The history of psychology is rooted in philosophy, with its origin being old Greece during the times of Plato and Aristotle. However, Philosophy differs from Psychology because Psychology employs the use of scientific research methods to study and collect factual data about a subject in order to prove a theory. In contrast, Philosophy is theoretical. It relies on logic and the power of observation, hence, setting apart psychology as a unique discipline from philosophy. Renee Descartes and John Locke were among the early philosophers to propose the existence of a relationship between the mind of a person and experiences, which is the basis of Psychology. In the 19th century, psychologists around the world influenced the birth of Psychology as a discipline, such as, Wundt in Germany, James in America, Freud in Austria and Ivan Pavlov in Russia, but its development and growth as a discipline can be attributed to western psychologists.
Wilheim Wundt pioneered in turning Psychology into a discipline when he used scientific methods to study the connection between the physiology of the brain, and the mind (Pickren and Rutherford, 2010). He was the first psychologist to start a laboratory at a university, where he continued his work that was to be furthered by Titchener. His student, Edward B. Titchener found the first school of thought in Psychology known as Structuralism. However, this school of thought was limited in its perspectives and eventually faded away with Titchener’s death.
The pioneer in the west was William James, who is now referred to as the father of Psychology in America after publishing his book, The Principles of Psychology, which was the basis for the school of thought in Psychology known as Functionalism. In his theory, James differed with Wundt in the subject of “the nature of introspection and procedures to be followed” (Pickren and Rutherford, 2010). Also in Austria, Sigmund Freud introduced the idea of personality into Psychology after working with mental illness patients who helped in his study of the connection between the unconscious mind and a person’s character. His psychoanalytic theory was published in his book, The Psychopathy of Everyday Life. Another pioneer in the emergence of Psychology as a discipline was the founder of the theory of Behaviorism, Ivan Pavlov. He studied the relationship between reaction and stimulus using behaviour in dogs and their reaction to controlled stimuli, thus introducing Classical conditioning (Lefrancois, 2011).
Although the origin of Psychology as a discipline was in Germany, the growth and development of the discipline proliferated mostly in the United States of America (Pickren and Rutherford, 2010). The pioneer was William James, and later, other Psychologists emerged to improve on previously proposed theories and introduce new schools of thought. John B. Watson continued in the footsteps of Pavlov in behavioral science and became an advocate for the theory of classical conditioning proposed by Pavlov. However, B.F Skinner introduced Operant conditioning, which was part of behaviourism, but differed from Classical conditioning because the theory proposed that behaviour can be encouraged or discouraged. Behaviourism was popular in the earlier half of the century but later, Carl Rogers deviated from the popular notion of environmental influence on behaviour to introduce the importance of choice in character.
Thus, began a new school of thought referred to as Humanistic Psychology. This school of thought proposed that people had a choice in their experiences, and that the choice was conscious. Abraham Maslow, who made the model that defines the priority in human needs, developed humanistic Psychology further. Finally, there is the cognitive theory in Psychology, which Jerome Seymour Bruner contributed to and studied. The theory proposed that what we see is not only what the eyes perceive, but also what is represented by what we have seen and our previous knowledge (Lefrancois, 2011).
Psychology in the 19th century grew fast in the West with Psychologists developing previously stated theories and improving or disproving them. Initially, Psychologists would refer to one school of thought, but as the century progressed, they began applying different information from various theories to derive comprehensive conclusions. However, there has been a persistent debate on whether Psychology can be called a scientific discipline, with some criticizing the methods applied and others defending the right of Psychology as a discipline because of its use of scientific methods of research. Regardless of this debate, Psychology as a discipline grew in the 19th century with new perspectives being introduced by various psychologists.
In conclusion, psychology is a wide discipline that cannot be perfected. Through out the centuries, different psychologists have studied the human mind and its relationship to the person. However, with every new discovery, more questions arise for further study. This has ensured continuity of the discipline and led to the improvement of theories. The contribution of various psychologists worldwide led to the establishment of the discipline of Psychology, however, the growth of Psychology in the west has played a key role in advancement of the discipline, as many of the key psychologists of the 19th century were American.
References
Lefrancois, R. G. (2011). Theories of Human Learning: What The professor Said. Wadsworth, CA: Cengage Learning.
Pickren, W. & Rutherford, A. (2010). A History in Modern Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.