History of Psychology

Origin of Psychology: Germany (19th centuary)

• New psychology started because of ideas from British and continental philosophies about the mind, along with progress in sensory physiology research.

Christian Wolff (1679- 1754): He popularized the idea that psichology is the study of the mind.

• Wolf devided the discipline between empirical and rational psychology.

  • Empirical Phsychology: The data of the mind that resulted from observing ourselves and others and through experience.

  • Rational Phsychology: referred to the interpretation of the data of empirical psychology through the use of reason and logic.

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920): German physician and physiologist.

• Wundt received his Master degree from the University of Heidelberg in 1855.

• University of Lepzig: He founded  the first laboratory in experimental psychology.

• trained in physiology as part of his medical education

• Pursued independent research as a student

• chose physiology, not medicine, for his career.

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909):

• Believed that higher mental processes could be the object of experimental investigation

• Ebbinghaus used precise quantitative methods to investigate memory.

• Was inspired by the psychophysics of G. T. Fechner and philosopher J. F. Herbart’s attempt to apply mathematics to mental representations.

• established laboratories at several universities

Georg Elias Müller:

• One of Ebbinghaus best students.

• Müller did several experiments to check the people’s reaction when they listened specific sounds and how those sounds affected the memory and the learning.

• Göttingen University

• Müller’s laboratory seems to have been especially hospitable to women interested in psychology.

Charles Darwin:

• Wrote the book “On the origin of species” in 1859

• The book presents evidence of the theory of evolution and proposed natural selection as the mechanism responsable.

• It stats how any changes in a anomal´s lifestyle though his years of life can be inherited to the offspring.

Psychology in the United States

• In the period of the Civil Wars, Americans where attracted to the German ideas of Psychology.

• William James wrote a letter where he suggests that psychology should be made a science already.

USA:

• USA psychology was mainley based in british and scotish ideas and some german and french.

• British philosophy was empirical, mainley focusing on observations.