One cannot understand the history of psychology appropriately without
knowing something of the history of philosophy (Goodwin, 2008). In understanding
the history of philosophy one can determine that philosophers have already
addressed the important issues that concern modern psychologists (Goodwin,
2008). Philosophers, such as John Locke, David Hume, and Wilhelm Wundt have
contributed to the discipline of psychology. For instance, John Locke, and David
Hume are two philosophers related to psychology’s beginnings as a formal
discipline. Wilhelm Wundt was a major philosopher in a western tradition that
was a primary contributor to psychology’s beginnings as a formal discipline. Several
other philosophers contributed to the psychology’s beginnings as a formal
discipline as well. In order for one to fully understanding psychology, one
needs to explore its origins and history during the 19th century.
John Locke
John Locke was a British philosopher considered the founder of the
British empiricism movement (Uzgalis, 2012). During Locke’s life he witnessed and
experienced several events that affected and influenced his life. Goodwin
(2008), “out of these experiences, he developed a liberal political philosophy
based on tolerance of dissent and the right of the people to determine how they
would lead both their worldly and their more spiritual lives, and in
particular, how they would be governed” (p. 38). Locke wrote several influential
books, such as the four books of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. These
four books were explanations of how Locke viewed the acquirement of knowledge
and how humans find a way to understand the world, therefore Locke believed that
humans were not born with innate ideas (Goodwin, 2008).
Locke also expressed his beliefs that human experiences, such
as thoughts, sensations, feelings, and images are physical processes
that occurred in the nervous system and brain (monism). Monism is the belief
that the mind, and the body are the same. Locke also wrote Some Thoughts
Concerning Education, which detailed how the thinking of an empiricist may be
applied to every aspect of a child’s education (Goodwin, 2008). Locke believed
a child was born as a blank slate and learned through experiences. Locke
contributed to psychology through his books and the concepts he expressed in
them (Goodwin, 2008).
David Hume
David
Hume was a British philosopher, essayist, and historian. Hume was a logical
thinker, one who rejected the idea of religion contributing to or affecting
psychology in any way, and thought that one should think logically instead of
relying on religion. Morris (2009), “for Hume, all the materials of thinking —
perceptions — are derived either from sensation, such as outward sentiment or
from reflection, such as inward sentiment” (p. 1). Hume delved more on this and
other ideas in several books of work, such as A Treatise of Human Nature, the
Enquiries concerning Human Understanding, Principles of Morals, and Dialogues
concerning Natural Religion. Through his books and work Hume also proposed
three laws of association, which were resemblance, contiguity, and cause/effect
(Goodwin, 2008).
Morris (2009), “today, philosophers recognize Hume as a precursor
of contemporary cognitive science, as well as one of the most thoroughgoing
exponents of philosophical naturalism” (p. 1). Hume contributed to psychology
as a discipline through his search for causes of behavior, which still
influences modern psychologists to continue Hume’s search.
Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm
Wundt was a philosopher and father of experimental psychology. Wundt’s influence
on the development of psychology as a discipline was enormous as he made
arguments for a non-reductionist account of consciousness’ legitimacy, which
offered resources and challenges to both philosophy and contemporary psychology
(Kim, 2006). Wundt's influence over Edward B. Tichener, a former student
influenced him formally to establish structuralism. Wundt also wrote books,
such as the Principles of Physiological Psychology, which enabled the establishment
of experimental procedures to occur in psychological research (Kim, 2006). Psychology
gained a disciplinary identity distinctive from philosophy because of Wundt and
his students who developed the empirical methodologies (Kim, 2006).
The empirical methodologies’ development occurred because of
Wundt’s repulsion for the founders of neo-Kantianism, Phenomenology, and Pragmatism. Along with the development
of the empirical methodologies, which led the way for psychology to gain its
disciplinary identity, Wundt contributed more to this disciplinary identity by opening
the first psychological lab in 1879 at University of Leipzig. These two
developments stand alone as undeniable accomplishments that Wundt contributed
to the discipline of psychology.
Development of the Science of Psychology
In
the 19th century, undoubtedly the most significant period in the
development of the science of psychology occurred when Wilhelm Wundt founded
the experimental study of self-conscious in a laboratory. This was the first
time a laboratory’s exclusive purpose was for psychological research (Academic
Writing Tips, 2011). Another development in psychology occurred during this
century when Ivan Pavlov performed his classical conditioning experiments,
which immensely influenced psychology, in particular the development of
behaviorism (Academic Writing Tips, 2011). Several psychologists used Pavlov's
conditional reflex work toward the study of conditioning as a form of learning,
and his experimental methods contributed to psychology’s move toward objective
measurements of behavior, away from subjective and introspection assessments of
behavior (Cherry, 2012).
William James, during this century established the first American
psychology laboratory and wrote The Principles of Psychology, and a condensed
version titled Psychology: The Briefer Course. He also proposed the James-Lange
theory of emotion, which proposes that an event triggers a physiological
reaction, which one can therefore interpret (Cherry, 2012). According
to Academic Writing Tips (2011), “after experimental psychology, other
areas of specialization such as scientific pedagogy appeared in the early 1880s
led by G. Stanley Hall and the educational theory by John Dewey was another
milestone in the same era” (p. 1). Hall also established at Johns Hopkins
University the first experimental psychology laboratory, and in 1892, founded
the American Psychological Association (APA).
In the 1890s James Cattell built the first psychological clinic,
which incorporated anthropometric methods used in testing client’s mental
conditioning (Academic Writing Tips, 2011). In 1896 at the University of
Pennsylvania Lightner Witmer, father of clinical psychology opened the first
psychological clinic for patients. At this moment Witmer’s focus shifted from experimental
work toward practical applications of his findings (Discovering Psychology, 2012).
Toward the end of this century Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis, which was
a new approach to studying the mind (Academic Writing Tips, 2011). Wundt,
Pavlov, James, Hall, Dewey, Cattell, Witmer, and Freud contributed to and
influenced the development of the science of psychology.
Conclusion
In
the 19th century, several contributions by philosophers and
psychologist contributed to the development of the science of psychology, and
continue to influence and advance the field still to this day.
Uzgalis, W. (2012). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/
Morris, W.E. (2009). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/
Kim, A. (2006). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wilhelm-wundt/
Academic Writing Tips. (2011). History of
Modern Psychology. Retrieved from http://academicwritingtips.org/component/k2/item/3347-history-of-modern-psychology.html?tmpl=component&print=1
Cherry, K. (2012). About.com: Psychology. Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/psychistory.htm
Discovering Psychology. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/series/discoveringpsychology/history/history_nonflash.html
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