Psychology, its origin,History ,Science

Brief History of Psychology

While the subject of psychology in today’s modern world does reflect the discipline’s rich and colorful history, its origins however differ quite considerably from the contemporary notions of the field. In order to fully understand what psychology is all about, it is important to first go back into its history and explore its origins. How did this discipline originate? When did it originate?Contemporary psychology deals with a vast range of topics; while at the same time looks into human behavioral patterns and mental processes from the cultural level to the neural level. Psychologists study all matters pertaining to human mental issues that begin right from birth and continue up until the death of the person. So, by gaining full understanding of the history of psychology, you will be able to better understand how the individual topics are studied and what has been learnt so far.

The Emergence of Psychology: Physiology and Philosophy

While psychology did not really emerge as a separate science until the latter half of the 19th century, its initial history can be traced right back to the ancient Greeks. During the 1600’s, the famous French philosopher, Rene Descartes, introduced the concept of dualism, which stressed on the fact the body and the mind were basically two separate entities that interacted together to form the normal human experience. Many of the other issues that are still debated by psychologists today, like relative contributions of nature vs. nurture, are deep rooted in these early philosophical concepts.
So why is psychology different from philosophy? While many of the early philosophers relied heavily on methods like logic and observation, the psychologists of today tend to use methods to study and come to conclusions about the human behavior and thought. Physiology also made large contributions towards the eventual emergence of psychology as a science. Early physiology research on behavior and brain had a very dramatic impact on psychology as it is today, ultimately leading to the application of many scientific methodologies that study the human behavior and thought.

Psychology as a Separate Scientific Discipline

During the mid 19th century, Wilhelm Wundt, a German physiologist started using scientific research methods to look into reaction times. His works outlined many of the most important connections between physiology and psychology.
So what were Wundt’s views on psychology? He looked upon the subject as a study of the human consciousness and even sought to apply certain experimental methods in order to study the internal mental processes. While this process today is known as introspection and is considered to be highly unscientific and unreliable, in those days it helped set the stage for all the future experimental methods. And although his influence began to dwindle in the years to come, this impact on the subject is definitely unquestionable.

The First School of Thought

One of Wundt’s most famous students, Edward B Titchener, went on to become one of the founders of psychology’s very first school of thought.
Though Titchener's structuralism is notable because of its emphasis on scientific research methods, it is considered to be unreliable, subjective and limiting today. When Titchener died, the concept of structuralism also dies with him.

Functionalism

Psychology really flourished in America in the 19th century. William James came out on top as the leading American psychologist during this period and his principles of psychology made him the Father of American Psychology. His ideas and concepts served as the foundation for a new school of thought, which was known as functionalism. Functionalism focused on how the human behavior works towards helping people comfortably in their respective environments. Functionalists use methods like direct observation.

Sigmund Freud

Up until this point, psychology tended to stress more on the conscious human experience. However, Sigmund Freud, the famous Austrian physician changed the whole face of psychology in such a dramatic way by putting forward a theory of personality that stressed on the importance of the unconscious mind. His work with patients suffering from mental ailments like hysteria led him to believe that our early childhood experiences as well as our unconscious impulses contribute greatly towards the development of our adult behaviors and personalities.According to him, psychological disorders are basically the result of unconscious conflicts that take place within us, and that become unbalanced or extreme. His theory had a huge impact on the 20th century psychology, influencing the mental well being as well as in many other fields like literature, art and popular culture. Although many of his concepts are looked upon with skepticism today, his influence on modern psychology cannot be questioned.

The Emergence of Behaviorism

Psychology evolved dramatically during the 20th century and another school of thought known as behaviorism became dominant. Behaviorism was a very big change from all of the previous theoretical perspectives, and rejected emphasis on the conscious as well as the unconscious mind. Instead it strove to make the discipline a more scientific one by stressing on observable behavior.
Behavior stresses on the fact, that the subject matter of psychology is basically the behavior of a human being. The impact of this school of thought was enormous and it dominated the scene for almost 50 years. Even though it eventually lost its importance, the basic principles of behaviorism are still used today. Therapeutic methods like token economies and behavioral modification are often used to help kids overcome maladaptive behaviors and to learn new skills. Conditioning is used in most situations ranging from education to parenting.

The Third Force or Humanistic Psychology

Although behaviorism and psychoanalysis dominated the first half of the 20th century, a new school of thought, known to us as humanistic psychology emerged during the latter half of the 20th century. Referred to most as the ‘Third Force’ in psychology, this theoretical concept lays emphasis on conscious experiences.