History of Psychology

By Kelly Starliper
  • 387 BCE

    Plato

    Plato
    Plato suggests that the brain is the seat of all mental processes.
  • 335 BCE

    Aristotle

    Aristotle
    Aristotle suggests that the heart is the base of all mental processes.

  • John Locke

    John Locke
    John Locke, a British philosopher, rejects the thought of innate ideas and insists that the mind is a blank slate upon birth.

  • Philippe Pinel and Humane Treatment

    Philippe Pinel and Humane Treatment
    Philippe Pinel releases the first mental patients from chains in Bicetre, France and advocates for more humane treatment.

  • Franz Gall and Phrenology

    Franz Gall and Phrenology
    Franz Joseph Gall, a German physician, describes phrenology which is the belief that the shape of a person's skull shapes their mental faculties and personality.

  • Carl Wernnicke

    Carl Wernnicke
    Carl Wernicke, a German neurologist and physician, shows that damage to a certain area of the left temporal lobe of the brain results in the inability to comprehend or produce written or spoken language.

  • James Baldwin and Toronto

    James Baldwin and Toronto
    James Mark Baldwin builds the first psychology labrotory in the British Commonwealth at the University of Toronto.

  • Leta Hollingworth

    Leta Hollingworth
    Leta Stetter Hollingworth publishes the "Psychology of Subnormal Children" and is quoted in 1921 in the "American Men of Science" for her research on women.

  • Francis Sumner

    Francis Sumner
    Francis Cecil Sumner receives a Ph.D. in psychology and becomes the first African American to receive a psychology doctorate.

  • Walter Cannon and Homeostasis

    Walter Cannon and Homeostasis
    Walter B. Cannon creates the term homeostasis, discusses the "flight or fight" response, and identifies hormone changes due to stress.

  • Lobotomies

    Lobotomies
    Egas Moniz, a Portuguese physician, publishes work on the first frontal lobe lobotomies on humans.

  • Electroshock Therapy

    Electroshock Therapy
    Ugo Cerletti and Lucino Bini use electroshock therapy on a human patient.

  • Edward Bott and Canada

    Edward Alexander Bott helps establish the Canadian Psychological Association and becomes the first president in 1940.

  • Karen Horney vs. Freud

    Karen Horney vs. Freud
    Karen Horney, who criticized Freud's theory of female sexual development, publishes "Our Inner Conflicts".

  • Alfred Kinsey

    Alfred Kinsey
    Alfred Kinsey and colleagues publish "Sexual Behavior of the Human Male".

  • Jerome Kagan

    Jerome Kagan
    Jerome Kagan and Howard Moss publish "Birth to Maturity".

  • Raymond Cattell and Intelligence

    Raymond Cattell and Intelligence
    Raymond B. Cattell distinguishes between fluid and crystallized intelligence.

  • Jerome Bruner and Harvard

    Jerome Bruner and Harvard
    Jerome Bruner and colleagues at Harvard University's Center for Cognitive Studies publish "Studies in Cognitive Growth".

  • Neal Miller and Brain Conditioning

    Neal Miller and Brain Conditioning
    Neal E. Miller's article in "Science", describing instrumental conditioning of autonomic responses, stimulates research on biofeedback.

  • Herbert Simon Wins Nobel Prize

    Herbert Simon Wins Nobel Prize
    Psychologist Herbert A. Simon, of Carnegie-Mellon University, wins a Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering research computer simulations of human thinking and problem solving.

  • Prozac

    Prozac
    Fluoxetine (Prozac) is introduced as a treatment for depression.

  • First AP Psych Test

    First AP Psych Test
    About 3,000 United States secondary school students take the first Advanced Placement Examination in Psychology, hoping to earn exemption in the class in a post-secondary learning environment.

  • New Mexico Can Give Out Drugs

    New Mexico becomes the first U.S. state to allow qualified psychologists to prescribe certain drugs to patients.