Roots of Psychology Timeline

By jhowell18
  • 410 BCE

    Socrates

    Greek philosopher-teacher who derived principles by logic. He concluded that "the mind is separable from body and continues after the body dies, and that knowledge is innate—born within us”
  • 387 BCE

    Plato

    Greek mathematician and philosopher who believed in "innate ideas". He suggested that "the brain is the seat of mental processes.”
  • 335 BCE

    Aristotle

    Aristotle was one of the first Greek philosophers that contributed to today's understanding of psychology. He denied that innate ideas existed, but proposed instead that experiences were stored in the memories of humans.

  • Francis Bacon

    English philosopher who contributed to the scientific approach to psychology and experimentation. He did studies on how each mind perceives certain events differently from one another.

  • René Descartes

    A French philosopher and mathematician who proposed "mind-body interaction" and the "doctrine of innate ideas". Descartes disagreed with Aristotle's ideas, and agreed with Plato's -- he believed in innate ideas, that "the mind's being was entirely distinct from the body, and able to survive after death" (Myer's Psychology for AP, 3).

  • John Locke

    A British philosopher who rejected Descartes’ notion of innate ideas, and insisted that the mind at birth is a ‘blank slate’. He created the "theory of mind," which is considered today as the origin of the concepts of identity and self.

  • G. Stanley Hall

    A pioneering American psychologist and educator. Received the first U.S. Ph.D. degree based on psychological research from Harvard University’s Department of Philosophy. Also established the first formal U.S. psychology laboratory at Johns Hopkins University.

  • Wilhelm Wundt

    German physician, physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the founding figures of modern psychology. Established the University of Leipzig, Germany, the first psychology laboratory, which "became a Mecca for psychology students from all over the world.”

  • William James

    Harvard University philosopher and psychologist, published "The Principles of Psychology", describing psychology as "the science of mental life.". One of the leaders of the functionalist movement

  • Functionalism

    “early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.”

  • Edward Titchener

    British psychologist who studied under Wilhelm Wundt for several years. Titchener is best known for creating his version of psychology that described the structure of the mind: structuralism. "As physicists and chemists discerned the structure of matter, so Titchener aimed to discover the structural elements of mind.”

  • Structuralism

    “early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.”

  • Introspection

    “Titchener’s method was to engage people in self-reflective introspection (looking inward), training them to report elements of their experience as they looked at a rose, listened to a metronome, smelled a scent, or tasted a substance.”

  • Mary Calkins

    American philosopher and psychologist. Calkins was also the first woman to become president of the American Psychological Association and the American Philosophical Association. Harvard University denied her admission to doctoral candidacy because of her gender, despite Hugo Münsterberg’s claim that she was "the best student he had ever had there.”

  • Margaret Floy Washburn

    Leading American psychologist in the early 20th century, was best known for her experimental work in animal behavior and motor theory development. Also, she was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. degree in psychology (Cornell University).

  • Sigmund Freud

    An Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, "a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst."

  • John Watson

    An American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism.

  • Behaviorism

    “The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes." “John B. Watson outlined the tenets of behaviorism in a Psychological Review article, ‘Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.’”

  • B.F. Skinner

    An American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. Published "The Behavior of Organisms", which "described operant conditioning of animals.”

  • Carl Rogers

    An American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology.

  • Abraham Maslow

    An American psychologist who was best known for creating "Maslow's hierarchy of needs", a theory of psychological health based on "fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization."

  • Humanism

    “a historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people.”

  • Cognitive psychology

    “The rebellion of a second group of psychologists during the 1960s is now known as the cognitive revolution, and it led the field back to its early interest in mental processes, such as the importance of how our mind processes and retains information.” Cognitive psychology "scientifically explores the ways we perceive, process, and remember information.”

  • Cognitive neuroscience

    “The rebellion of a second group of psychologists during the 1960s is now known as the cognitive revolution, and it led the field back to its early interest in mental processes, such as the importance of how our mind processes and retains information.” Cognitive neuroscience is “the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).”