History of Psychology Figures

John Locke and Thomas Reid

Promoted Empiricism. Their work emphasized the role of the human observer and the importance of the senses in defining how the mind comes to acquire knowledge.

Herman Von Helmholtz

A German psychologist who measured the speed of neural impulse and explored physiology of hearing and vision

Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner

German researchers who questioned the relationship between the mental and the physical stimuli and human perception

Wilhelm Wundt

A German physician, Psychologist and philosopher who is credited for the development of modern psychology

Who was Wundt’s student?

Edward Bradford Titchener; a psychologist who brought a form of experimental psychology called structuralism.

Titchener’s student

The first woman to earn a PhD in America in 1921: Margaret Floy Washburn; the second elected woman as president of the APA

The three functionalists

William James, G. Stanley Hall, and James McKeen Cattell

William James

Wrote the most influential psychology book “Principles of Psychology” and opposed Titchener’s reductionist ideas, proposing that consciousness is a continuous process.

William James’ student

Mary Whiton Calkins; she completed her doctoral degree requirements in Harvard but rejected a diploma due to gender. She was the first woman president of the APA in 1905.

G Stanley Hall

Attended Johns Hopkins University and created the first psychology lab in American in 1883. He created the first journal of Psychology in America “American Journal of Psychology”. He was influenced by the theory of evolution and he founded the APA in 1892.

Who used surveys to write about childhood development and education?

G Stanley Hall

James McKeen Cattell

Received PhD with Wundt and was interested in the assessment if individual differences; influenced by Francis Galton. He believed in eugenics.

Who were responsible for Gestalt psychology?

Max Wertheimer and his colleagues, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Lewin.

Who were primarily responsible for behaviorism?

John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner

Ivan Pavlov

Influenced early behaviorism in America and is famous for his studies on classical conditioning

Frederic C. Bartlett

Explored the idea of the constructive mind; how people use past experiences to construct frameworks for new ones

Cognitive psychology pioneers

Jerome Brenner, Roger Brown, and George Miller

Jerome Brenner

Studied cognitive aspects of sensation and perception

Roger Brown

Performed original research on language and memory

George Miller

Performed research on working memory

Alfred Binet

French psychologist who developed modern IQ tests, He developed a test to identify school children in need of educational support

Walter D. Scott and Harry Hollingworth

Performed psychology of advertising and marketing

Lilian Gilbreth

Pioneer in industrial and engineering psychology. She performed time and motion studies

Lightner Witmer

Received PhD with Wundt, then opened a psychology clinic in UPenn in 1896. He was the credited founder of clinical and school psychology.

Helen Thompson Woolley

Performed Psychological experiments on sex differences (and stereotypes); ex: emotion

Mamie Phipps Clark

She and her husband performed research on the effects of segregation in schools. This was an influential factor in passing Brown V. Board of Education

Evelyn Hooker

Performed research on sexual orientation; helped de-pathologize homosexuality and remove it from the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental health disorders.