TIMELINE OF EVENTS

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHERS
THALES ( ca. 625-545 B.C.)- He begins to replace supernatural
explanations of the universe with a naturalistic ones

HERACLITUS ( ca 540-480 B.C)- viewed the world as in a constant

state of flux and thereby raised the question as to what could be

known with certainty

HIPPOCRATES (ca. 460-377 B.C)- he was often referred to as the

father of medicine. He also said that the physician’s task was to

facilitate the body’s natural tendency to heal itself

SOCRATES ( ca 469- 399 B.C) - for him, the understanding of

essences constituted knowledge, and the goal of life was to gain

knowledge

PLATO ( ca 427- 347 B.C)- postulates a dualistic universe consisting

of abstract forms and matters.

ARISTOTLE (ca 384-322 B.C)- he believed that all things contain an

entelechy, or a purpose

AFTER ARISTOTLE: SEARCH FOR A GOOD LIFE

ANTISTHENES (ca 445–365 B.C)-- preaches Cynicism or back-to-
nature philosophy whereby life is lived free from wants, passions,

and conventions of society

EPICURUS OF SAMOS ( ca 341-270 B.C)- encourages living a

simple life of moderation and one that is free from superstitions

AUGUSTINE ( 354-430)- combines Stoicism, Neoplatonism, and

Hebrew religion into a powerful Christian teleology

MAIMONIDES (1135- 1204)- attempts to reconcile Judaism and

Aristotelian philosophy

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS ( 1225-1274)- succeeds in making

Aristotelian philosophy the basis of Christian theology

WILLIAM OF OCCAM ( 1290--1350)- argues that explanations

should always be as parsimonious as possible

THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN SCIENCE AND

PHYSIOLOGY
FRANCESCO PETRARCH ( 1304-1374)- argues for the full exploration
and manifestation of human potential; he was sometimes considered

as theFather of Renaissance
NICOLAUS COPERNICUS ( 1473-1543)- he proposes the
heliocentric theory of the solar system
MARTIN LUTHER ( 1483- 1546)- his beliefs helped birth the
reformation, which would rise to Protestantism as the third major force

within Christendom, alongside Roman Catholicism and Eastern

Orthodoxy

CORNELIUS AGRIPPA ( 1486-1535)- first physician to urge that witch-

hunts stopped because those accused of being witches, or of being

bewitched are actually mentally disturbed

FRANCIS BACON ( 1561- 1626)- theory must be avoided because it

biases observations; he also believed that science should provide

practical information

GALILEO GALILEI ( 1564- 1642)- denies that cognitive experience can

be studied scientifically thereby inhibiting the development of

experimental psychology

JOHANNES KEPLER ( 1571- 1630)- he determined the elliptical paths of

the planets around the sun

RENE DESCARTES ( 1596- 1650)- concludes that several important

ideas are innate and that humans consists of a physical body and a

nonphysical mind

ISAAC NEWTON ( 1642- 1727) - he viewed the universe as a complex

machine that God had created, set in motion, and then abandoned

EMPIRICISM, SENSATIONALISM AND POSITIVISM

THOMAS HOBBES ( 1588- 1679)- founder of British empiricism;
views human as as matter in motion and argues that all knowledge

is derived from sensory experience, and that human all human

motivation and emotions are reducible to hedoism

PIERRE GASSENDI ( 1592- 1655)- concluded that all that exists is

matter, and this includes all aspects of humans

JOHN LOCKE (1632- 1704)- distinguished the primary and

secondary qualities of objects; he believed that all ideas are

derived from sensory experience but that existing ideas could

rearranged by the mind into numerous configuration

DAVID HARTLEY (1705-1771)- he was among the first to show how

the law of association might be used to explained learned

behavior

JULIEN DE LA METTRIE ( 1709- 1751)- argues that the differences

between human and nonhuman animals is quantitative, not

qualitative

DAVID HUME (1711-1776)- for Hume we could never know anything

about the physical world because we ever experience is thoughts

an and habits of thoughts

AUGUST COMTE ( 1798-1857)- founder of positivism and coiner of

the term sociology

ALEXANDER BAIN (1818-1903)- first to write psychology textbooks;

first to attempt to relate known physiological facts and

psychological phenomena
 RATIONALISM
BRUCE SPINOZA ( 1632- 1677)- equates God and nature, and claims

mind and matter are inseparable. All things in nature, including

humans, are governed by natural law and thus free will does not exist

NICOLAS DE MALEBRANCHE ( 1638-1715)- contended that the mind

and body were seperate but that God coordinated their activities

GOTTFRIED WILHELM VON LEIBNIZ ( 1646- 1716)- believed that the

universe consists of indivisible units called monads.

THOMAS REID ( 1710- 1796)- believed that we could trust our sensory
impressions to accurately reflect physical reality because it makes

common sense to do so

GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL ( 1770- 1831)- views the universe

as an interrelated whole that he called The Absolute, and argues

that nothing can be understood except in its relationship to The

Absolute
IMMANUEL KANT ( 1724- 1804)- He did not believe psychology could
become a science because subjective experience could not be

quantified mathematically

JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERBART ( 1776- 1841)- according to Herbart,

ideas strive for consciousness; he was also considered to be one of

the first mathematical and educational psychologists

ROMANTICISM AND EXISTENTIALISM

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU ( 1712-1778)- considered the father
of modern romanticism; he believed that human nature is
basically good and that the best society is one in which people

subjugate their individual will to the general will

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER ( 1788- 1860)- believed that the will to

survive is the most powerful human motive

SOREN KIERKEGAARD ( 1813- 1855)- he believed that religion had

become too rational and mechanical; Kierkegaard contended

that truth is subjectivity

FRIEDRICH WILHEM NIETZSCHE ( 1844- 1900)- claimed that

humans could no longer rely on religious superstition or

metaphysical speculation as guides for living

EARLY DEVELOPMENT IN PHYSIOLOGY AND THE

RISE OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
PIERRE FLOURENS ( 1794- 1867)- performs experiments that
demonstrate the cerebral cortex functions as an interrelated whole

and is not divided into discrete faculties as the phrenologists had

claimed

FRIEDRICH BESSEL (1784-1846)- he speculated that the error had not

been due to incompetence but to individual differences among

observers

ERNST HEINRICH WEBER ( 1795- 1878)- the first to demonstrate

systematic relationships between stimulation and sensation; he

postulated Weber's Law which is considered as the first quantitative

law in psychology's history

GUSTAV THEODOR FECHNER ( 1801- 1887)- noting that for sensations

to rise arithmetically the magnitude of the physical stimulus must rise

geometrically creates the field of psychophysics; he also creates the

field of experimental esthetics

JOHANNES MULLER ( 1801- 1858)- formulates the doctrines of

specific nerve energies and adequate stimulation

BELL-MAGENDIE LAW ( 1811)- Bell and Magendie discovered that

some nerves are specialized to carry sensory information to the brain,

whereas others are specialized to carry sensory information from the

brain to the muscles of the body

HERMANN VON HELMHOLTZ ( 1821- 1894)- a monumental figure in

the history of science who did pioneer work in areas of nerve

conduction, sensation, perception, color vision, and audition

PAUL BROCA ( 1824- 1880)- conclusively demonstrates that an area

on the left hemisphere of the cortex is specialized for speech ; also,

incorrectly concludes that brain size and intelligence are positively

correlated

VOLUNTARISM, STRUCTURALISM AND OTHER

EARLY APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY
WILHELM MAXIMILIAN WUNDT (1832- 1920)- founds
voluntarism, psychology's first school,. This school was very much in

the rationalistic tradition with its emphasis on the will and purpose

EDWARD BRADFORD TITCHENER ( 1867- 1927)- founds the school

of structuralism that seeks to describe the basic elements of

thought, and to explain how those elements combine in

accordance with the laws of associationism

FRANZ CLEMENS BRENTANO ( 1838- 1917)- observes that mental

acts always refer to events outside of themselves; with his

emphases on mental acts and intentionality, creates the field of

act psychology

HERMANN EBBINGHAUS ( 1850- 1909)- marking the first time

learning and memory are studied experimentally

EDMUND HUSSERL ( 1859- 1938)- proposes a pure

phenomenology that describes all the mental processes available

to humans in their efforts to understand the world

 THE DARWINIAN INFLUENCE
JEAN LARMARCK (`1744- 1829)- publishes his Philosophie
Zoologique in 1809, in which he elaborates his theory of the
inheritance of acquired characteristics

CHARLES DARWIN ( 1809- 1882)- publishes On the Origin of Species

by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, in which he describes how
animals with adaptive features survive and reproduce and those

without such features do not

HERBERT SPENCER ( 1820- 1903)- erroneously generalizes Darwinian

principles to societies, thus creating social Darwinism

FRANCIS GALTON ( 1822- 1911)- publishes Hereditary Genius: An

Inquiry into its Laws and Consequences in 1869, in which he argues
that intelligence is largely inherited and therefore eugenics should be

practiced

JAMES McKEEN CATTELL ( 1860- 1944)- used the term "mental test"
in 1890 and is key figure in the school of functionalism and in the

development of applied psychology

WILLIAM STERN ( 1871- 1938)- introduces the term mental age and
suggests mental age be divided by chronological age, yielding the

intelligence quotient

LEWIS MADISON TERMAN ( 1877- 1956)- creating the Standard-

Binet scale that was used to identify gifted children for further study
LETA STETTER HOLLINGWORTH ( 1886- 1939)- her Gifted Children
in 1926 become a standard text in schools of education

BINET-SIMON SCALE OF INTELLIGENCE (1905)- a valid way of

distinguishing between normal children and children with mental

deficiencies

FUNCTIONALISM
WILLIAM JAMES (1842- 1910)- publishes The Principles of
Psychology in 1890; the text is often cited as marking the
beginning of the school of functionalism

GRANVILLE S. HALL ( 1844- 1924)- founds the APA in 1892and

serves as the first president; he makes a significant contributions

to developmental psychology but opposes the coeducation of

adolescents and young adults

HUGO MUNSTERBERG ( 1863- 1916)- he replace William James as

the director of the Harvard Psychology Laboratory in 1892; he

also make a significant contributions to such applied areas as

clinical, forensic, and industrial psychology

MARY WHITON CALKINS ( 1863- 1930)- becomes the first

woman president of the APA; she does pioneering research on

memory and creates an influential version of self psychology

ROBERT SESSIONS WOODWORTH ( 1869- 1962)- a key

functionalist at Columbia University, promotes dynamic

psychology with an emphasis on motivation

MARGARET FLOY WASHBURN ( 1871- 1939)- becomes the first

woman to receive a PhD in psychology, and she also become the

second woman president of the APA

BEHAVIORISM
IVAN M. SECHENOV ( 1829- 1905)- founds the Russian objective
psychology with the publication of Reflexes of the Brain in 1863
IVAN PETROVITCH PAVLOV ( 1849- 1936)- believes that conditioned
reflexes provides an objective, physiological explanation for what

psychologists and philosophers had called associationism

VLADIMIR M. BECHTEREV ( 1857- 1927)- argues that human behavior
is reflexive and that it can be and should be studied and explained

without reference to consciousness.

WILLIAM McDOUGALL ( 1871- 1938)- defines psychology as the

science of behavior as early as 1905

JOHN WATSON ( 1878- 1958)- publishes the Psychology as a

Behaviorist Views It in 1913, thereby founding the school of
behaviorism

NEO BEHAVIORISM
AUGUSTE COMTE ( 1798- 1857)- promotes positivistic philosophy
acording to which only publicly observed phenomena can be

known with certainty; metaphysical speculation is to be actively

avioded

ERNST MACH ( 1838- 1916)- promotes a positivistic philosophy

according to which sensations are all that humans can be certain

off; therefore scientists must determine the relationships among

sensations

CLARK LEONARD HULL ( 1884- 1952)- creates a hypothetico-

deductive theory of learning that he believes to be self-correcting

EDWARD CHACE TOLMAN ( 1886- 1939)- publishes the

Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men in 1932, in which
learning is explained primarily in terms of cognitive processes

BURRHUS FREDERIC SKINNER ( 1904- 1990)- proposes a

positivistic theory of behavior that avoids theory by concentrating

on how behavior is modified by its consequences

STANLEY SMITH STEVENS ( 1906- 1973)- was among the first to

believe that if psychology followed the dictates of logical

positivism in which he called “the science of science”, it could

at last be a science on par with physics
 GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
CHRISTIAN VON EHRENFELS ( 1859- 1932)- for Ehrenfels, form is
something that emerges from the elements of sensation; he also

believed that elements of sensation often combine and give rise to

the experience of form

MAX WERTHEIMER ( 1880- 1943)- publishes the Experimental

Studies of the Perception of Movement in 1912, thereby founding
the school of Gestalt psychology

WOLFGANG KOHLER ( 1887- 1967)- Köhler is considered a cofounder

of the school of Gestalt psychology

KURT LEWIN ( 1890- 1947)- applies Gestalt principles to such topics as

personality, motivation. conflict, and group dynamics

EARLY DIAGNOSIS, EXPLANATION AND

TREATMENT OF MENTAL ILLNESS
PHILIPPUS PARACELSUS ( 1493- 1541)- among the first physicians
to suggest that the unusual behavior displayed by "witches" and

those bewitched had natural rather than supernatural origins

BENJAMIN RUSH ( 1745- 1813)- sometimes referred to as the first

psychiatrist in the United States ; argues against slavery, capital

and public punishment , and the inhumane treatment of prisoners

and the mentally ill

PHILIPPE PINEL ( 1745- 1826)- appointed director of the Bicetre

Asylum in 1793 and begins releasing inmates from their chains

DOROTHEA LYNDE DIX ( 1802- 1887)- campaigning for over 40

years, vastly improves the plight of the mentally ill iin US and

Europe

EMIL KRAEPLIN ( 1856- 1926)- publishes a list of mental disorders

in 1883 that was so thorough it was utilized worldwide until recent

times

LIGHTNER WITMER ( 1867- 1956)- establishes the first

The
psychological clinic in 1896 and in 1907 founds the journal

Psychological Clinic, and coins the term clinical psychology in

its first issue

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND ITS EARLY ALTERNATIVE

MELANIE KLEIN ( 1882- 1960)- she believed that child analysis could

begin much earlier than the traditional psychoanalysts believed by

analyzing a child’s playful activities instead of the child’s free

associations

SIGMUND FREUD ( 1856- 1939)- together with Joseph Breuer they

publishes the Studies on Hysteria in 1895, thereby founding the

school of psychoanalysis

ALFRED ADLER ( 1870- 1937)- he develop his own theory of personality

featuring such concepts as feelings of inferiority, worldviews, fictional

goals, lifestyles, and the creative self

CARL JUNG ( 1875- 1961)- he creates his own theory of personality

featuring powerful, inherited dispositions that develop throughout

human evolution

KAREN HORNEY ( 1885- 1952)- creates a version of psychoanalysis in

which dysfunctional social relationships are seen as the causes of

mental disorders; publishes Self-Analysis in 1942 and was

considered as one of psychology's first self-help books

ANNA FREUD ( 1895- 1982)- extends psychoanalytic principles to the

treatment and understanding of children, makes significant

contributions to the development of ego psychology, and becomes

the official spokesperson for psychoanalysis following her father's

death

HUMANISTIC (THIRD FORCE PSYCHOLOGY AND

ALTERNATIVE)
CARL ROGERS (1902- 1987)- publishes Counseling and
Psychotherapy: Newer Concepts in Practice in 1942, creates
his own own theory of personality featuring such concepts as the

organismic valuing process, need for positive regard, and

incongruency

ABRAHAM MASLOW ( 1908- 1967)- usually considered as the

founder of humanistic psychology; he creates a theory of

personality featuring a hierarchy of needs ranging from

physiological to self-actualization

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
JEAN PIAGET ( 1896- 1980)- begins publishing an influential series of
articles and books on intellectual development (genetic

epistemology)
1950- Alan Turing created the field of artificial intelligence (AI)
1958- mark the transition between artificial intelligence and
information-processing psychology

1960- Miller and Bruner founded the Center for Cognitive Studies at
Harvard

1969- the journal of Cognitive Psychology is founded; in the same

year Miller was served as the president of the APA

JOHN SEARLE (1980)- describes his famous "Chinese Room" rebuttal

to proponents of strong AI
 PSYCHOBIOLOGY
KARL S. LASHLEY ( 1890- 1958)- summarizes his research on brain
functioning in his 1929 APA presidential address; he also publishes the

Brain Mechanisms and Intelligences in the same year

DONALD HEBB ( 1904- 1985)- publishes The Organization of
Behavior in 1949, which describes his speculations about cell
assemblies and phase sequences and does much to promote

cognitive and physiological psychology

ROGER WOLCOTT SPERRY ( 1913- 1994)- begins an influential series

of experiments on hemispheric functioning using the split-brain

preparation
THOMAS BOUCHARD (1937)- studied the influence of genetics on
physical characteristics, intelligence, and personality characteristics

using Dizygotic Twins and Monozygotic Twins reared together and

apart, Thus, both genetics and environmental influences are

contributor of intelligence and personality

CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY
PERCY W. BRIDGMAN ( 1892- 1961)- publishes the The Logic of
Modern Physics in 1927, in which he proposes that abstract
concepts be operationally defined

1892- James concluded that psychology was still hoping to

become science

1917- G. Stanley Hall, founds the Journal of Applied

Psychology
1917- the American Association of Clinical Psychologists (AACP )
is founded

1984- Gregory Kimble publishes "Psychology's Two Cultures"

1988- American Psychological Society (APS) is founded
2000- the number of members and affiliates of the APA
exceeds 159,000