History of Psychology
History of Psychology
Psychology = Psyche (That which is responsible for one’s thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason) + logy (a science or study)
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“KNOW THY SELF, FOR ONCE WE KNOW OURSELVES, WE MAY LEARN HOW TO CARE FOR OURSELVES, OTHERWISE WE NEVER SHALL”. – Socrates
The quest for understanding mind has a very long history. Perhaps it started with the emergence of human beings on the earth.
Psyche, from Greek psu-khê, meaning warm blooded: life, soul, ghost, conscious self, moth or butterfly. Here we’ll begin with myths and believes.
The Greek name for a butterfly is Psyche, and the same word means the soul.
The so-called psyche or butterfly is generated from caterpillars which grow on green leaves, chiefly leaves of theraphanus, which some call crambe or cabbage. At first it is less than a grain of millet; it then grows into a small grub; and in three days it is a tiny caterpillar. After this it grows on and on, and becomes quiescent and changes its shape, and is now called a chrysalis. The outer shell is hard, and the chrysalis moves if you touch it. It attaches itself by cobweb-like filaments, and is unfurnished with mouth or any other apparent organ. After a little while the outer covering bursts asunder, and out flies the winged creature that we call the psyche or butterfly. (From Aristotle’s History of Animals 551a.1). The human life do resembles it.
Western intellectual history always begins with the ancient Greeks. In fact, philosophies from all over the world eventually came to influence western thought, but only much later. This is so because of the practice of writing began there early enough and in Greece, at least in certain city-states, reading and writing was something “everyone” did.
Many eastern countries were also side by side or even earlier got involved in the understanding of mind and its functions.
This quest was dominant theme in Indian thought which deals with the study of self using reflection and experience as its basis. The systems of Nyaya, Mimansa, Vedanta, Yoga, Samkhaya, Buddhism, Jainism, Charvak and Sufi provide very rich discourse on important psychological themes such as health, well being, values, motivation etc.
The modern discipline of psychology began with
- Philosophical perspectives and approaches: Aristotle’s elementism and Plato’s rationalism.
- Biological roots : Charles Darwin’s Origin of species, Hippocrates, Johannes Muller, Claude Bernard, Marshall Hall, Pierre Flourens, Paul Broca.
- Early schools in psychology: Structuralism, Functionalism, Behaviorism, Gestalt, Psychoanalysis, Cognitive, Existential
STRUCTURALISM grew up around the ideas of Wilhelm Wundt in Germany. In 1879 Wundt establishes psychology laboratory at Leipzig University. This system represents itself in its finished form by the work of Edward B. Tichner. The primary task then was to discover the elementary conscious experiences, its nature, their relationship to one another. (a) It gave psychology a strong scientific impetus (b) provided a through test of classic introspective method (c) also provided a strong orthodoxy against which other forces/ systems organize their resistance.
FUNCTIONALISM started with William James; characteristically concerned with the function of the organism’s behavior and its adaptation to the environment. James grasped the significance of the biological utilitarian approach. In 1875 the first psychology course offered by James. John Dewey gave two main points that (a) behavior should be considered in relationship to its function (b) molar units of analysis should be used in order to prevent elementaristic analysis. J. R. Angel outlined that psychology should consider (a) mental operation (b) fundamental utilities of consciousness (c) psychophysical relation. H.Carr assumed adaptive act as the key concept of psychology.
ASSOCIATIONISM is more a principle than a school of psychology. ‘Principle of contiguity’ says- If two things are experienced closely in time, they are likely to be associated. Thomas Hobbes saw (a) ‘reason’ as dominant factor in man’s behavior (b) lawful succession of ideas responsible for all thought and action. John Locke said that (a) all knowledge comes from experience. (b) He also started a trend which were said to be basis for sensory ideas. Associationism includes names like, Herman Ebbinghaus, E. L. Thorndike, James Mill, etc
GESTALT Psychology was a school of thought that looked at the human mind and behavior as wholes rather than attempting to break them up into smaller parts.(a) It was born with Max Wertheimer, Kohler, and Koffka. (b) They put forth the laws of organization, Isomorphism, psychological field, phi- phenomenon, learning by insight.
BEHAVIORIST Psychology: John B Watson found that he could study animal behavior by observing stimuli and animal’s responses. (a) It focused on the behavior and three other important characteristic- i) conditioned responses ii) learned behavior iii) animal behavior.
PSYCHOANALYTIC Psychology: Sigmund Freud founded the psychodynamic approach to psychology. This school of thought emphasized the role of childhood experience and the unconscious mind. His belief was that mental life is like an iceberg – only a portion is exposed to view. (a) Structure of personality- i) Id, ii) Ego iii) Super ego
(b) Psychosexual stages of development – i) oral ii) anal iii) phallic iv) latency v) genital (c) Anxiety and defense mechanism (d) dream interpretation (e) free association / free talk (f) Transference and counter transference (g) resistance
HUMANISTIC psychology formed as a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism and stressed the importance of person. (a) Humanist helped stimulate interest in psychological needs for love, self esteem, belonging, self expression, and creativity. (b) Carl Rogger came up with concepts of unconditional positive regards. (c) A. Maslow came up with self actualization need. (d) According to humanist everyone has the potential to lead a rich and meaningful life, and to become the best person one can become.