History of Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt

1879

In 1879, Wundt founded the first ever laboratory for the purpose of psychological research in Leipzig, Germany where he mainly focussed and studied sensations and feelings by employing experiments such as introspection. Wundt is known as the founder of psychology.

G. Stanley Hall

1883

The first psychology lab in the US was founded in 1883 at Johns Hopkins University bt G. Stanley Hall, Hall was a student of Wundt and therefore wanted to assist in his research.

James McKeen

1888

James McKeen earned the first academic title of "Professor of Psychology" in 1888 from the University of Pennsylvania. This was the first use of the title in the US - he was also a student of Wilhelm Wundt.

APA (American Psychological Association)

1892

APA (American psychological association) was founded in July 1892 by a small group of men interested in what they named “the new psychology”. 31 individuals including Stanley Hall.

Margaret Washburn

1894

Washburn was the first woman to have earned a PhD in psychology in 1894 from the University of Chicago.

Mental Processes

1896

Functionalism: Theory based on the premises on all aspects of society, institutions, ideas, norms etc.
Psychoanalysis: set of psychological theories and therapeutic techniques that have their origin through the work of Sigmund Freud.
Structuralism: intellectual movement and philosophical analysis. People who analyse and explain nature, society and human psychic

Lightner Witmer

1896

Witmer founded the first psychology clinic in the world in 1896 at the University of Pennsylvania. A few years later he gave the name clinical psychology and began publication of the first scholarly journal in field.

The Interpretation of Dreams

1899

In 1899, The Interpretation of Dreams written by Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis, theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation and discusses what would later become the theory of oedipus complex.

John B Watson - Behaviourism

1913

John B Watson was a psychologist who established the psychological field of behaviourism in 1913. It is a systematic approach to understanding the behaviour of animals and humans (visual).

Branches of Psychology

1954

Bio-psychology: a branch of psychology that analyses how the brain, neurotransmitters and other aspects of our biological influence over behaviour, thoughts and feelings.
Psychopharmacology: the scientific study of the effects drugs have upon mood, sensation, thinking and behaviour.
Humanistic psychology: psychological perspective that answers Freud’s psychoanalysis theory.

Human Memory

1956

In 1956, psychologist George A Miller wrote that human memory limitations are not absolute and may overcome when information is deducted into larger units (the way humans think).

Evolutionary Psychology

1976

In 1976, evolutionary psychology was introduced. It is a theoretical application to psychology that attempts to explain useful and psychological traits, such as memory, perception of language, as adaptations over time.

Cognitive Neuroscience

2000

Cognitive neuroscience is the study focusing on neural substances of mental processes. How thinking affects the brain and its processes.