A Brief History of Psychology: From Antiquity to the Present Day

Have you heard of Sigmund Freud? Surely yes. Someone will even be able to show off a quote from the famous psychoanalyst. But psychological science does not live on Freud alone! It has developed over many centuries and is rich in people who have thought and drawn conclusions about the nature of the soul, mind, and psyche.

We invite you to expand your horizons and get acquainted with the ideas of outstanding thinkers, as well as learn how psychology has turned from a speculative discipline into a real science.

Psychology in the Ancient World

The history of psychology begins with Ancient Egypt. It was there around 1550 BC. e. The Ebers Papyrus was created - a collection of medical texts, one of the oldest works containing medical knowledge. It mentions mental health conditions such as dementia and depression for the first time.

But the earliest psychological experience is considered to be the experiment of Pharaoh Psammetichus I, described by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the book “History”. In order to determine which race was the most ancient - the Egyptians or the Phrygians, the pharaoh did the following: he gave two newborn children to the shepherd and ordered them to be raised in a remote hut. The main condition of the experiment was complete silence, i.e. the shepherd was forbidden to talk in the presence of babies. In this way, Psammetichus I wanted to find out in what language the very first word would be uttered by the children, and in accordance with this, draw a conclusion about the most ancient race.

After 2 years, the long-awaited “bekos” came from the children’s lips. It turned out that this is a Phrygian word meaning “bread.” So the Egyptians decided that the Phrygians were a more ancient race than themselves [Waterfield R., Dewald C., 1998].

If we consider psychology as a discipline that studies the mind, then the philosophers of Ancient Greece were certainly the first to contribute to its development. For them, understanding the structure of the soul and mind was an important part of intellectual research. The theories of the ancient Greeks were closely related to ethical, physical and metaphysical concepts. Let's see how their thought developed.

Thales and Anaximenes

Thales and Anaximenes were Greek thinkers who were more interested in cosmogony and cosmology than in the study of man. Thales of Miletus believed that the whole world has a soul. He viewed it as a source of life and movement.

Thales's compatriot Anaximenes fleshed out this concept by drawing an analogy between the human soul and the matter that, in his opinion, surrounded the cosmos. He identified both with air or breath. This comparison meant that the human soul performs a vital function.

The idea of the unified nature of outer space and the human soul belongs to that set of ideas that gave rise to belief in the soul as an element of God in man.

Heraclitus

Heraclitus of Ephesus was a philosopher who developed the concepts listed above. Unlike Anaximenes, he believed that the main material of the soul is fire. By fire, he most likely understood something similar to energy, and not fire as a material element.

Heraclitus believed that feelings are the first source of information about the world, but they can be misleading when misinterpreted. If the soul interprets feelings correctly, then a person is able to cognize the Logos - the principle of organization of everything in the world or the truth.

Here you can trace a number of fundamentally new ideas for that time. Firstly, the psyche (soul) began to be perceived as the recipient of sensory impressions. Secondly, by interpreting them, a person could understand the principle of the structure of the world, which does not lend itself to strictly empirical research. Thirdly, psyche and Logos became identical concepts. Thus, Heraclitus wanted to say that the soul (psyche) has depths that cannot be comprehended.

Empedocles

The philosopher and physician Empedocles gave a slightly more detailed description of the process of sensory perception and thinking. In his opinion, the Universe was a mixture of four elements: fire, water, earth and air, and it was controlled by two polar forces: love and struggle.

The model of perception, according to Empedocles, looked like this: each object continuously emitted tiny particles, and a person absorbed them through the pores in the senses. For example, fiery and watery secretions from external objects entered the fiery and watery pores of the eyes.

Speaking about thinking, the philosopher argued that the blood around the heart is the center of human thought, and temperament depends on how balanced the four elements of existence are in it. Today, such conclusions seem naive, but the ideas of Empedocles and other ancient philosophers were an important stage in the history of the formation of psychology as a science.

Anaxagoras and Democritus

Unlike Empedocles, Anaxagoras viewed perception as the result of the interaction of opposites, believing that a person is able to recognize external heat thanks to the cold inside himself.

In the philosophical system of Anaxagoras, the dominant position was occupied by the concept of Reason, which was a controlling force that created the cosmos from chaos by rotating previously motionless masses. According to Anaxagoras, Reason is unique, original, eternal, autonomous, unlimited and self-sufficient, and is also part of the human being and acts as the leading force of the soul, which dominates the body and completely tunes its functions.

According to the philosopher Democritus, the soul was a network of spherical and mobile atoms that permeated the entire structure of the body. He also supported the previously formed idea that it was similar in substance to the cosmos.

Socrates

As one of the greatest thinkers of antiquity, Socrates saw value not in the celestial bodies, but in the vast universe of the human soul, and was the first to use the word "psyche" as the focus of reason and character. He defined knowledge as belief supported by rational explanation, and also believed that truth lies within each person and cannot be imposed by outside authority.

Using dialectics as his primary method of seeking knowledge, Socrates argued that the best way to understand one's inner world is to ask oneself questions and consciously reflect on the answers. It is easy to see that such an approach is the basis of modern introspection and an integral part of any psychotherapy.

Plato

Plato was a student of Socrates. Based on the philosophy of the teacher, he believed that all knowledge is given to a person from birth, and its comprehension is possible through introspective study of one’s inner experience. Plato was the founder of dualism in psychology, dividing man into two independent and antagonistic elements: a material, imperfect body and a soul containing pure knowledge.

Aristotle

Plato's dualism was to some extent overcome by his student Aristotle, who adhered to the idea of the inseparability of soul and body.

He assumed that the mind is the result of mental activity, and assigned a large role to understanding the mental processes occurring within the individual, including the work of the senses, through which a person perceives the environment.

Aristotle made an important point about the purposes that our actions serve, thus anticipating ideas put forward in the 20th century by the eminent psychologists Alfred Adler and Edward Tolman. The ancient Greek philosopher argued that human actions are not meaningless, but always pursue some goal, so it is not easy to understand behavior without reference to this intention.

Aristotle also believed that every person strives to realize his or her potential. This thought has overtones of self-actualization, a concept later explored by psychiatrist Kurt Goldstein and psychologist Abraham Maslow.

As you can see, ancient philosophers made significant contributions to our understanding of the world and ourselves. Some of their ideas may seem strange today, but they formed the basis of many fields of knowledge, including psychology.

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Development in different periods

Throughout history, psychology has developed in many countries, new schools, theories, and directions have emerged. There are several main historical stages, without which it is impossible to imagine this science in the form in which it exists.

Ancient times

The first information about the new emerging science appeared in the 7th century BC. Then the new teachings belonged to natural philosophy, which studied the laws of all things in the world. People of that time believed that everything around had a soul - both living organisms and inanimate objects. The teachings of Heraclitus played a major role in the development of science.

In later periods of antiquity, researchers argued that the soul is the source of morality and reason. The main factor is culture. Gradually the psychology of consciousness appeared. It was developed by Aristotle and Plato. Scientists have identified two directions:

Rationalism - its minions said that it is possible to obtain universal knowledge only with the development of reason.
Sensualism is knowledge that is based on sensations.

Only by the Hellenistic period did researchers get to the point of studying the relationship between the individual and society.

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, any science was closely connected with religion. Psychology is no exception. In the period from the 3rd to the 4th centuries, ancient concepts were banned in the territory of the Christian world. They were considered pagan and anyone who resorted to studying them was excommunicated from the church, became an outcast or was executed. Philosophy schools were first closed and then driven out of Europe. Philosophical and psychological teachings returned only to the 9th century.

Starting from the 12th century, the first universities began to appear in Europe. In the 13th century, psychologists began to study the physical soul of a person, without affecting the spiritual soul, which was protected by the church. By the 15th century, the works of ancient authors received publicity and became available to ordinary peasants.

New time

In the modern period, the development of psychological science was greatly influenced by new scientific approaches - rationality, evidence-based theories. Psychologists stop studying the external manifestations of human activity and are interested in issues of the development of consciousness. An active struggle began between rationalistic and sensualistic approaches.

The scientist R. Descartes created a special theory of reflex, in which he described involuntary movements performed by humans and the behavior of animals. He later introduced the concept of the light of reason or rational intuition.

XVIII century

The development of psychological science in the 18th century was strongly influenced by the ideas of progress. In 1750, the first direction of psychology appeared - associationism. This was an autonomous direction of psychological science, which remained the only one until the 20th century. D. Berkeley, D. Yuma, C. Bonnet actively developed this direction.

The German psychologist H. Wolf published works - “Empirical Psychology”, “Rational Psychology”. J. J. Rousseau wrote that any person is kind from birth, but society over time instills in him many negative aspects that affect his behavior and future life.

XIX - early XX centuries.

The scientist O. Comte compiled a classification of various sciences, which did not include psychology. This was due to the fact that it does not have a scientific paradigm. Because of this, psychological science faced the abyss of losing the status of a separate direction. The second option concerned the merger of this science with sociology or biology. To maintain its autonomous status, it was necessary to develop a methodology. Several practical methods were quickly proposed:

experimental approach;
genetic surveillance;
logical method;
mastering, trial-error analysis.

When Darwin's theory appeared, there was a complete rejection of mechanistic determinism. New branches began to appear in psychological science:

zoopsychology;
genetic research;
differential studies.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, psychological science consisted of many schools, whose representatives pursued individual goals and used their own methods for obtaining new information.

XX - beginning of XXI centuries.

The period from 1910 to 1930 is a crisis for psychology. At this time, many inconsistencies appeared in the theoretical framework accumulated over time. Because of this, new directions began to emerge that distributed the accumulated knowledge among themselves:

sociologically oriented psychology;
psychoanalysis, created by Freud;
Jung's analytical psychology;
Gestalt psychology;
behaviorism.

In the middle of the twentieth century, several more directions appeared:

cognitive psychology;
logotherapy;
humanistic psychology.

Each of the presented areas developed independently of each other. Their followers developed new methods, collected information of interest, and conducted experiments.

Present tense

There are a huge number of psychological teachings, each of which has certain characteristics and studies certain aspects of human life and behavior.

Psychology became a separate science only in the second half of the 19th century, but the doctrine first appeared in Ancient Greece. Over time, a lot of theoretical knowledge accumulated, which needed to be distributed into separate areas and systematized. After this, psychological schools appeared that studied various aspects of human life.

Psychology in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages period is often associated with witch hunts, superstition and demonic possession. In many ways this is true, but this is not the whole truth. Let's find out how things were in those days with the study of the mind and the development of psychological science.

In the Middle Ages, researchers sought to understand the connection between man and God, so theological views extended to psychology. Western European theologians held the idea that God was the creator, towering above all beings, and humans, being the pinnacle of his creation, possessed a soul that connected them with the divine. According to Christian beliefs, man was endowed with an inner spirit that was separate from the soul and body, reflecting the belief in the tripartite nature of God.

The most prominent representative of psychological thought of that time was Aurelius Augustine, who became the first philosopher who suggested that a person has an “inner self”: if he is one with it, then he is healthy, but internal disunity leads to the development of illnesses.

Augustine came to the following conclusions from various areas of psychology:

Babies are self-centered and socially unaware. Fear of punishment is a barrier to learning because it inhibits curiosity.
Memory is the most important aspect of the mind and the command point of mental functioning; all skills and habits depend on its state.
Thoughts and impulses suppressed during wakefulness can manifest themselves in sleep. At the same time, a Christian should not experience pangs of conscience, since it is impossible to sin in dreams.
All people experience an internal struggle between self and God. This conflict leads to chaos in the outside world.
Love is the basis of happiness, and the desire to possess what a person cannot have is the source of suffering. It is necessary to develop the ability for unconditional love, which changes the nature of thinking for the better.

Augustine also coined the term “original sin” and believed that all people are born sinners. This view influenced the church for several centuries and did much to hinder the study of reason until the Renaissance.

Branches of psychology

There are many branches in both modern and domestic psychology. They are essentially independent sciences and are developing in their own directions. But in general, all psychology has two foundations:

Applied or practical psychology
General psychology or fundamental

General

General psychology, that is, fundamental, is the basis of all science. She studies all psychological processes, starting from an individual’s behavior pattern and ending with his character traits. Includes a person’s beliefs, perceptions, thinking, emotions, speech, etc.

Practical

Practical psychology is aimed at studying a specific person. It helps to change the mental state and behavior of the individual.

Human psychology is a rather subtle and complex science. But along with this, she is undeniably interesting. Human personality psychology covers a huge range of knowledge and sections that will be difficult to study at one time. Its main goal is to learn to understand other people, their inner world.

Important! At the beginning of the emergence of psychology, there were debates everywhere about whether psychology could be considered an independent science. The subject of its study is considered either too subjective or partly objective, and partly not. But in modern times, the status of psychology is official, since this discipline has scientific methods and proves its importance among other sciences.

Rice. 4. Branches of psychology

Psychology in the Renaissance

The development of psychology as a science was greatly influenced by the progressive ideas of humanism that appeared during the Renaissance. His followers rejected belief in divinity as the source of human consciousness, arguing that humans were self-aware and self-determining. This concept stimulated scientific interest in anatomical and psychological research: inventor Leonardo da Vinci and others began conducting experiments to understand how people reason.

During the Renaissance there were many scientists who contributed to the development of modern psychological science, but the key figures were:

Rene Descartes

The French mathematician and philosopher Descartes believed that the body and mind are two separate entities that mutually influence each other. This concept is called "Cartesian dualism". Descartes considered the body to be a physical structure, like a machine, that can be studied and measured, while the mind is an entity that does not belong to the material world, but is the source of ideas and thoughts.

The philosopher was both a nativist and a rationalist: he believed that some human knowledge is innate, and that truth can be known through experience and the activity of the mind. He owns the saying: “I think, therefore I exist.”

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes can be called the first social psychologist because he believed that understanding the psychology of people is necessary for effective government. Hobbes concluded that self-interest determines human behavior, for example, the desire for pleasure stimulates movement towards a desired object, and the fear of pain or disgust leads to avoidance of the object. Hobbes's doctrine is now known as psychological hedonism.

John Locke

Unlike Descartes, the philosopher Locke was of the opinion that the mind is a blank slate, devoid of any ideas, and all knowledge is a consequence of experience. He distinguished only two of its sources: sensation and reflection. By sensing, a person turns his senses to the world and passively receives information in the form of images, sounds, smells and touches. This leads to the birth of ideas such as “yellow”, “sour” or “soft”. In the second case, while thinking, a person turns his mind to himself and again passively receives such ideas as “thought”, “faith”, “doubt”, “will”.

George Berkeley

In part, the views of the British philosopher Berkeley coincided with Locke's idea that knowledge is the result of sensory experience. However, as Berkeley developed his theory, he came to a breathtaking conclusion: there is no world of physical objects, only a world of ideas. Those. the idea that material objects exist, and that by interacting with them, a person experiences certain sensations, is just an act of faith, a game of the mind.

David Hume

Being an ardent empiricist, the Scottish philosopher Hume believed that all knowledge comes from sensory experience, therefore the idea of innate knowledge, as well as metaphysical concepts, are just sophisms. He questioned scientific, religious, and moral theses because they all relied on assumptions beyond experience and were therefore likely to be erroneous. Hume's skepticism led him to the conclusion that since the self cannot be observed, it is a kind of psychological chimera.

Well, we say “thank you” to the Renaissance, which became an important milestone in the history of the formation of psychology, and move on to the next stage.

Main representatives and schools

There are different schools that have formed over time:

Freudianism. This is a school founded by Sigmund Freud in the early 20th century. This scientist drew attention to the unconscious (what is hidden beyond consciousness) and began to conduct research on its study. Freud argued that the subject is not always able to control his actions and change behavior. There are actions that are unconscious. Their study is carried out by interpreting involuntary movements and deciphering dreams.
Reflexology. The founders of this school are I.P. Pavlov, V.M. Bekhterev. Both scientists studied the processes occurring in the brain, changes in the state of the nervous system when exposed to extraneous stimuli.
Genetic psychology, developed by the Swiss psychologist J. Piaget. He created his own theory of the development of intelligence. The psychologist argued that only mental development can give a person a correct idea of the world around him.
Classic behaviorism. J. Watson is considered the founder of this school. He called human behavior a complex of innate, acquired reactions. At the same time, behaviorism did not divide people and animals into separate groups, and almost completely denied the importance of consciousness in people’s lives.
Cognitive psychology. This school of psychological science appeared under the influence of the rapid development of computer technology. Cognitive psychology studies the dependence of people's behavioral reactions on the cognitive maps at their disposal.
Gestalt psychology is a theory that tries to protect the integrity of the psyche. Proponents of this school argued that electromagnetic fields constantly arise in the brain and interact with each other.
Descriptive psychology. V. Dilthey is considered the founder of this school. He argued that life is a collection of creative instincts that form a single reality.
Humanistic psychology. This direction appeared in the 60s of the 20th century. It is built on optimistic worldviews. Humanists believe in the creative potential of any person, his ability to independently choose his own destiny.

The most outstanding representatives of psychology who made a great contribution to the development of science:

Piaget Jean - years of life from 1896 to 1980. He is the founder of genetic epistemology. For a long time I studied the development and thinking of children. After that, he began to study the degrees of development of intelligence.
Eysenck Hans Jurgen - years of life from 1916 to 1997. Psychologist from England who founded the clinical-psychological direction of research. He ran his own laboratory in London.
Wundt Wilhelm - years of life from 1832 to 1920. A famous scientist from Germany who studied psychology, philosophy, physiology, and various languages. He was the first to combine psychological knowledge into a separate science and created a laboratory for practical training.
Watson John Broadus - years of life from 1878 to 1958. American scientist who became the founder of behaviorism. Urged other researchers to rely on objective research methods.
Sigmund Freud - years of life from 1856 to 1939. Psychologist from Austria who created psychoanalysis. He practiced medicine for a long time, as a result of which he concluded that many pains depend on the psychological state of a person.
Jung Carl Gustav - years of life from 1875 to 1961. A scientist from Switzerland who initially collaborated with Sigmund Freud, but later created his own direction - analytical psychology. He determined that the behavior and development of people is influenced not only by individual characteristics, but also by the influence of society.
Pavlov Ivan Petrovich - years of life from 1849 to 1936. He studied the activity of the brain and nervous system. For the first time he identified conditioned reflexes. He created his own international scientific school.
Rubinstein Sergei Leonidovich - years of life from 1889 to 1960. A famous philosopher, psychologist, who was a correspondent for the USSR Academy of Sciences. Developed the principles of a personal approach and determinism. Summarized some achievements of psychological science.
Vygotsky Lev Semenovich - years of life from 1896 to 1934. One of the scientists who began to spread psychological teaching throughout the USSR. He laid the main foundations of Russian psycholinguistics.
Bekhterev Vladimir Mikhailovich - years of life from 1857 to 1927. Scientist who studied neuropathology, psychology, physiology. In Russia he opened an experimental laboratory, and after that he founded the Psychoneurological Institute, which exists to this day.

These are not all the famous scientists who have contributed to the development of psychological science.

Psychology as an independent discipline

The German physician Wilhelm Wundt is considered to be the father of psychology. He wrote the first textbook in the discipline, entitled Fundamentals of Physiological Psychology, which outlined the key connections between physiology, thinking and behavior, and in 1879 he founded the world's first experimental psychology laboratory.

Wundt's main research method was introspection, or self-observation, in which subjects focused on their own mental processes and reported these experiences to scientists. This approach is still used in neuroscience, although many experts criticize introspection for its lack of objectivity.

Thousands of students attended Wundt's lectures, hundreds received degrees in psychology, and Wundt's student Edward Titchener became the founder of structuralism.

Life story of Wilhelm Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt was born into the family of a Lutheran pastor. From the outside, this family seemed friendly, but later Wundt recalled how strict and sometimes cruel his father could be. Almost all family members were well educated and distinguished themselves in some science, but Wilhelm seemed to them incapable of learning. This confidence was reinforced by the fact that the boy was unable to pass the entrance exams for the first grade of the gymnasium. Subsequently, however, Wilhelm improved his studies and by the age of nineteen was ready to enter university. He chose a career as a doctor.

While studying at the University of Heidelberg, he studied with Professor Gasse and was also his assistant in the women's department of the local hospital. He had to be on duty almost around the clock, almost at night. During one of these shifts, he experienced a state that, in his opinion, resembled mild somnambulism. Wundt became interested in this topic and decided that he no longer wanted to be a doctor. He transferred to the University of Berlin, where he studied with the natural scientist Johann Muller, and then worked there as an assistant to the famous scientist Helmholtz. At this time, for the first time in the world, he began to give his lectures on scientific psychology.

In 1875, he moved to Leipzig, began working at the local university and, with his own money, founded the world's first psychological laboratory. Subsequently, it grew into the Institute of Experimental Psychology. Wundt lived in this city until his death. Here he graduated a huge number of students, many of whom continued his work. His students founded their own psychological laboratories at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and others. It is curious that scientists from the USA and Russia most often showed interest in his psychological research. Bekhterev, Pavlov, V.S. Serebrenikov, as well as the Pole Vladislav Vitvitsky and the Bulgarian Spiridon Kazandzhiev became Wundt’s faithful students and successors of his work.

In his later period, Wundt concentrated on social psychology and the so-called “psychology of peoples,” laying the foundations for these disciplines as well.

The total number of works by Wilhelm Wundt is difficult to calculate, as are all the areas of his interests. He conducted research in the fields of psychology, philosophy, physics, and physiology. Wundt is considered one of the founding fathers of modern psychology, although in recent decades the significance of his work has been noted as low, since science has moved far forward during this time. Throughout his life, Wundt wrote more than 54 thousand pages; we can say that his cherished childhood dream came true - to become a great writer.

Wundt even made some contributions to astronomy. He was the first to propose calling asteroids not only by female names, as was done before. His student Karl Lohnert, who became an astronomer, heeded this advice: he named the asteroid he discovered in 1907 Wundzia in honor of his teacher.

Structuralism

Structuralists believed that the best way to understand how the mind functions was to break it down into its basic elements and examine each of them. Titchener concluded that there are three groups of mental components that form conscious experience:

Feel.
Images.
Attachments (feelings, emotions).

He used introspection (self-analysis) as the only method for studying these elements, believing that those processes that cannot be studied using this technique do not belong to the field of psychology. As a result, the structuralists' over-reliance on dubious and rigorous methodology led them to a fruitless dead end. Essentially, structuralism died with Titchener, and was replaced by an alternative approach known as functionalism.

Kurt Lewin – social psychologist

Kurt Lewin, a great psychologist, was born and raised in Germany, but due to his Jewish heritage he had to immigrate to America. Here he created ideas that formed the basis of social psychology. His main achievement is field theory, it proves that a person living in society subconsciously does not control his actions and most of them he does based on the society in which he is and grew up.

Kurt Lewin conducted many practical studies based on the development of human social behavior. The list of issues that he dealt with later became fundamental for many professionals:

level of aspirations;
group dynamics;
game situations;
time perspective;
field theory;
desire for success.

The work of this psychologist made it possible to combine the behavior of others, identify norms for each person, and also develop the basis for solving emerging problems, starting from behavior in society.

Functionalism

Unlike structuralists, who sought to discover the components of consciousness and understand how they are organized, functionalists were more interested in how the mind works, what mental processes take place in it, and what role consciousness plays in human behavior.

One of the main representatives of functionalism was the outstanding psychologist and philosopher William James. He promoted the idea that reason and self-awareness served some practical purpose. Those. Functionalists viewed thinking and behavior in terms of how they help a person adapt to the environment, function successfully in the world, and achieve success. This approach to psychology was formed under the influence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Because the functionalist James had difficulty reconciling the objective nature of psychology with its focus on consciousness, which is not directly observable, over time he moved away from the scientific-experimental approach and delved into philosophical speculation. His works were written in an accessible, non-trivial, sometimes humorous and even colloquial language, for which Wundt criticized them. “This is literature. It’s beautiful, but it’s not psychology,” he said about James’s book “Principles of Psychology” [Fancher RE, Rutherford A. Pioneers of Psychology: A History., 2017].

Eventually, functionalism lost its dominance and was replaced by other psychological theories.

Studies

In 1851 he graduated from school and began his ascent to scientific knowledge step by step; at the Universities of Tübingen, Berlin and Heidelberg.

After receiving a diploma in medicine in Heidelberg (1858 -1864), Wundt studied with Johann Müller and soon became an employee of the University - an assistant to the outstanding physicist and physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz. In addition to his leader, Wilhelm Wundt experienced such a greedy craving for unknown science under the influence of the works of Gustav Fechner (psychologist) and Johann Peter Müller (biologist). In his book “Towards a Theory of Sensory Perception” (1858-1862), Wilhelm first introduced the concept of “experimental psychology”.

The emergence of psychoanalysis

As you may have noticed, early psychology was focused on the study of the conscious mind. But in the late 19th century, the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud theorized about the importance of the unconscious, thereby undermining faith in the rational nature of the mind.

According to Freud, behavior is largely determined by past experiences (including early childhood memories) and internal impulses that a person is not even aware of. The unconscious is formed through repression, a process in which anxious experiences and repressed feelings move from the conscious mind into a reservoir, becoming part of the unconscious. To explore its contents, the father of psychoanalysis relied on hypnosis and dreams in an attempt to decipher the hidden meanings within them.

Although Freud's theory caused an avalanche of criticism in its time and is still perceived with skepticism, its influence on psychology is undeniable. We don’t know whether Freud was right, but we are sure that understanding the basics of psychology is simply necessary. What motivates us? Why do we act this way and not otherwise? How to understand the motives of other people's behavior? Our free online course “Human Psychology” will help clarify the situation. Read and be amazed at how beautiful this science is and how deep the human psyche is.

Object, methods and tasks of psychology

A person’s whole life is a series of certain events, deeds, conversations, situations and other everyday life that surrounds us. Each person is different, so all people will react to the same situation in completely different ways.

That is why the object of psychology is a person, or rather, a model of his behavior. For example, the interaction of people with each other, their behavior or their relationships in large and small groups of people. All these mental phenomena will be considered an object of study in psychology.

Knowledge of psychology in the modern world is very useful not only for the professional sphere, but also for everyday life. Theory is only one component of this science, but the ability to apply it in practice is completely different. Throughout our lives, whether we like it or not, we interact with a large number of people. And you need to understand everyone, find a common language, or at least communicate with them. That is why psychology is based on several main tasks:

Learn to understand people and yourself. Understand where certain mental phenomena arise from.
Be able to control brain reactions . An important part is the ability to manage one’s own mental phenomena, understand and be aware of them.
Use the acquired knowledge correctly . All this knowledge that you have gained as a result of self-knowledge must be able to apply to improve yourself in life and/or in practice in various industries.

Rice.
3. The structure of general psychology These are the three foundations that lie in the science of psychology. All this, of course, is done for a reason. There are special methods that help researchers gain a deeper understanding of the life and actions of a person. These are methods such as:

Observation. This may be observing someone or self-observation, collecting information through conversations, interviews, tests, or searching for various biographical information.
Analysis of the obtained data . Based on the information received, you need to identify something in common, draw a conclusion, and conduct an analysis.
A certain effect on the human psyche . Influence can occur through suggestion or persuasion. Special conversations, relaxations, etc. can also be held.

Three main methods, which are revealed in many other factors, and all of them help to fully collect the necessary information to study a certain psychological model of a person.

Briefly about the history of Russian psychology

In our country, psychology as an independent discipline began to develop in the 19th century. Among the many talented scientists, we will highlight only a few key figures:

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky

Vygotsky believed that the formation of habits and behavior occurs as a result of sociocultural interaction. He assigned an important role in the process of human learning to play, believing that it helps the child learn cultural norms and social skills, as well as control his own behavior.

Vygotsky's most famous theory in the field of psychology is the zone of proximal development. It illustrates the child's learning process and suggests that children learn to solve more complex problems with the help of knowledgeable adults, mastering new things under their guidance.

Alexander Romanovich Luria

Luria argued that mental processes and conscious activity of a person occur thanks to the work of three units of the brain:

wake-up control unit;
block for receiving, analyzing and storing information;
programming, regulation and activity testing unit.

Interesting fact: if you analyze the work of the Soviet scientist, you can find similarities between his theory and the popular (later) hypothesis of the triune brain of neurophysiologist Paul MacLean.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

In 1904, Pavlov received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He conducted experiments on dogs and is famous for the discovery of classical conditioning. The scientist discovered that a conditioned stimulus (bell), which was associated in dogs with the type of food, can itself cause a conditioned reflex (salivation).

Pavlov was not a psychologist, but he suggested that conditioning could cause certain behaviors not only in dogs, but also in humans. He turned out to be right. His discovery had a significant impact on the development of the psychological school of behaviorism.

Techniques used by science

All stages of the development of psychology as a science are associated with great minds, thinkers and philosophers, who developed an absolutely unique field that studies the behavior, character and skills of people. History confirms that the founders of the doctrine were Hippocrates, Plato and Aristotle - authors and researchers of antiquity. It was they who suggested (of course, at different periods of time) that there are several types of temperament that are reflected in behavior and goals.

Psychology, before becoming a full-fledged science, has come a long way and affected almost every famous philosopher, doctor and biologist. One of these representatives is Thomas Aquinas and Avicenna. Later, at the end of the 16th century, Rene Descartes participated in the development of psychology. In his opinion, the soul is a substance within a substance. It was Descartes who first introduced the word “dualism” into use, which means the presence of spiritual energy inside the physical body, which cooperate very closely with each other. Reason, as the philosopher established, is the manifestation of our soul. Despite the fact that many of the scientist’s theories were ridiculed and refuted several centuries later, he became the main founder of psychology as a science.

Immediately after the works of Rene Descartes, new treatises and teachings began to appear, written by Otto Kasman, Rudolf Gocklenius, Sergei Rubinshein, and William James. They went further and began to promulgate new theories. For example, W. James at the end of the 19th century proved the existence of a stream of consciousness through clinical research. The main task of the philosopher and psychologist was to discover not only the soul, but also its structure. James proposed that we are a dual being, inhabited by both subject and object. Let's look at the contributions of other equally significant scientists, such as Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt and Carl Gustav Jung, etc.

Behaviorism

At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists' approach to psychology changed dramatically. They abandoned the emphasis on the conscious and unconscious, directing their attention to the study of behavior. This is how behaviorism appeared. The goal of its proponents was to study only completely objective and observable processes: no introspection and no discussion of mental concepts.

One of the most ardent proponents of behaviorism was the American psychologist John Watson, who, adhering to a purely scientific approach, sought to study behavior without making any assumptions beyond the scope of experience available to the senses.

Watson was of the opinion that the context and environment in which a person finds himself completely determines his behavior. This idea was later developed by Berres psychologist Frederick Skinner. He introduced the concept of operant conditioning and demonstrated in rats how punishment and reinforcement affect behavior.

Humanistic psychology

Behaviorism and psychoanalysis remained dominant until the second half of the 20th century, when a new school of thought emerged known as humanistic psychology. And it was born thanks to the American psychologist Carl Rogers, who firmly believed in the power of free will and self-determination. Humanists, led by Rogers , argued that:

A person’s behavior is primarily influenced by his perception of the world around him;
free will and conscious choice exist;
the need to realize one’s potential (self-actualization) is natural for every person;
Every experience is unique, so psychologists must take an individual approach to each client.

American psychologist Abraham Maslow made an important contribution to the development of humanistic psychology. He believed that Freud's psychoanalytic theory and Skinner's behaviorist theory were too focused on the pathological aspects of behavior. Therefore, Maslow delved into the study of what brings people happiness: motivation, satisfaction of needs and leads to self-realization.

The result of his research was a theory called the “Hierarchy of Needs,” which proposed that human behavior is determined by five categories of needs. Once basic needs are satisfied, motivation to achieve higher-level needs appears.

Behavioral psychology maintained its monopoly until the cognitive revolution occurred in the late 1950s.

Cognitive psychology

The main ideas of the cognitive revolution were that the human mind works like a computer and can be studied as a self-sufficient logical system, regardless of social, cultural, situational factors, and without reference to its physical basis.

The birth date of cognitive psychology is considered to be September 11, 1956. On that day, prominent scientists George Miller, Noam Chomsky, Allen Newell and Herbert Simon gave presentations at a symposium on information theory held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge).

Linguistics professor Noam Chomsky argued that the mental structure of language is based on universal, innate principles that are transmitted genetically, and the ability to learn it cannot be explained by reinforcement alone, thereby criticizing Skinner's behavioral theory.

American psychologist George Miller also studied language; his book “Language and Communication” became the starting point in the emergence of psycholinguistics. In addition, Miller studied human memory abilities, putting forward the theory that most people can remember no more than 7 ± 2 pieces of information using their short-term memory. Miller also found that information is remembered better when it is broken down into chunks.

In 1956, cognitive psychologist Allen Newell, together with political scientist, economist and sociologist Herbert Simon, developed the first working computer program that simulated human ability to solve complex problems. She could prove theorems just like a talented mathematician.

Since then, cognitive psychology has developed rapidly. Thanks to brain imaging tools such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, researchers are now able to study its inner workings. And with the help of genetics, modern psychologists seek to understand how physiology and heredity influence a person’s psychological state.

Modern cognitive psychology studies mental processes related to memory, intelligence, language, attention, perception, imagination, problem solving, and learning ability. By the way, you can read more about the history of the development of educational psychology in our article. And if you want to understand the peculiarities of your thinking, learn to solve complex life problems without fuss and stress, improve your analytical skills, memory and logic, we invite you to the online program “Cognitive Science”.

In ancient times, psychology was a kind of mixture of magic and religion. Early, seemingly absurd, attempts to understand the structure of the human soul and the motives of human behavior eventually grew into a scientific discipline. The history of psychology does not end here; it continues to evolve, helping people answer the most important question: “Who am I?”

Friends, we wish you to be at peace with yourself and, if necessary, not to neglect the help of such a magnificent science as psychology. Good luck!

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Key words: 1LLL, 1Cognitive science

W. Wundt

The name of Wundt is known in psychology as well as Jung and Rubinstein. Wilhelm Maximilian lived in the 19th century and was an active practitioner of experimental psychology. This movement included non-standard and unique practices that made it possible to study all psychological phenomena.

Like Rubinstein, Wundt studied determinism, objectivity, and the fine line between human activity and consciousness. The main feature of the scientist is that he was an experienced physiologist who understood all the physical processes of living organisms. To some extent, it was much easier for Wilhelm Maximilian to devote his life to such a science as psychology. Over the course of his life, he trained dozens of figures, including Bekhterev and Serebrenikov.

Wundt sought to understand how our mind works, so he often conducted experiments that allowed him to figure out chemical reactions in the body. It was the work of this scientist that laid the foundation for the creation and promotion of such a science as neuropsychology. Wilhelm Maximilian loved to observe people's behavior in different situations, so he developed a unique technique - introspection. Since Wundt himself was also an inventor, many experiments were worked out by the scientist himself. However, introspection did not include the use of devices or instruments, but only observation, as a rule, of one’s own mental phenomena and processes.