The History of Psychology

When Who What

Pre-1879 Philosophers, including Plato, Thought and wrote about the nature of knowledge, learning,
Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and experience.

Late Fechner; von Helmholtz Studied psychophysical phenomena such as the response to
1800’s light and sound.

1859 & Charles Darwin Published The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man.
1871

1879 Wilhelm Wundt Established a psychology lab in Liepzig.

Used introspection in an effort to understand conscious
experience.

ca 1879 William James Established a teaching lab at Harvard.

Sought to understand how consciousness functions
("functionalism").

1883 G Stanley Hall Established a research lab at Johns Hopkins.

Late Sigmund Freud Turned from neurology toward studying the mental causes of
1800’s illness.
into the Established the idea of the subconscious mind and unconscious
1900’s mental processes.
Proposed unconscious conflicts as the cause of neuroses.
Founded psychoanalysis, a system of personality, mental
disorder, and psychotherapy.

ca 1900 Titchener Established a lab at Cornell.

Sought to elaborate the structure of consciousness
("structuralism").

1913 John B Watson Published "Psychology as a Behaviorist Views It."

Proposed that objectively observable behavior is the only valid
subject for psychological study.

1930’s BF Skinner Developed the "functional analysis of behavior."

and later

1920’s Various behaviorally-oriented Dominated research in psychology leaving consciousness and

through psychologists internal mental states mostly outside the mainstream.
1960’s

1940’s Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow Established humanistic psychology as "the third force" in
psychology.
 Proposed that behavior and feelings are shaped by human
choices and perceptions, especially perceptions about oneself
and one’s world.

1960’s Cognitive psychologists Recognized the importance of mental processes in guiding

and behavior.
beyond Established an information processing model for the action of
the mind.

1980’s to Evolutionary psychologists Applied the principles of evolutionary biology to uncover the
the design of the human mind.
present