Ap Psychology Timeline Essay

History of Psychology Timeline

Psychology in a whole has evolved, from the days of the ancient Greek

philosophers who’s beliefs that the void in our knowledge needed to be addressed so that

we would understand the natural world in more rational manner. Many of the students

who became teachers moved on to accomplished many great things. Aristotle ground

breaking developing philosophical approach seems to foreshadow many of the critical

ideas for the future of psychology opening the doors for psychologist, such as William

James and Edward B. Titchner. Their beliefs would further the evolution to great lengths.

Based upon experimentation James believed that the mind and body are of one entity, he

sought to blur
the line between the mind-body dichotomy, was considered functional due

to its many practical applications. Where on the other hand Titchner’s belief that by

understanding the fundamental structures of the mind we could understand the specific

aspect of human psychology.

In the early 19th century when psychology was viewed as a form of science a

medical doctor developed a form of psychotherapy called psychoanalysis, which consists

of techniques aimed at discovering certain unconscious elements of our psyche.
In which

Sigmund Freud emphasizes on the role of using the past to create great things in the

future as a key concept to understanding psychoanalytic theory.

In the mid 1800s a Russian doctor by the name of Ivan Pavlov was credited as

first describing what is called “classical conditioning”. Though his studies where of his

pets they sparked a major movement in psychology known as behaviorism, Well into the

mid 1900s two doctors arose with a new level of Dr. Pavlov’s experiments, Psychologist John Watson and B. F. Skinner sought to explain behavior without resorting to such

concepts of an inner consciousness or other nonphysical explanations. They believed

behavior could be broken down into stimulus and response.

Often referred to as the Third Force, humanistic theory is based on the existential

concept that humans have free will and are conscious of their existence and the decisions

they make. Humanistic Psychology witnessed an emergence new perspective in the mid

1900s with psychologists Rollo May, Carl Rogers leading the way in developing this
new

school of thought seeking to return dignity and hope to the field of psychology. Focus on

qualitative methods of learning about human psychology, on the premise that every

person has certain abilities or skills to help resolve their problems.

Cognitive psychology is focused on consciousness learning and memory, it focuses on

scientific methods in the collection of information. With new age technology the

comparison between the way computers process information has those in the cognitive

psychology field pay close attention. Though emerging in the mid 1900s as a natural

progression from the concepts of Wilhelm Wundt and William James the term cognitive

psychology, was noted as such with publication of the book by Ulric Neisser.

The study of ones health related to the mind and how the mind directly affects

ones health is called psychobiology, a mental illness in which each problem was regarded

in context with the patients total personality. Adolf Meyer first introduced a different way

of treatment on the basis of determining developing or causing behavior, feelings, and

mental processes.

In an explanation on how people as individuals relate to the world, researchers

explore social and cultural patterns. The sociocultural perspective of psychology looks at the social and cultural influences that create the individual and the society. Also this

perspective maintains that culture plays a big role in determining one’s behavior and

mental process.