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387 BC Plato suggested that the brain is the mechanism of mental processes.
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335 BC Aristotle suggested that the heart is the mechanism of mental processes.
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the history of psychology
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1774 AD Franz Mesmer detailed his cure for some mental illness, originally called mesmerism and now known as hypnosis.
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1793 Philippe Pinel released the first mental patients from confinement in the first massive movement for more humane treatment of the mentally ill.
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1808 Franz Gall wrote about phrenology (the idea that a person’s skull shape and placement of bumps on the head can reveal personality traits
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1834 Ernst Heinrich Weber published his perception theory of ‘Just Noticeable DIfference,’ now known as Weber’s Law.
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1848 Phineas Gage suffered brain damage when an iron pole pierces his brain. His personality was changed but his intellect remained intact suggesting that an area of the brain plays a role in personality.
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1859 Charles Darwin published the On the Origin of Species, detailing his view of evolution and expanding on the theory of ‘Survival of the fittest.’
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1861 French physician Paul Broca discovered an area in the left frontal lobe that plays a key role in language development.
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1869 Sir Francis Galton, Influenced by Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species,’ publishes ‘Hereditary Genius,’ and argues that intellectual abilities are biological in nature.
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1879
Wilhelm Wundt founded the first formal laboratory of Psychology at the University of Leipzig, marking the formal beginning of the study of human emotions, behaviors, and cognitions. -
1883 The first laboratory of psychology in America is established at Johns Hopkins University.
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1885 Herman Ebbinghaus introduced the nonsense syllable as a means to study memory processes.
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1886 Sigmund Freud began performing therapy in Vienna, marking the beginning of personality theory.
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1890 The term “Mental Tests” was coined by James Cattell, beginning the specialization in psychology now known as psychological assessment.
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1890 Sir Francis Galton developed the technique known as the correlation to better understand the interrelationships in his intelligence studies.
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1895 Alfred Binet founded the first laboratory of psychodiagnosis.
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1896 The first psychological clinic was developed at the University of Pennsylvania marking the birth of clinical psychology.
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1898 Edward Thorndike developed the ‘Law of Effect,’ arguing that “a stimulus-response chain is strengthened if the outcome of that chain is positive.”
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2002 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.
