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Many of the well known Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates explored several topics that are still important in psychology today. They discussed things such as mental illness, rationalism, and pain.
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Rene Descartes is known as "the father of modern philosophy". He was a French philosopher and mathematician, he was the first person to write about the concept of emotions.
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At the University of Leipzig, Germany, Wilhelm Wundt opens the first experimental laboratory in psychology. He was credited with establishing psychology as an academic discipline.
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Joseph Jastrow was a student of G. Stanley Hall at Johns Hopkins University and was given the first doctorate in psychology.
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James McKeen Cattell gained the academic title of first professor in psychology, he taught at University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.
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The American Psychological Association was founded by G. Stanley Hall.
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Mary Calkins, who was a professor and researcher at Wellesley College, was elected president of the APA.
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Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon develop standardized tests which determine general intelligence based on the mental age of the person taking the test.
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During WWII, two million soldiers were required to take standardized intelligence and aptitude tests.
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Francis Cecil Sumner earns their PhD at Clark University under G. Stanley Hall.
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The electroencephalogram was invented by Hans Berger. He tested it on his son and graphed the electrical activity of his brain with the use of electrodes.
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As the Nazis gain control of Germany's government, they persecute scholars and researchers in psychology and psychiatry.
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Bob Smith founded Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) which is a therapeutic group for those suffering with alcohol addiction.
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The drug imipramine was approved by the FDA in the United States as the first drug to treat depression in patients. The name of the drug is now Tofranil.
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Chlorpromazine (which is now known as Thorazine) is an anti-psychotic drug and was first tested on a patient in a Paris military hospital.
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Psychologists start to focus on cognitive states and processes which was all based on work in mathematics and other disciplines.
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Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a new brain scanning technique which maps brain function in much more detail than the earlier techniques.
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Standardized IQ testing in California schools is found illegal for discriminating against African American students.
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The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) presented mental health professionals with a challenge of patients having anxiety and depression from AIDS.
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Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft anti-depressant medications are approved by the FDA.
