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Psychology Lab Founded
Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychology based labratory in Germany. At this time he considered himself as the first psychologist. He would begin many experiments involving the mind in this labratory. -
First Doctorate of Psychology
The first doctorate in psychology is given to Joseph Jastrow, a student of G. Stanley Hall at Johns Hopkins University. Jastrow later becomes professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin and serves as president of the American Psychological Association in 1900. -
First Professor of Psychology
The academic title “professor of psychology” is given to James McKeen Cattell in 1888, the first use of this designation in the United States. A student of Wilhelm Wundt’s, Cattell serves as professor of psychology at University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. -
Functionalism Founded
Functionalism, an early school of psychology, focuses on the acts and functions of the mind rather than its internal contents. Its most prominent American advocates are William James and John Dewey, whose 1896 article “The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology” promotes functionalism. -
IQ Test Created
Using standardized tests, Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon develop a scale of general intelligence on the basis of mental age. Later researchers refine this work into the concept of intelligence quotient; IQ, mental age over physical age. From their beginning, such tests’ accuracy and fairness are challenged.