewitness testimony, and psychotherapy. Walter D. Scott (1869–1955) and Harry Hollingworth (1880–1956) produced original work on the psychology of advertising and marketing.
- Lillian Gilbreth (1878–1972) was a pioneer in industrial psychology and engineering psychology.
- Working with her husband, Frank, they promoted the use of time and motion studies to improve efficiency in industry.
- Lillian also brought the efficiency movement to the home, designing kitchens and appliances including the pop-up trashcan and refrigerator door shelving.
Their psychology of efficiency also found plenty of applications at home with their 12 children. The experience served as the inspiration for the movie Cheaper by the Dozen ( Benjamin, 2007 ). Clinical psychology was also an early application of experimental psychology in America.
- Lightner Witmer (1867–1956) received his Ph.D.
- In experimental psychology with Wilhelm Wundt and returned to the University of Pennsylvania, where he opened a psychological clinic in 1896.
- Witmer believed that because psychology dealt with the study of sensation and perception, it should be of value in treating children with learning and behavioral problems.
He is credited as the founder of both clinical and school psychology ( Benjamin & Baker, 2004 ). Although this is what most people see in their mind’s eye when asked to envision a “psychologist” the APA recognizes as many as 58 different divisions of psychology. As the roles of psychologists and the needs of the public continued to change, it was necessary for psychology to begin to define itself as a profession.
Without standards for training and practice, anyone could use the title psychologist and offer services to the public. As early as 1917, applied psychologists organized to create standards for education, training, and licensure. By the 1930s, these efforts led to the creation of the American Association for Applied Psychology (AAAP).
While the American Psychological Association (APA) represented the interests of academic psychologists, AAAP served those in education, industry, consulting, and clinical work. The advent of WWII changed everything. The psychiatric casualties of war were staggering, and there were simply not enough mental health professionals to meet the need.
- Recognizing the shortage, the federal government urged the AAAP and APA to work together to meet the mental health needs of the nation.
- The result was the merging of the AAAP and the APA and a focus on the training of professional psychologists.
- Through the provisions of National Mental Health Act of 1946, funding was made available that allowed the APA, the Veterans Administration, and the Public Health Service to work together to develop training programs that would produce clinical psychologists.
These efforts led to the convening of the Boulder Conference on Graduate Education in Clinical Psychology in 1949 in Boulder, Colorado. The meeting launched doctoral training in psychology and gave us the scientist-practitioner model of training. Similar meetings also helped launch doctoral training programs in counseling and school psychology.
- Throughout the second half of the 20th century, alternatives to Boulder have been debated.
- In 1973, the Vail Conference on Professional Training in Psychology proposed the scholar-practitioner model and the Psy.D.
- Degree (Doctor of Psychology).
- It is a training model that emphasizes clinical training and practice that has become more common ( Cautin & Baker, in press ).
Given that psychology deals with the human condition, it is not surprising that psychologists would involve themselves in social issues. For more than a century, psychology and psychologists have been agents of social action and change. Using the methods and tools of science, psychologists have challenged assumptions, stereotypes, and stigma.
- Founded in 1936, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) has supported research and action on a wide range of social issues.
- Individually, there have been many psychologists whose efforts have promoted social change.
- Helen Thompson Woolley (1874–1947) and Leta S.
- Hollingworth (1886–1939) were pioneers in research on the psychology of sex differences.
Working in the early 20th century, when women’s rights were marginalized, Thompson examined the assumption that women were overemotional compared to men and found that emotion did not influence women’s decisions any more than it did men’s. Hollingworth found that menstruation did not negatively impact women’s cognitive or motor abilities. Mamie Phipps Clark and Kenneth Clark studied the negative impacts of segregated education on African-American children. Among the first generation of African American psychologists, Mamie Phipps Clark (1917–1983) and her husband Kenneth Clark (1914–2005) studied the psychology of race and demonstrated the ways in which school segregation negatively impacted the self-esteem of African American children.
Their research was influential in the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, which ended school segregation ( Guthrie, 2003 ). In psychology, greater advocacy for issues impacting the African American community were advanced by the creation of the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) in 1968.
In 1957, psychologist Evelyn Hooker (1907–1996) published the paper “The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual,” reporting on her research that showed no significant differences in psychological adjustment between homosexual and heterosexual men. Her research helped to de-pathologize homosexuality and contributed to the decision by the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973 ( Garnets & Kimmel, 2003 ).
Growth and expansion have been a constant in American psychology. In the latter part of the 20th century, areas such as social, developmental, and personality psychology made major contributions to our understanding of what it means to be human. Today neuroscience is enjoying tremendous interest and growth.
As mentioned at the beginning of the module, it is a challenge to cover all the history of psychology in such a short space. Errors of omission and commission are likely in such a selective review. The history of psychology helps to set a stage upon which the story of psychology can be told.
- This brief summary provides some glimpse into the depth and rich content offered by the history of psychology.
- The learning modules in the Noba psychology collection are all elaborations on the foundation created by our shared past.
- It is hoped that you will be able to see these connections and have a greater understanding and appreciation for both the unity and diversity of the field of psychology.1600s – Rise of empiricism emphasizing centrality of human observer in acquiring knowledge 1850s – Helmholz measures neural impulse / Psychophysics studied by Weber & Fechner 1859 – Publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species 1879 – Wundt opens lab for experimental psychology 1883 – First psychology lab opens in the United States 1887 – First American psychology journal is published: American Journal of Psychology 1890 – James publishes Principles of Psychology 1892 – APA established 1894 – Margaret Floy Washburn is first U.S.
woman to earn Ph.D. in psychology 1904 – Founding of Titchener’s experimentalists 1905 – Mary Whiton Calkins is first woman president of APA 1909 – Freud’s only visit to the United States 1913 – John Watson calls for a psychology of behavior 1920 – Francis Cecil Sumner is first African American to earn Ph.D.
in psychology 1921 – Margaret Floy Washburn is second woman president of APA 1930s – Creation and growth of the American Association for Applied Psychology (AAAP) / Gestalt psychology comes to America 1936- Founding of The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues 1940s – Behaviorism dominates American psychology 1946 – National Mental Health Act 1949 – Boulder Conference on Graduate Education in Clinical Psychology 1950s – Cognitive psychology gains popularity 1954 – Brown v.
Board of Education 1957 – Evelyn Hooker publishes T he Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual 1968 – Founding of the Association of Black Psychologists 1973 – Psy.D. proposed at the Vail Conference on Professional Training in Psychology 1988 – Founding of the American Psychological Society (now known as the Association for Psychological Science)
When did the era of the positive psychology started?
Origin – While the formal discipline of positive psychology has only existed since 2000, the concepts that form the basis of it have been the subject of empirical study since at least the 1980s, and present in religious and philosophical discourse for thousands of years.
- It has been influenced by humanistic as well as psychodynamic approaches to treatment.
- Predating the use of the term “positive psychology”, researchers within the field of psychology had been focusing on topics that would now be included under this new denomination.
- The term positive psychology dates back at least to 1954, when Maslow’s first edition of Motivation and Personality was published with a final chapter titled “Toward a Positive Psychology.” In the second edition published in 1970, he removed that chapter, saying in the preface that “a positive psychology is at least available today though not very widely.” There have been indications that psychologists since the 1950s have been increasingly focused on the promotion of mental health rather than merely treating mental illness.
From the beginning of psychology, the field has addressed the human experience using the ” Disease Model,” specifically studying and identifying the dysfunction of an individual. Positive psychology grew as an important field of study within psychology in 1998 when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association,
Is Freud the father of modern psychology?
Home > < Learn About Therapy > Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Sigmund Freud was a late 19th and early 20th century neurologist. He is widely acknowledged as the father of modern psychology and the primary developer of the process of psychoanalysis,
Who is the father of modern psychotherapy?
Sigmund Freud can be regarded as the father of psychotherapy.
Who is the father of modern psychology and why?
Wilhelm Wundt | |
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Wilhelm Wundt in 1902 | |
Born | 16 August 1832 Neckarau near Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Confederation |
Died | 31 August 1920 (aged 88) Großbothen, Saxony, Germany |
Education | University of Heidelberg ( MD, 1856) |
Known for | Experimental psychology Cultural psychology Structuralism Apperception |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Experimental psychology, Cultural psychology, philosophy, physiology |
Institutions | University of Leipzig |
Thesis | Untersuchungen über das Verhalten der Nerven in entzündeten und degenerierten Organen (Research of the Behaviour of Nerves in Inflamed and Degenerated Organs) (1856) |
Doctoral advisor | Karl Ewald Hasse |
Other academic advisors | Hermann von Helmholtz Johannes Peter Müller |
Doctoral students | James McKeen Cattell, G. Stanley Hall, Oswald Külpe, Hugo Münsterberg, Ljubomir Nedić, Walter Dill Scott, George M. Stratton, Edward B. Titchener, Lightner Witmer |
Influences | Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, Gustav Theodor Fechner, Johann Friedrich Herbart |
Influenced | James Mark Baldwin, Emil Kraepelin, Sigmund Freud, Moritz Schlick |
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; German: ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology, Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and biology, was the first person ever to call himself a psychologist,
He is widely regarded as the “father of experimental psychology “. In 1879, at the University of Leipzig, Wundt founded the first formal laboratory for psychological research. This marked psychology as an independent field of study. By creating this laboratory he was able to establish psychology as a separate science from other disciplines.
He also established the first academic journal for psychological research, Philosophische Studien (from 1883 to 1903) (followed by another: Psychologische Studien, from 1905 to 1917), to publish the institute’s research. A survey published in American Psychologist in 1991 ranked Wundt’s reputation as first for “all-time eminence” based on ratings provided by 29 American historians of psychology.
Who is studied in modern psychology?
“Psychological” redirects here. For the Pet Shop Boys song, see Psychological (song), Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior in humans and non-humans. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts,
It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences, Psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience, As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.
Ψ ( psi ), the first letter of the Greek word psyche from which the term psychology is derived (see below), is commonly associated with the science. A professional practitioner or researcher involved in the discipline is called a psychologist, Some psychologists can also be classified as behavioral or cognitive scientists,
Some psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, Others explore the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie cognitive functions and behaviors. Psychologists are involved in research on perception, cognition, attention, emotion, intelligence, subjective experiences, motivation, brain functioning, and personality,
Psychologists’ interests extend to interpersonal relationships, psychological resilience, family resilience, and other areas within social psychology, They also consider the unconscious mind. Research psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational relationships between psychosocial variables,
Some, but not all, clinical and counseling psychologists rely on symbolic interpretation, While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental health problems, it is also directed towards understanding and solving problems in several spheres of human activity. By many accounts, psychology ultimately aims to benefit society.
Many psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing psychotherapy in clinical, counseling, or school settings. Other psychologists conduct scientific research on a wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior.
Who was the founder of modern psychology quizlet?
Wilhelm Wundt. Wilhelm Wundt opened the Institute for Experimental Psychology at the University of Leipzig in Germany in 1879. This was the first laboratory dedicated to psychology, and its opening is usually thought of as the beginning of modern psychology. Indeed, Wundt is often regarded as the father of psychology.
Was the founder of modern psychology William James?
Why is William James famous? – William James, (born January 11, 1842, New York, New York, U.S.—died August 26, 1910, Chocorua, New Hampshire), American philosopher and psychologist, a leader of the philosophical movement of pragmatism and a founder of the psychological movement of functionalism,