Psychology

The History of Psychology

By Rachel.philhower

  • The First American Psychology Lab

    The First American Psychology Lab
    G. Stanley Hall, a student of Wilhelm Wundt, established the first experimental psychology lab in the U.S. at Johns Hopkins University. Halls theory was that mental growth proceeds by evolutionary stages is best expressed in one of his largest and most important works, adolescence.

  • The First Doctorate in Psychology

    The First Doctorate in Psychology
    Joseph Jastrow, a student of Hall's,he was the first doctor in psychology in 1886 and later became a professor at the University of Wisconsin and was the president of American Psychology Association in 1900.

  • The First Professor of Psychology

    The First Professor of Psychology
    James McKeen Cattell was the first U.S psychology professor, he helped establish psychology as a legitimate science.He was also the founder and editor of many scientific journals including The Psychology Review.

  • APA Founded

    APA Founded
    G. Stanley Hall founds the American Psychological Association and was its first president. Later on, he established two main journals in the field: American Journal of Psychology in 1887 and Journal of Applied Psychology in 1917.

  • First Woman President of APA

    First Woman President of APA
    Mary Calkins was elected president of the APA. Calkins was a professor and researcher at Wesley College she studied with William James at Harvard University, but Harvard denied her a Ph.D. because she was a woman.

  • IQ Test

    IQ Test
    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.

  • First African American Doctorate in Psychology

    First African American Doctorate in Psychology
    Francis Cecil Sumner earned his Ph.D. in psychology under G. Stanley Hall at Clark University. He later served as chair of the Howard University psychology department.

  • Nobel Prize

    Nobel Prize
    The first Nobel Prize in psychological research.

  • AA

    AA
    Bob Smith founded Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA's group use a 12-step program become the model for many other mutual-support therapeutic groups.

  • National Mental Health Act

    National Mental Health Act
    U.S. President Harry Truman signs the National Mental Health Act, providing generous funding for psychiatric education and research for the first time in U.S. history.

  • First Anti-Depressant

    First Anti-Depressant
    Studies are published reporting that the drug Imipramine may be able to lessen depression. Eight years later, the FDA approves its use in the United States under the name Tofranil.

  • Chlorpromazine Tested

    Chlorpromazine Tested
    The anti-psychotic drug chlorpromazine (akaThorazine) is tested on a patient in a Paris military hospital, it was approved for use in the United States in 1954.

  • FDA Approves Chlordiazepoxide

    FDA Approves Chlordiazepoxide
    The FDA approves the use of Chlordiazepoxide (aka Librium) for treatment of non-psychotic anxiety.

  • FDA Approves Lithium

    FDA Approves Lithium
    The FDA approves lithium carbonate to treat patients with bipolar mood disorders

  • PET Scanner Tested

    PET Scanner Tested
    A new brain scanning technique, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), is tested. By tracing chemical markers, PET maps brain function in more detail than earlier techniques.