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460
Hippocrates
Hippocrates suggested that confusion and bizarre behavior are caused by abnormalities in the brain. This idea that biological factors can affect our thoughts, feelings, and behavior influenced thinking about psychology for more than 2,000 years.
460-377 B.C. -
500
Middle Ages
Most Europeans believed that problems such as agitation and confusion were signs of possession by demons. A popular belief of the time was that possession was punishment for sins or te result of deals made with the devil. Certain "test" were used to tell if a person is possessed such as the water-float test.
500-1500 AD -
Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Wundt and his students founded a field of experimental psychology that came to be known as structuralism.
1832-1920 -
William James
Wilhelm Wundt convinced Harvard proffessor William James that conscious experience cannot be broken down as structuralists believed. James maintained that experience is a continuous stream of consciousness.
1842-1910 -
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud was perhaps the most famous of the early psychologists. Freud's theory has become a part of popular culture which is the ideas that people are driven by hidden impulses and that verbal slips and dreams represent unconscious wishes largely reflect Frued's influence on popular culture.
1856-1939 -
John B. Watson
John B. Watson was asked by examiners "Soes it seem absurd to try to place yourself in the mind of a rat" to consider this question as a requirement for his doctoral degree in psychology. He was asked this because functionalism was the dominant school of psychology at the time.
1878-1958 -
B. F. Skinner
Harvard psychologist B. F. Skinner added to the behaviorist tradition by introducing the concept of reinforcement. Skinner showed that when an animal is reinforced, or rewarded, for performing an action, it is more likely to perform that action again in the future. He demonstrated that laboratory animals, such as rats and pigeons are capable of learning complex behavior patterns if they are reinforced in the right ways.
1904-1990 -
The Biological and Evolutionary Perspectives
The Biological Perspectives- emphasizes the influence of biology in our behavior. This perspective has roots in associationism. Psychologists assume that our mental processes-our thoughts, fantasies, and dreams- are made possible by the nervous system. The Evolutionary Perspective- focuses on the evolution of behavior and mental processes. Evolutionary psychologists suggest that many kinds of behavior patterns, such as aggressive behavior, also have a hereditary basis. -
The Humanistic Perspective
The Humanistic Perspective- stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment and the importance of consciousness, self-awareness, and the capacity to make choices. Humanistic psychology considers people's personal experiences to be the most important aspect of psychology. -
The Psychoanalytic Perspective
The psychoanalytic perspective stresses the influence of unconscious forces on human behavior. In the 1940s and 1950s, psychoanalytic theory dominated the practice of psycotherapy and greatly influenced psychology and the arts. Although psychoanalytic thought no longer dominates psychology, its influence continues to be felt. -
The Learning Perspective
The learning perspective emphasizes the effects of experience on behavior. In the views of many psychologists, learning is the essential factor in observing, describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling behavior. However, the term learning has different meaning to different psychologists. -
The Sociocultural Perspective
The sociocultural perspective studies the influences of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status on behavior and mental processes. By taking these factors into account, psychologists can better understand how people act and think. The science of psychology is enriched by awareness of these factors and taking them into account when conducting research. -
The Cognitive Perspective
The Cognitive Perspective- emphasizes the role that thoughts play in determining behavior. Cognitive psychologists study mental processes to understand human nature. They investigate the ways in which people perceive information and make mantal images of the world, solve problems, and dream and daydream. -
Plato
Plato was a student of Socrated in ancient Greece, he recorded his teacher's advice: "Know thyself." This motto has remained a motto of psychological study ever since. He suggested that we can learn much about ourselves by carefully examining our thoughts and feelings.
428-348 or 347 B.C. -
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who raised many questions about human behavior that are still discussed. He outlined the laws of association, which are still at the heart of learning theory more than 2,000 years later. He showed how experiences often remind us of similar experiences in the past, how the face of a loved one makes us feel secure, and how thought leads to ideas as we dream and as we daydream.
384-322 B.C.
