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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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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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Sir Francis Galton, Influenced by Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species,’ publishes ‘Hereditary Genius,’ and argues that intellectual abilities are biological in nature
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Carl Wernicke published his work on the frontal lobe, detailing that damage to a specific area damages the ability to understand or produce language
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G. Stanley Hall received the first American Ph.D. in psychology. He later founded the American Psychological Association
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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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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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The term “Mental Tests” was coined by James Cattell, beginning the specialization in psychology now known as psychological assessment.
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Sir Francis Galton developed the technique known as the correlation to better understand the interrelationships in his intelligence studies
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William James published ‘Principles of Psychology,’ that later became the foundation for functionalism.
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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
