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Genetic researchers finish mapping human genes. Scientists hope to one day isolate the individual genes responsible for different diseases.
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Martin Seligman publishes Learned Optimism which foreshadows th "positive psychology" movement.
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The American Psychiatric Association publishes Diagnostic and Statitical Manual of Mental Disorders, an influential book.
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World War II provides many opportunities for psychologists to enhance the popularity and influence of psychology, especially in applied areas.
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B. F. Skinner publishes The Behavior of Organisms, wich describes operant conditioning of animals.
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Kohler publishes Gestalt Psychology, which criticizes behaviorism and outlines essential elements of the Gestalt position
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During World War I, Yerkes and his staff develop a group intelligence test for evaluating U.S. military personnel, which increases the U.S. public´s acceptance of psychological testing.
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John B. Watson outlines the tenets of behaviorism in a Psychological Review article.
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Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon produce the first intelligence test.
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Ivan Pavlov begins publishing studies of conditioning in animals.
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Sgmund Freud publishes The Interpretation of Dreams, his major theoretical work on psychoanalysis.
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William James, Harvard University philosopher and psychologist, publishes The Principles of Psychology, describing psychology as "the science of mental life".
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Wilhelm Wundt establishes at the University of Leipzig, Germany, the fisrt psychology laboratory, which becomes very important for psychology students from all over the world.
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Paul Broca, a French physician, discovers an area in the left frontal lobe of the brain that is critical for the production of spoken language. Now called Broca´s Area
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Phineas Gage suffers massive brain damage when a large iron rod accidentally pierces his brain, leaving his intellect and memory intact but altering his personality.
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Franz Joseph Gall, a german physician, describes phrenology, the belief that the shape of a person´s skull reveals mental faculties and character traits.
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Carl Wernicke, a German neurologist and psychiatrist, shows that damage to a specific area in the left temporal lobe disrupts ability to comprehend or produce spoken or written language.
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Abraham Maslow
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Jean Piaget, clinical psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development
