Dorthea Dix

Field of Study: N/A

She was a propionate of getting the mentally insane help, and an advocate on their behalf. She lobbied for Congress to create the first generation of mental asylums.

Wilhelm Wundt

Field of Study: Introspection

He was considered to be the father of psychology, as he founded the first psychological laboratory in 1879. He trained people in introspection, and created the school of structuralism using trained introspection.

Edward Titchener

Field of Study: Structuralism

Created the idea that contemplation finds answers to the brain by breaking it into parts and focusing on what each part does. He was a student of Wilhelm Wundt, who analyzed consciousness into its basic elements and how they were related.

G. Stanley Hall

Field of Study: Evolutionary

He was an American psychologist who helped to found the APA. He set up a lab at Johns Hopkins University employing introspection. He focused on child development and evolutionary theory.

William James

Field of Study: Functionalism

He thought that structuralists were focused on the wrong thing, and was interested in the purpose of behavioral acts. He viewed humans as actively involved and created the school of functionalism, which was focused on the application of psychological findings to practical solutions, with the goal to explain behavior.

Max Wertheimer

Field of Study: Gestalt Psychology

He focused on how we experience the world, rather than how we feel. He thought that the whole of an experience can be more than the sum of its parts.

Mary Whiton Calkins

Field of Study: General Psychology

She was the first woman president of the APA. She was also the first female admitted to James’s graduate seminar despite the university’s objections. She also became a student of William James.

Margaret Floy Washburn

Field of Study: General Psychology

She was the first woman to complete a psychology PhD. and earn the degree, and a student of Edward Titchener, as he was her graduate advisor. She also translated Wundt and was largely a teacher.

Sigmund Freud

Field of Study: Psychoanalysis

Created the idea of psychoanalysis in order to explain the structure of the human mind, attitudes, behavior, disorders, and the origins of civilization. He placed a high emphasis on sexuality, which was highly controversial during the Victorian era he lived in. He also created the notion of the unconscious mind.

Ivan Pavlov

Field of Study: Behaviorism

Pavlov is one of the most well known behaviorism experts, with an emphasis on classical conditioning. “Pavlov’s dog” was an experiment linking salivation to meat powder using a  tuning fork and later, a metronome. Developed the theory of an unconditioned stimulus evoking an unconditioned response, and later developing into a conditioned stimulus creating a conditioned response. (UCS, UCR, CS, CR)

John B. Watson

Field of Study: Behaviorism

John Watson was the founder of behaviorism, from his “Little Albert” study in which he conditioned a child to fear things with specific traits.

B.F. Skinner

Field of Study: Behaviorism

Was a pioneer in behaviorism as he built on the ideas of Pavlov, Watson, and Thorndike. He developed the Skinner Box and operant conditioning. He conducted behavior research using punishment and reinforcement.

Carl Rogers

Field of Study: Humanism

Focused on personal growth, with an emphasis on empathy, acceptance, and understanding so that positive regard was unconditioned. He worked with abused children and is the father of Client-Centered therapy. His theory was a reaction to the Freudian and behavioral approaches to understanding behavior.

Abraham Maslow

Field of Study: Humanism

Created the hierarchy of needs, in which low levels need to be put above the higher levels of needs, with the goal to be self-actualized.