It should be clear by now as to how psychology is defined and why psychology is considered as a science. In the beginning, psychology was a part of philosophy. It moved away from philosophy and became an independent discipline approximately 138 years ago. "Psychology has a short history but a long past, this remark was made by Hermann Ebbinghaus over a century ago, which is a kind of reflection on Greek philosophers who wrote on human nature. Thus, Greek philosophers like Socrates. (428-348 BCE), Plato (428-347 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322 BCE) tried to explain human mind and its relationship to the physical body as early as 4 BCE. Socrates famous thought 'know thyself" emphasized on the importance of self and personal reflection. Later on, French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) considered pineal gland (body physiology) as the seat of the soul', the place where all thoughts are formed.
The success of experimental methods in physics motivated some scientists to use experiments to study mind and behavior. One of the first scientists to study psychological processes was the German physiologist Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1887), who studied psychophysics, a branch of psychology. The first laboratory was established in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany by Wilhelm Wundt(1832-1920).In 1883 in the USA, the first formal psychology laboratory was set up in John Hopkins University by Wundt's student, G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924). There was much progress, but moving away from philosophy was quite difficult. American Psychological Association (APA) started in 1892 and Hall became its first president. William James (1842-1910) wrote the first textbook on psychology known as "The Principles of Psychology". The psychologists, in the beginning, had an empirical approach to understand thinking, attention, imagery, etc. The experiments were done to study the mind and mental experiences. Gradually, different schools of thought came up with different viewpoints about the nature of the study of psychology. They emphasized that the focus should be on the study of behavior rather than the mind.
In our exploration of psychology's evolution, it's imperative to explore the main schools of thought that have significantly shaped the discipline. From traditional to modern approaches, these perspectives have guided psychologists in understanding and defining behavior, as well as conducting research. Join me in the next blog as we take a closer look at these influential schools of thought, unraveling their contributions to the rich tapestry of psychology."
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