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Plato suggested that the brain is the mechanism of mental processes.
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Wilhelm Wundt first published his book, called Principles of Physiological Psychology, which outlined many of the major connections between physiology and the study of human behavior and thought.
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Wilhelm Wundt also opened the world's first psychology lab. This was considered the official start of psychology as a separate scientific discipline/study.
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Lightner Witmer opens world's first psychological clinic to patients, shifting his focus from experimental work to practical application of his fndings.
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The British Psychological Society forms.
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Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon developed a scale of general intelligence on the basis of mental age. Later researchers refine this quotient as mental age over physical age.
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John B. Watson publishes "Psychology as Behavior," launching behaviorism. Behaviorism focuses on observable and measurable behavior.
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Standardized intelligence and aptitude tests are given to two million U.S. soldiers during World War 1. Soon after, such tests are used in all U.S. armed forces.
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Francis Cecil Sumner earns a Ph.D. in psychology under G. Stanley Hall at Clark University.
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Psychological Corporation launched the first psychological test development company, not only commercializing psychological testing, but allowing testing to take place at offices and clinics rather than only at universities and research facilities.
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Hans Berger invents the electroencephalogram and tests it on his son and the device graphs the electrical activity of the brain by means of electrodes attached to the head.
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After the Nazi party gains control of the government in Germany, scholars and researchers in psychology and psychiatry are persecuted.
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Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is founded by Bob Smith. AA's group meetings form and a 12-step program becomes the model for many other mutual-support therapeutic groups.
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Karen Horney published her feministic views of psychoanalytic theory, marking the beginning of feminism.
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U.S. President Harry Truman signs the National Mental Health Act, providing generous funding for psychiatric education and research for the first time in U.S. history. This act leads to the creation in 1949 of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was published by The American Psychiatric Association, marking the beginning of modern mental illness classification.
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Code of Ethics for Psychologists was developed by the American Psychological Association.
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Abraham Maslow helped to found Humanistic Psychology and later developed his famous Hierarchy of Needs.
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First psychologists prescribe medication through the U.S. military's psychopharmacology program.
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The push for mental health parity gets the attention of the White House as President George W. Bush promotes legislation that would guarantee comprehensive mental health coverage.
