History of Psychology in America

Prehistory of Psychology

  • Precursors found in philosophy and physiology.

  • Empiricism: knowledge from experience (Locke, Reid). /

  • Early courses in mental and moral philosophy focused on intellect, will, and senses.

Physiology and Psychophysics

  • Z 19th-century physiological investigations of sensory systems.

  • Hermann von Helmholtz: measured neural impulse speed; senses can deceive.

  • Psychological reality vs. physical reality.

  • Psychophysics (Weber, Fechner): measuring physical stimuli and human perception.

Scientific Psychology

  • Wilhelm Wundt: established experimental psychology.

  • 1879: First psychology lab, University of Leipzig.

  • Introspection: detailed self-reports of reactions to stimuli.

  • Mental chronometry (reaction time) research.

Scientific Psychology Comes to the United States

  • Edward Bradford Titchener: brought structuralism to America.

  • Structuralism: focus on contents of the mind.

  • 1900: over 40 psychology labs in the U.S. and Canada.

  • 1892: American Psychological Association (APA) established.

  • 1904: Society of Experimental Psychologists founded by Titchener.

  • Margaret Floy Washburn: first woman in America to earn a Ph.D. in psychology (1894)

Functional Psychology

  • William James, G. Stanley Hall, James McKeen Cattell: functionalism.

  • Influenced by Darwin's evolutionary theory: focus on whatthe mind does.

  • William James: Principles of Psychology (1890); consciousness is continuous.

  • Mary Whiton Calkins: Studied with James at Harvard; first woman president of APA (1905).

  • G. Stanley Hall: first psychology lab in America (1883); American Journal of Psychology (1887); founded APA (1892).

  • Francis Cecil Sumner: first African American to earn a P h.D. in psychology (1920).

  • James McKeen Cattell: assessment of individual differences and eugenics.

The Growth of Psychology

  • Gestalt psychology (Wertheimer, Koffka, Kohler, Lewin): whole is greater than the sum of its parts; precursor to cognitive psychology.

  • Behaviorism (Watson, Skinner): overt behavior as subject matter; laws of learning.

  • Ivan Pavlov: classical conditioning.

  • Cognitive psychology: Frederic Bartlett, Jerome Bruner, Roger Brown, George Miller.

  • George Miller: working memory; "The Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two".

Applied Psychology in America

  • Mental testing: Alfred Binet, Henry Goddard, Lewis Terman.

  • Hugo Munsterberg: employee selection, eyewitness testimony, psychotherapy.

  • Walter D. Scott, Harry Hollingworth: psychology of advertising and marketing.

  • Lillian Gilbreth: industrial and engineering psychology, time and motion studies.

Psychology as a Profession

  • 1930s: American Association for Applied Psychology (AAAP).

  • WWII: need for mental health professionals.

  • Merging of AAAP and APA.

  • National Mental Health Act of 1946: funding for training programs.

  • Boulder Conference (1949): scientist-practitioner model.

  • Vail Conference (1973): scholar-practitioner model; Psy.D. degree.

Psychology and Society

  • Psychologists involved in social issues and change.

  • Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) founded in 1936.

  • Helen Thompson Woolley, Leta S. Hollingworth: research on sex differences.

  • Mamie Phipps Clark and Kenneth Clark: Impact of segregation on African American children.

  • Evelyn Hooker: research on homosexuality and psychological adjustment.

Timeline

  • 1600s: Rise of empiricism.

  • 1850s: Helmholtz measures neural impulse; Psychophysics studied.

  • 1859: Darwin's Origin of Species.

  • 1879: Wundt opens lab for experimental psychology.

  • 1883: First psychology lab in the United States.

  • 1887: First American psychology journal.

  • 1890: James publishes Principles of Psychology.

  • 1892: APA established.

  • 1894: Margaret Floy Washburn first U.S. woman Ph.D.

  • 1904: Founding of Titchener's experimentalists.

  • 1905: Mary Whiton Calkins first woman president of APA.

  • 1909: Freud’s only visit to the United States.

  • 1913: John Watson calls for a psychology of behavior.

  • 1920: Francis Cecil Sumner first African American Ph.D.

  • 1921: Margaret Floy Washburn second woman president of APA.

  • 1930s: AAAP; Gestalt psychology comes to America.

  • 1936: SPSSI founding.

  • 1940s: Behaviorism dominates.

  • 1946: National Mental Health Act.

  • 1949: Boulder Conference.

  • 1950s: Cognitive psychology.

  • 1954: Brown v. Board of Education.

  • 1957: Evelyn Hooker publishes study on male homosexuality.

  • 1968: Association of Black Psychologists founding.

  • 1973: Psy.D. proposed at Vail Conference.

  • 1988: American Psychological Society (now APS) founding.

Here are some of the key ideas from the provided notes on the prehistory and growth of psychology:

  • Empiricism: The idea that knowledge comes from experience, which was a foundational concept in the development of psychology.

  • Psychophysics: The study of the relationship between physical stimuli and human perception, which helped to quantify mental processes.

  • Structuralism: Focus on the contents of the mind.

  • Functionalism: Influenced by Darwin's evolutionary theory, focusing on what the mind does and its functions.

  • Gestalt Psychology: The idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which influenced the development of cognitive psychology.

  • Behaviorism: The focus on overt behavior as the subject matter of psychology and the emphasis on laws of learning.

  • Cognitive Psychology: Focused on mental processes such as memory

The field of psychology emerged from philosophy and physiology, emphasizing empiricism, the idea that knowledge comes from experience. Key milestones include the establishment of the first psychology lab by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879, the spread of psychology to America through figures like Edward Bradford Titchener, and the rise of functionalism, which focused on the mind's functions. Influential movements such as Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, and cognitive psychology shaped the discipline, while applied psychology addressed real-world problems through mental testing, advertising, and industrial psychology. The profession of psychology grew with organizations like the APA and the development of training models, and psychologists became increasingly involved in social issues, studying topics like sex differences, segregation, and homosexuality. Major events, individuals, and concepts mark the timeline of psychology's development from the 1600s to the late 20th century.