All sciences have their origin and history and it is important to know it to better understand the discipline. In the case of the birth of psychology, its first steps date back to classical times, where some philosophical currents already told us that human beings had a capacity to feel, express and communicate that could be differentiated from our physiological functions.
Today, psychology has undergone various changes and has been analyzed from a multitude of prisms. That is why in Psychology-Online we have decided to talk about the origin of psychology: summary and authors. In this article you will not only find historical facts, we will also reveal to you who was considered the the first psychologist in history.
When was psychology born?
Before beginning to define the origin of psychology, its history and authors, it is important to comment that this article will focus on the discipline and Western history since other cultures such as those of Eastern countries have different currents of thought. We must not forget that the point of view defined below has coexisted with other ideas and other historical facts.
Like any field of knowledge, its origin is very diffuse and we cannot establish an exact origin of psychology in all parts of the world. There is some evidence that the word “psychology“appears for the first time in the 18th century, introduced by the German philosopher Christian Wolff.
This thinker defined psychology as “the science that studies the soul“. It is not surprising that great minds such as Descartes separated the body from the thinking part of the human being, thus delimiting two interdependent spaces known as “the body” and “the soul”
History of psychology: brief summary
Human beings have always questioned where their ideas and feelings come from. As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, before the origin of psychology, different philosophical, medical and biological assumptions regarding the doubts that our minds raised.
Origin of psychology as a science
In the beginning, it was defined as a subjective study without scientific bases, characterized by analysis based on observation and projection. However, in the 19th century, Wilhem Wundt decided to found the first experimental psychology laboratory in the world.
Experimental psychology put a revolutionary statement on the table: studying the human mind requires experiments and scientific bases. It is at that moment where we can observe two principles that are very contrary to each other within the discipline of psychology:
- The human mind can only be studied through subjective analysis and the projection of thoughts.
- Psychology should be a purely science experimental and empirical.
From that moment on, psychological studies took very extreme but complementary paths; from Freud stating that there is a large submerged part of our mind where we repress memories, thoughts and feelings to where it is postulated that we can make a complete psychological analysis from the observation of behavior.
Nowadays, both assumptions have been diversifying and we find the influence of these theories in all of them. We know that it is extremely important that psychology be established as a science, however, it is not an exact and perfectly predictable discipline.
Some of the branches of psychology that we can study today are:
- Clinical psychology
- Developmental psychology
- Neuropsychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Psychoanalysis or dynamic psychology…
Wilhem Wundt and current psychology
As we have already been advancing throughout this article on the origin of psychology, Wilhem Wundt is considered the first psychologist experimental of all time.
Although it is true that, as we have been mentioning throughout this article, other disciplines had tried to study human behavior and emotions, it was not until 1879 that the first real foundations were established to be able to correctly study the psychology that we can observe today.
Wilhem Wundt also attempted to make a study of what is today considered “Social psychology“since he differentiated the attitudes of society from individual experimental behavior. It is important to comment that some experts claim that Gustav Fechner paved the way for Wundt since he attempted an equation to quantify the relationship between a stimulus physical and sensation associated.
Psychology in the 20th century: most important authors
Already established the foundations of modern psychology In the 18th and 19th centuries, in the last century a multitude of authors began to emerge who offered very important and interesting points of view. Some of the most important authors of the 20th century are the following:
- Sigmund Freud: father of psychoanalysis, he laid the foundations of current psychotherapy by postulating the need to establish an intimate dialogue with the patient.
- B.F. Skinner: experimental behavioral psychologist, he contributed the idea of operant conditioning to the theory of behaviorism.
- Carl Rogers: one of the most important figures in humanistic psychology.
- Abraham Maslow: theorized about motivation and the hierarchy of needs (creating Maslow’s famous pyramid)
- Hans Eyesenk: one of the most important psychologists in the second half of the 20th century, he dedicated much of his life to studying the different .
These are some of the psychologists who contributed the theories that we continue to use in psychology today. Fortunately, This discipline is in continuous growth and currently many people dedicate their knowledge and studies to contributing theories and therapeutic practices to psychology.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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