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Plato suggested that the brain is the mechanism of mental processes.
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Aristotle suggested that the heart is the mechanism of mental processes.
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Franz Mesmer detailed his cure for some mental illness, originally called mesmerism and now known as hypnosis.
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1793 Philippe Pinel released the first mental patients from confinement in the first massive movement for more humane treatment of the mentally ill.
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Franz Gall wrote about phrenology (the idea that a person’s skull shape and placement of bumps on the head can reveal personality traits.
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Ernst Heinrich Weber published his perception theory of ‘Just Noticeable DIfference,’ now known as Weber’s Law.
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Phineas Gage suffered brain damage when an iron pole pierces his brain. His personality was changed but his intellect remained intact suggesting that an area of the brain plays a role in personality.
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Charles Darwin published the On the Origin of Species, detailing his view of evolution and expanding on the theory of ‘Survival of the fittest.’
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French physician Paul Broca discovered an area in the left frontal lobe that plays a key role in language development.
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1869 Sir Francis Galton, Influenced by Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species,’ publishes ‘Hereditary Genius,’ and argues that intellectual abilities are biological in nature.
1874 Carl Wernicke published his work on the frontal lobe, detailing that damage to a specific area damages the ability to understand or produce language
1878 G. Stanley Hall received the first American Ph.D. in psychology. He later founded the American Psychological Association. -
Wilhelm Wundt founded the first formal laboratory of Psychology at the University of Leipzig, marking the formal beginning of the study of human emotions, behaviors, and cognitions.
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The first laboratory of psychology in America is established at Johns Hopkins University.
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1885 Herman Ebbinghaus introduced the nonsense syllable as a means to study memory processes.
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Sigmund Freud began performing therapy in Vienna, marking the beginning of personality theory.
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1890 The term “Mental Tests” was coined by James Cattell, beginning the specialization in psychology now known as psychological assessment.
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1892 Foundation of the American Psychological Association (APA) headed by G. Stanley Hall, with an initial membership of 42.
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Alfred Binet founded the first laboratory of psychodiagnosis.
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Writings by John Dewey began the school of thought known as functionalism.
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Edward Thorndike developed the ‘Law of Effect,’ arguing that “a stimulus-response chain is strengthened if the outcome of that chain is positive.”
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Sigmund Freud published ‘Interpretation of Dreams’ marking the beginning of Psychoanalytic Thought.