History and Development of Psychology as a Discipline
I. Definition
o The term psychology was first coined in 16th Century Germany as a combination of two Greek
words: psyche (soul or mind) and logos (study)
o Today, psychology is defined as the science of behavior and mental processes, with the goal of
understanding, predicting, and controlling behavior and mental processes
II. History and Development
o Hippocrates (460-377 BC)…The Art of Healing…described behavioral disorders
o Aristotle (384-322 BC)…humans have reasoning skills, rational souls, and material bodies
o Thomas Aquinas (AD 1227-1274)…human action is freely decided rather than compelled by
natural forces
o Rene Descartes (1596-1650)…described differences between the free will that governs humans’
souls and the physical “passions” (appetites) and “emotions” (excitements) that govern the
material body…”Cogito ergo sum” – I think therefore I am
o Aristotle, Aquinas, and Descartes represent the philosophy of dualism
o Philosophy of monism:
 Idealism…all of reality exists only in the mind…things are real only to those that
experience it
 Determinism…causes determine effects in the physical world
 Empiricism…observable events are evidence of reality…Roger Bacon (214-1292) and
John Locke (1632-1704)
o Physiognomy…reading one’s behavioral characteristics from physical features
o Phrenology…inferring character from the shape and form of the skull
o Psychophysiology…connection between physiological processes and psychological
experiences…focused on the senses
o Psychophysics…relationship between the physical and environmental changes and the sensory
processes they trigger
o 1879…1st scientific laboratory for psychological research was established at the University of
Leipzig in Germany by Wilhelm Wundt…psychology’s “birthday”…beginning of modern psych
o Wundt’s subjects used self analysis or introspection to develop a structure of the
consciousness…school of structuralism
o William James promoted the school of functionalism…psychological processes must serve some
function or they would be lost
o 1890…James’ book Principles of Psychology is published…1st psych textbook
o Gestalt psychology…German word meaning form or pattern…school of thought that stressed the
whole…included Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) and Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967)
o Psychoanalysis…Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)…psychological experiences are caused by instincts
and biological drives
o John B. Watson (1878-1958)…father of behaviorism…the need to study only what is
observable…he and B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) had interest in comparative psychology…the study
of behavior in non-humans
o Cognitive psychology…psychological processes involved in cognitive processes…e.g. Noam
Chomsky (b.1928)…transformation of internal thoughts to verbal communication
o Neuroscience…scientific study of the brain and nervous system
o Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)…best known for creating Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which is a
theory of psychological health predicted on fulfilling innate human needs in priority and
culminating in self-actualization.
Based upon information from Introduction to Psychology – College Collins Outlines – by J.G. Johnson