history of psychology

By zachary13
  • 387 BCE

    387 bc

    387 bc
    387 BC Plato suggested that the brain is the mechanism of mental processes.
  • 335 BCE

    335 bc

    335 bc
    335 BC Aristotle suggested that the heart is the mechanism of mental processes.
  • Period: 300 BCE to

    history of psychology

    the history of psychology

  • 1774 ad

    1774 ad
    1774 AD Franz Mesmer detailed his cure for some mental illness, originally called mesmerism and now known as hypnosis.

  • 1793

    1793
    1793 Philippe Pinel released the first mental patients from confinement in the first massive movement for more humane treatment of the mentally ill.

  • 1808

    1808
    1808 Franz Gall wrote about phrenology (the idea that a person’s skull shape and placement of bumps on the head can reveal personality traits

  • 1834

    1834
    1834 Ernst Heinrich Weber published his perception theory of ‘Just Noticeable DIfference,’ now known as Weber’s Law.

  • 1848

    1848
    1848 Phineas Gage suffered brain damage when an iron pole pierces his brain. His personality was changed but his intellect remained intact suggesting that an area of the brain plays a role in personality.

  • 1859

    1859
    1859 Charles Darwin published the On the Origin of Species, detailing his view of evolution and expanding on the theory of ‘Survival of the fittest.’

  • 1861

    1861
    1861 French physician Paul Broca discovered an area in the left frontal lobe that plays a key role in language development.

  • 1869

    1869
    1869 Sir Francis Galton, Influenced by Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species,’ publishes ‘Hereditary Genius,’ and argues that intellectual abilities are biological in nature.

  • 1879

    1879
    1879
    Wilhelm Wundt founded the first formal laboratory of Psychology at the University of Leipzig, marking the formal beginning of the study of human emotions, behaviors, and cognitions.

  • 1883

    1883
    1883 The first laboratory of psychology in America is established at Johns Hopkins University.

  • 1885

    1885
    1885 Herman Ebbinghaus introduced the nonsense syllable as a means to study memory processes.

  • 1886

    1886
    1886 Sigmund Freud began performing therapy in Vienna, marking the beginning of personality theory.

  • 1890

    1890
    1890 The term “Mental Tests” was coined by James Cattell, beginning the specialization in psychology now known as psychological assessment.

  • 1890

    1890
    1890 Sir Francis Galton developed the technique known as the correlation to better understand the interrelationships in his intelligence studies.

  • 1895

    1895
    1895 Alfred Binet founded the first laboratory of psychodiagnosis.

  • 1896

    1896
    1896 The first psychological clinic was developed at the University of Pennsylvania marking the birth of clinical psychology.

  • 1898

    1898
    1898 Edward Thorndike developed the ‘Law of Effect,’ arguing that “a stimulus-response chain is strengthened if the outcome of that chain is positive.”

  • 2002

    2002
    2002 The push for mental health parity gets the attention of the White House as President George W. Bush promotes legislation that would guarantee comprehensive mental health coverage.