This assignment begins by explaining how psychology has developed over the centuries to current day. Psychology did not become an independent area of study until the 19th century. Two theoretical perspectives will then be evaluated; the psychodynamic theory including the work of Freud. Followed by the biological theory, concluding with the conclusion.
Psychology has developed from philosophy, science, medicine and theology (King 2015). Back between 664-554BC in Egypt the temple – university Ipet Isut in Karnak existed, where Thales (physicists) was one of the first to go and got introduced to the Kemetic mystery system (Clark, 2011). Many of the early Greeks philosophers/scholars studied in Egypt and bought their knowledge back to Greece
…show more content…
It was not until the 17th century Rene Descartes started thinking about if the mind and body are the same or different (Mastin 2008). His famous quote ‘Cognito, ergo sum’which means ‘I think, therefore I am’ which Rene tried to prove if he is real or not (Mastin 2008).
In 1690, John Locke theory of the mind that at birth the mind is a blank slate ready to write on with memories (Project 2007). Phrenology was developed by Franz Joseph Gall in the late 17th century. Franz suggested that one could understand someone’s personality by examining the head and feel the bumps on the skull (Cherry 2015). Even though phrenology’s methods did not last, some of the theory had experimental value (Landrum 2015). Psychophysics is possibly the area that moved from philosophers studying behaviour to psychology studying behaviour. Hermann von Helmholtz, Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner are the three researches key in founding of psychology (Landrum 2015). Hermann von Helmholtz led the breakthrough research on the nervous system in 1852. Ernst Weber was also interested in sensory system and how it worked; he developed Weber’s Law (Landrum 2015). Weber’s Law gave psychology the idea of just noticeable difference, that is, the smallest difference between two stimuli that can be noted by person. (Landrum 2015). Gustav Fechner expands on Weber’s Law and is said to be the founder of psychophysics (Landrum 2015).
In the late 1850s Charles Darwin
Explain the reasons for the development of psychology as an academic discipline in the 19th and 20th centuries, making explicit the important turning points and breakthroughs.
The history of psychology is in infancy at the present time. Many philosophers can be credited to the development of this science. Starting in the early 18th and 19th centuries philosophers such as Rene’ Descartes and John Locke opened the world of what we know as psychology today. The British empiricists also contributed to psychology. Some of these men include David Hume and David Hartley.
Psychology is an applied as well as an academic field that studies both the human mind and behavior. The research in psychology attempts to explain and understand behavior, emotion and thought. The subject of psychology was created when Wilhelm Wundt opened up the very first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany. Wilhelm Wundt believed that individuals who are appropriately trained would most likely be able to recognize the mental processes that are accompanied with feelings, thoughts and sensations (Wagner , 2009).
Psychology is a scientific application of behaviourism. It evolved from three key areas of research, philosophy, biology and physics. In 1879 a man named Wilhelm Wundt created the first laboratory with the sole
There were contextual forces as well as work in America to foster the growth of applied psychology. The number of people with a Ph. D. in psychology rose and there were not enough academic positions to employ them, and when one attained a teaching job many administrations did not value (or fund) psychology programs. As psychology was a newest science when compared to physics and chemistry…received smallest financial support, so need to proof that psychology is useful in solving social, educational and industrial problem in order to improve budgets. An emerging societal problem was a dramatic increase in public school enrollment, which opened doors for some psychologists. Thus, the focus of psychology shifted towards the application in solving real-world problem.
History and Systems of Psychology is a course requirement offered to Psychology majors and minors. This course is used to provide majors and minors with the foundation and the evolution of the field of psychology. Within this class, many scholars of discussed. Two scholars that stood out to me in this course would be John Watson and Max Wertheimer. These two particular scholars are responsible for two of the most influential and famous schools of thought, behaviorism and Gestalt psychology. These two schools of thought are responsible for changing the field of psychology and introducing the field to new theories and ways of thinking. Although the two schools of thought are similar in being influential but they are different in many ways. The two schools of thought are even said to be contradictory of one another and one is even said to be the cause of the fading out of the other.
For in Descartes terms, it was plausible to doubt that one has a body, but impossible to doubt the existence of one’s mind; therefore “…self and mind must be identical” (Palmer 162).
Authored by Keith E. Stanovich, How to Think Straight About Psychology is a known work of the psychology world which was published in 1986. Beginning courses in psychology use his text frequently. Stanovich primary purpose for writing the text is to bring attention to his observation that the public’s understanding of psychology is different from psychology as a modern science. Psychology as a modern science explains the underlying functions that shape human attitudes and behavior. To the people who misunderstand this, the field of psychology is not a real science, but a pseudo-science instead. How to Think Straight About Psychology describes people’s several false impressions of psychology and it gives its readers a factual understanding of the field as a modern and scientific psychology while explaining how this science works.
As far back as the time when man first discovered ways to communicate with one another he has attempted to understand and explain the course of historical events. In considering the historical development of scientific psychology two main views of the historical progress the field of science have emerged: personalistic theory and naturalistic theory.
over time, due to psychologists coming to light in the modern world. This essay will also
The central purpose of this essay is to critically discuss the importance of understanding human evolution and the history of psychology for the modern psychologist. For the human evolution, the essay will be addressing on how we and other species descended from our ancestors and how the different environment has helped to us to become more adaptable. Regarding the history of psychology, the essay will be discussing on how psychology branched off from the philosophy approach to become its own science. The essay will then go on discussing how the understanding of both human evolution and history of psychology would be used by modern psychologist.
The History of Psychology In order to discuss Psychology's history, it is important to understand that psychology still does not have one unifying approach unlike the natural sciences; even the definition of Psychology and what it truly means is still undecided. However I shall attempt to review chronologically its philosophical origins, include how the science of Physics and Biology were placed in history and how they influenced research and determined the development of Psychology as its recognised today. Beginning with the philosophers Plato and Aristotle (between 428- 347) in ancient Greece, they began to ask
Psychology is the study of the mind, its biology, and behavior if the individual. The father of psychology, Wilhelm Wundt, used objective measurement and controlled analyzing to find and emphasize separation between psychology and philosophy (McLeod). Wundt opened the Institute for Experimental Psychology at the University of Leipzig in Germany in 1879, using his background in physiology to study reactions and sensations (McLeod). There is no doubt that he, along with the later help of Sigmund Freud, launched what is now modern psychology. Psychology and its research helped the world understand the inner workings of the mind and how it affects everyone around us.
When psychology was first established as a science it separated from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The first school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie for dominance in psychology. The following are some of the major thought that have influenced our knowledge and understanding of psychology: Structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism:
Much of the intellectual history of psychology has involved the attempt to come to grips with the problem of mind and body and how they interact.