History of Psychology Flashcards
The first recorded evidence of behavior being measured was by the
Emperor Ta Yu of China
(2000 B.C.). He developed methods for testing the competency of government officials, before
making promotion decisions.
urged us to know ourselves, in other words do an introspection.
The Greek philosopher Socrates
Aristotle
encouraged us to use logic to make inferences about the
mind and to observe behavior systematically.
A 16 th century philosopher Francis Bacon
argued that understanding human nature requires
more than direct observation alone. He advocated questioning and testing assumptions.
Wilhelm Wundt
established the first psychological laboratory in Germany in the year 1879. He
relied on introspection to study mental processes.
Edward Titchener
called his approach Structuralism. He was attempting to describe the
structure that composed the mind e.g. feelings
William James
called his approach functionalism. He studied how the mind works to enable an
organism to adapt to and function in its environment.
Charles Darwin
developed the theory of Evolution – Natural Selection.
Francis Galton is known as the father of Eugenics.
Eugenics is defined as the Science of
improving racial stock or improving the human race through regulating marriage and
procreation. In other words it means that physically and mental superior people choose partners
of similar traits which will eventually produce a race of gifted people.
John B. Watson was known as the father of Behaviourism.
Behaviourism concentrates on
describing, predicting, controlling observable measurable behaviours and not mental processes.
Sigmund Freud is the father of Psychology.
His theory is based upon the existence of a hidden
unconscious that influences the way one behaves.
