History of Psychology

By haley0828
  • 387 BCE

    Plato

    Plato
    He said the brain was the mechanism of mental processes.
  • 335 BCE

    Arstotle

    Arstotle
    He said the heart was the mechanism of mental processes.
  • Period: 300 BCE to

    HIstory of Psychology

  • Franz Mesmer

    Franz Mesmer
    Made his own cure for a mental illness called mesmerism, which is now known as hypnosis.

  • Philippe Pinel

    Philippe Pinel
    Released the first mental patients in confinement during the first massive movement of more humane treatment for people who were mentally ill.

  • Franz Gall

    Franz Gall
    Wrote about phrenology, which was the idea that the position, shape, and bumps on a persons head/skull could reveal personality traits.

  • Ernst Heinrich

    Ernst Heinrich
    Published his perception theory which was known as the 'Weber's Law'.

  • Phineas Gage

    Phineas Gage
    Suffered brain damage when an iron pole pierced his brain. His personality changed, however his intelligence remained the same. This suggested that an area of the brain plays a role in your personality.

  • Charles Darwin

    Charles Darwin
    Published 'On the Origin of Species' which detailed his view of evolution and expanded on the theory of 'Survival of The Fittest'.

  • Paul Broca

    Paul Broca
    Discovered an area in the frontal lobe of the brain that plays a key role in your language development.

  • Sir Francis Galton

    Sir Francis Galton
    Published 'Hereditary Genius', which was influenced by Charles Darwin's 'Origin of the Species. He argued that intellectual abilities are biological in nature.

  • Carl Wernicke

    Carl Wernicke
    Published his work on the frontal lobe, which detailed that the damage to a specific area of the brain can affect your ability to understand or produce language.

  • G. Stanley Hall

    G. Stanley Hall
    Received the first American Ph.D in psychology and later founded the American Psychological Association.

  • WIlliam Wundt

    WIlliam Wundt
    Founded the first laboratory of Psychology at the University of Leipzig. He marked the beginning of the study of human emotions, behaviors, and cognitions.

  • Herman Ebbinghaus

    Herman Ebbinghaus
    He introduced the nonsense syllable meaning he was studying memory processes.

  • Sigmund Freud

    Sigmund Freud
    He began to perform therapy in Vienna which marked the beginning of personality theory.

  • The British Psychological Society

    The British Psychological Society
    The British Psychological Society was founded.

  • Wolfgang Kohler

    Wolfgang Kohler
    Published 'The Mentality Of Apes' which then became a major component of Gestalt Psychology.

  • Erik Erikson

    Erik Erikson
    Published 'Childhood and Society', where he expanded Freud's Theory to include social aspects of personality development across your lifespan.

  • APA

    APA
    Endorsed the Psy.D. degree for professional practice in psychology.

  • President George W. Bush

    President George W. Bush
    Push for mental health got the attention of the White House and the President George W. Bush promoted legislation which guaranteed comprehensive mental coverage.