1,293
8
Essay, 2 pages (400 words)

History of psychology

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY The history of psychology as a scholarly study of the mind and behavior dates back to the Ancient Greeks. There is also evidence of psychological thought in ancient Egypt. Psychology was a branch of philosophy until the 1870s, when it developed as an independent scientific discipline in Germany and the United States. Psychology borders on various other fields including physiology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, sociology, anthropology, as well as philosophy and other components of the humanities. Today, psychology is largely defined as ” the study of behavior and mental processes”. Philosophical interest in the mind and behavior dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China and India. Psychology as a self-conscious field of experimental study began in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research in Leipzig. Wundt was also the first person to refer to himself as a psychologist and wrote the first textbook on psychology: Principles of Physiological Psychology. 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 limiting psychological study to that of overt behavior, because that could be quantified and easily measured. Behaviorists considered knowledge of the ” mind” too metaphysical to achieve scientifically. The final decades of the 20th century saw the decline of behaviorism and 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 evolutionary 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.

Thank's for Your Vote!
History of psychology. Page 1
History of psychology. Page 2
History of psychology. Page 3

This work, titled "History of psychology" was written and willingly shared by a fellow student. This sample can be utilized as a research and reference resource to aid in the writing of your own work. Any use of the work that does not include an appropriate citation is banned.

If you are the owner of this work and don’t want it to be published on AssignBuster, request its removal.

Request Removal
Cite this Essay

References

AssignBuster. (2021) 'History of psychology'. 14 November.

Reference

AssignBuster. (2021, November 14). History of psychology. Retrieved from https://assignbuster.com/history-of-psychology/

References

AssignBuster. 2021. "History of psychology." November 14, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/history-of-psychology/.

1. AssignBuster. "History of psychology." November 14, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/history-of-psychology/.


Bibliography


AssignBuster. "History of psychology." November 14, 2021. https://assignbuster.com/history-of-psychology/.

Work Cited

"History of psychology." AssignBuster, 14 Nov. 2021, assignbuster.com/history-of-psychology/.

Get in Touch

Please, let us know if you have any ideas on improving History of psychology, or our service. We will be happy to hear what you think: [email protected]