Introduction to the History and Early Schools of Psychology

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the origins, early leaders, and major foundational schools of psychology.

Psychology (Etymology)

Derived from the Greek roots 'psyche' (meaning mind) and 'logos' (meaning study or knowledge).

Wilhelm Wundt

German scientist (1832-1920) who established the world's first scientific laboratory dedicated to psychology in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879, marking psychology's transition from philosophy to science.

Introspection

A method used to directly study consciousness by having subjects report on what they are consciously experiencing when presented with specific stimuli or sensations.

Edward Titchener

Englishman (1867-1927) and disciple of Wilhelm Wundt who brought Wundt's teachings and the method of introspection to the United States and other English-speaking countries.

Structuralism

An early school of psychology associated with Wundt and Titchener that attempted to define the structure of the mind by breaking down mental experiences into component parts such as sensations, perceptions, and feelings.

G. Stanley Hall

First American to work in Wundt's laboratory (1844-1924); he established the first U.S. psychology laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in 1883 and founded the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1892.

William James

Harvard psychologist (1842-1910) recognized as the father of American psychology who founded the school of functionalism.

Functionalism

The early school of psychology founded by William James that focused on the functions of mental processes and how behavior helps individuals adapt to demands in their environment.

John Brodus Watson

American psychologist (1878-1958) who founded behaviorism, arguing that psychology should be an objective science of overt behavior rather than unobservable mental processes.

Behaviorism

A major school of psychology proposing that psychology should limit itself to the study of overt, observable behavior that can be recorded and measured, rejecting introspection and mentalistic concepts.

B. F. Skinner

Harvard University psychologist (1904-1990) who expanded behaviorism by studying how behavior is learned, maintained, and shaped through environmental consequences such as rewards and punishments.

Reinforcers

Environmental consequences or rewards manipulated to shape, teach, and maintain specific behaviors in both animals and humans.

Max Wertheimer

German psychologist (1880-1943) who founded Gestalt psychology in 1910 after studying visual illusions of movement.

Gestalt Psychology

The school of psychology that studies the ways in which the brain organizes and structures perceptions into unified patterns or wholes, operating on the maxim that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Sigmund Freud

Austrian physician (1856-1939) who developed the psychodynamic perspective and psychoanalysis, focusing on the unconscious mind, primitive drives, and early childhood experiences.

The Unconscious

In Freudian theory, the region of the mind lying beyond ordinary consciousness that serves as a repository for primitive sexual and aggressive drives, wishes, impulses, and urges.

Psychodynamic Perspective

The view of psychology stemming from Freud that attributes human behavior and personality to unconscious impulses, internal mental conflicts, and early childhood experiences.

Psychoanalysis

A form of psychotherapy developed by Sigmund Freud that utilizes methods like analyzing dreams and slips of the tongue to gain insight into underlying unconscious motives and conflicts.