Wilhelm Wundt Research Paper

Although many of his theories would not be put into experimentation today, they were perfectly matched with the psychology he developed. It is possible that without his straightforward approach, we would not have the many fields of psychology today.

In this essay I am looking at where Psychology as a discipline has come from and what affects these early ideas have had on psychology today, Psychology as a whole has stemmed from a number of different areas of study from Physics to Biology,

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.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Titchener brought Wundt’s basic ideas of psychology to America. He was responsible for translating many of Wundt’s works into English as they were all in German. Many did not now that Titchener only translated what he agreed with and choose not to translate anything he disagreed with. Titchener called Wundt's ideas structuralism, and tried to study the structure of mental life or consciousness. His structural psychology had three aims:

Henry Wirz, originally named Heinrich Hartmann Wirz, was known as a military leader during the Civil War. Henry was born in Zurich, Switzerland on November 25, 1823. Although Henry had a set future of becoming a doctor, instead he had studied to become a weaver. In 1845, he had married a woman named Emilie Oschwald. After the couple had two children, the marriage had ended poorly. Sources say, “According to some reports, Wirz had legal troubles while in Europe involving embezzled money, and may have served some time in prison.”

Psychology is a branch of philosophy until the late 1870’s when it was developed in Germany and the United States as an independent scientific punishment. In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory and dedicated it to psychological research in Leipzig, Germany. Wilhelm Wundt was also the first person to be referred as a psychologists. Early sponsors to the psychology field are Hermann Ebbinghaus, who is the pioneer in the study of the memory. William James, who is the father of pragmatism. Ivan Pavlolv, who had develop the procedures that is associated with classical conditioning, which is the learning process which an innate responses to a stimulus that comes to be elicited in response to a neutral stimulus. In 1890, Hugo Munsterberg began writing the application of psychology to production, law and other fields. Also in 1890 Lightner Witmer had established the first psychology clinic.

The concept of Psychology originated from philosophy and biology which are two factors used in psychology today (Eysenck 2009). Psychology represents ‘study of the mind’ (Gross 2005). Psychology is a type of science which studies the behaviour of humans and animals, psychology tries to understand why people behave in certain ways taking into consideration their thoughts and feelings (Eysenck 2009). The term psychology was founded from the Greek word, psyche which means mind, soul or spirit combined with the Latin word logos which means’ the study of’ (Gross 2005). Psychology dates back to ancient civilizations who were interested in workings of the the mind and behaviours (Payne and Walker 2003). Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychological laboratory in 1879 (Glassman 2008). Wundt and his co workers studied the structures that make up the mind, he was the first theorist to use psychology as a self conscious experiment studying perceptions and conscious awareness (Gross 2005).

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).

In this laboratory, Wundt and his followers undertook the study of psychology, which to them consisted of the study of experience. (Read more about it at) http://www.wiley.com/college/psyc/huffman249327/ch_01.pdf

Firstly, Wundt was the founder of psychology because he wanted to develop it as a new science, whereas Fechner had no intention of doing so. Wundt published articles, founded the first laboratory and began experimental psychology as a science. Secondly, He conducted experiments and produced 54,000 pages of output between the years of 1853 and 1920. Despite the fact that Fechner was the first to introduce the relationship between mind and body (which aided in the development of experimental psychology), he wanted to understand the concept for himself with no intention of making it public. Lastly, founding an entire science requires the integration of prior and current knowledge on the field. Wundt used Fechner’s findings and integrated newly developed material in psychology. Fechner came up with his concepts based on his personal findings.

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.

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.

During the zeitgeist of Watson’s early career, the focus of psychology was on the analysis of the conscious mind. During the late 1800’s, Sigmund Freud, a leader in psychology at the time, had proposed theories of psychology that focused on the conscious and unconscious mind. He explained behavior as a response to the desires of our unconscious and conscious minds, implying that individuals did not have much control over their behaviors or thoughts. In the early 1900’s, during Watson’s career, the country was recovering from the First World War. American societies were trying to cope with the feelings of loos of control that were brought about by the war. Freud’s idea of human consciousness and uncontrollable

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: