Birth Of Psychology

Birth of psychology

The birth of psychology was a long time coming. It was a long process because thinking precedes doing. Before we created a science of studying people, we thought about it.we thought about it for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.

We thought about the nature of the universe, how the world works, and what people are like. We compiled of thoughts into statements of wisdom, canons of religion, and postulates of philosophy. We have attributed much to chance and luck. But a relatively recent approach to discovering truth is science. For more on these methods of enquiry, check out Five Paths To Truth.

These broad paths to discovering truth were part of zeitgeist of the mid- to late-1800s. Consequently, psychology is a combination of philosophy and science. Specially, it is the fusion of the questions of philosophy and the research techniques of experimental physiology. Psychology uses experimental science to answer the questions of philosophy.

Philosophy has a long history of thinking about the nature of people. There are direct and indirect influences on the founders of psychology. These Roots of Philosophy are only a portion of philosophical thought of the time. Pythagoras & Confucius were on opposite sides of the world nearly 3000 years ago. But there are similarities in their approaches. Not scientific but systematic, they laid out principles of behavior widely used today. Pythagoras emphasized harmony with nature and the beauty of mathematical relationships. Confucius articulated five virtues. Both thinks were focused on large ideas.

They were not the only thinkers of their day. There are, of course, many other ancient philosophers (Old Philosophers, New Ideas), Thales, Socrates and Plato impacted thought for generations but it is hard to overestimate the importance of Aristotle on Western culture. His laws of association are still used in cognitive science today. Aristotle established comparative anatomy, the importance of logic, and systematic study 0f the known universe. It wasn’t his discoveries that mattered; it was his mind set and methodology.

Modern philosophers built on the foundations of ancient thinkers. And argued about which views were correct. In particular, there was a battle between John Locke’s British Empiricism and Thomas Hobbes’ rationalism (Hobbes, Galileo & Descartes). The issue was an artificial division between inductive and deductive reasoning. It turns out we need both.

If one parent of psychology was philosophy, the other one was physiology. Experimental Physiology is a large collection of discoveries. But they share the same general approach. They identify a variable which can be manipulated (independent variable) to see what happens to an outcome measure (dependent variable). These experiments used careful controls, took careful measurements and peer-review.

The founders of psychology all shared the scientific approach. They were a quartet of men who knew each other but weren’t necessarily friends. Two founders were from Germany. Wilhelm Wundt and Carl Stumpf worked on similar topics but worked independently of each other. They also disliked each other strongly. The focus was on perception but Wundt spread his attention quite broadly, and Stumpf specialized in hearing and music.

At the same time, Théodule-Armand Ribot started experimental psychology in France, and William James began American psychology. Both emphasized the importance of the scientific method, and rejected introspection for more reliable research techniques. The Ribot method focused on pathology, while James was interested in perceptual functionalism.

Psychology quickly spread across the world. Independent thinkers, readers of science, and students of Wundt and Stumpf all played a part. Russian psychology emphasized physiology and reflexes. It culminated in the work of Pavlov and Bechterev, and the rise of classical conditioning.

British psychology was similarly independent of Wundt. Francis Galton collected a lot of measurements on people, and created several data analysis tools still in use today.

The twin prongs of Wundt and Stumpf produced their own streams of thought. Stumpf’s students created Gestalt psychology. Wundt’s students went to America (Titchener and Cattell), and Japan (Matatarō).

Trends in psychology developed into Waves & Schools. There is agreed upon list of which are schools, waves or fads. No one really knows. Pavlov was a physiologist who thought psychology was a fad, but it has done pretty well for itself.

Trait theory. This is the oldest theory concerning what determines behavior. What you do and who you are was thought to be the result of external forces. The fates, stars, or planets (or some combination) determine who you are. It is the year you were born, your zodiac symbol or your name that sets thing in stone. If we name you Faith, you will be faithful. That’s why, even today, Lazy is not a very popular name.

Psychoanalysis. Freud and friends embraced internal processes. The latest technology for heating buildings was a boiler, which could be dangerous if it built up too much pressure. This internal pressure metaphor was used to explain human behavior in terms of unconscious processes.

Structuralism. Wundt was a volitionist, but his student Titchener (English, turned American) was a structural it’s. He searched for mental structures to explain behavior. The memory engram was thought to be a small structure where memory is stored.

Functionalism. William James argued against the search for structures. He believed the important thing was how things functioned. A radical empiricist, James was interested in the practical aspects of knowledge.

Behaviorism. Walton’s popularization of Pavlov’s classical theory was the beginning of behaviorism. But it got an extra push from Skinner’s operant conditioning. This became the predominant view of American psychology. All that is important is what people do. What they think, feel and hope for are unimportant.

Humanism. Carl Rogers introduced a nicer-kinder approach. A reaction to behaviorism, humanism emphasized the importance of being human. Self-awareness, self-concept and self-acceptance become valuable. How you viewed yourself and your situation helped determine your behavior.

Existentialism. Living in the immediate here and now was an extension of humanism. Not only do we have feelings, we strive to reach goals and long to find meaning in life.

Gestalt theory. The perceptual research of Gestalt psychology was expanded to a life view or wholeness. Life should be viewed in its entirety, not broken into bits of conditioned behavior.

Cognitive theory. As computers became more widely deployed, psychology began to use a computer metaphor to explain human behavior. There are inputs (senses), processes (deciding and thinking) and outputs (behaviors).