history of Psychology

First American to Earn PH.D in Psychology

1878

Granville Stanley Hall became the first American to earn a PH.D in psychology.

First Psychology lab

1879

Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany.

First American Psychology Lab

1883

Granville Stanley Hall establishes the first American Psychology Lab at Johns Hopkins University.

American Psychological Association (APA) founded

1892

Granville Stanley Hall establishes the American Psychological Association and serves as the first president of APA.

First Psychological Clinic

1896

Lightner Witmer establishes the first psychology clinic in America, at the University of Pennsylvania.

First Female President of APA

1904

Mary Calkins elected president of the APA. Studied with William James at Harvard, but Harvard denied her a Ph.D. because of her gender.

First African American Doctorate in Psychology

1920

Francis Cecil Sumner becomes the first African American to earns a Ph.D. in psychology under G. Stanley Hall at Clark University.

Rorschach Test

1921

Hermann Rorschach creates a personality test based on patients' interpretations of inkblots.

Menninger Clinic Founded

1925

Charles Frederick Menninger and his sons Karl Augustus and William Clair found The Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas.

Menninger Clinic Nobel Prize

1927

Menninger Clinic is awarded the first Nobel Prize for psychology research.

First Lobotomy in the US

1936

Walter Freeman performs first frontal lobotomy at George Washington University. The procedure intended to relieve psychosis.

National Mental Health Act Passes

1946

U.S. President Harry Truman signs the National Mental Health Act, which proved funding for psychiatric education and research.

First drug to treat Depression

1951

studies that report the drug impramine may be able to lession depression. Eight years later, the FDA approves its use in the United States under the name Tofranil.

First National Medal of Science to Psychologist

1964

Neal E. Miller becomes the first psychologist to receive the National Medal of Science.

Homosexuality removed from DSM

1973

The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Sexual orientation does not mean you have a mental disorder.

AIDS, and HIV

1981

The epidemic of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection presents mental health professionals with challenges ranging from at-risk patients’ anxiety and depression to AIDS-related dementia.

Insanity Defense Reform Act

1984

U.S. Congress revise federal law on insanity defense; must have proof of insanity