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347
Plato
(428-348 or 347 B.C.) A student of Socrates in ancient Greece. He recorded his teacher's advice: "Know thyself." Since then, this phrase has remained a motto of psychological study. -
460
Hippocrates
(c. 460-c. 377 B.C.) Suggested that such problems are caused by abnormalities in the brain. But this idea that biological factors can affect our thoughts, feelings, and behavior influenced thinking about psychology for more then 2,000 years. -
Jan 1, 1000
The Middle Ages
(500 AD-1500) During the middle ages, people believed that agitation and confusion were signs of possession by demons. During this time, it was a popular belief that possession was punishment for sins or the result of a deal made with the devil. -
Jan 1, 1500
Nicolaus Copernicus
In the 1500s, a polish astronomer (Nicolaus Copernicus) challenged the view that the sun revolved around the earth. -
The Birth of Modern Science
(1500s-1700s) The Birth of Modern Science led to the birth of modern psychology. -
Sir Isaac Newton
In the 1600s, he formulated the laws of gravity and motion. -
Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralsim
(1832-1920) He and his students founded a field of experimental psychology that came to be known as structuralsim. -
William James and Functionalism
(1842-1910) Wrote The Principles of Psychology and was one of the founders of the school of functionalism. -
John B. Watson and Behavioralism
(1878-1958) Defined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior. He was the founder of behavioralism. -
B. F. Skinner and Reinforecment
(1904-1990) Added on to the behaviorist tradition by introducing the concept of reinforcement. -
Sigmund Freud and the School of Psychoanalysis
(1856-1939) A Viennese physician, was perhaps the most famous of the early psychologists. The school that he founded was called the Psychoanalysis school and it emphasized the importance of unconcious motives and internal conflicts in determining human behavior. -
Perspectives
Biological, evolutionary, cognative, humanistic, psychoanalytic, learning, and sociocultural are all elements of perspective and all psychologists use them in some way shape or form. -
Aristotle
(384-322 B.C) He outlined the laws of associationism, which are still at the heart of learning theory more then 2,000 years later. One of Aristotles works is called Peri Psyches, which is translated into "about the mind."
