A History of Modern Psychology - Essay Example

? A History of Modern Psychology Task: A History of Modern Psychology Modern psychology originated from the 19th century philosophy or earlier. It also derives its origin in medicine during the times of Greek philosophers. It is worth denoting that the contemporary psychological concepts are traced back to 19th century physiologist laboratories. One can relate the modern psychology discipline with the beginning of psychology by identifying the roles of the past philosophers. Consequently, it is vital to mention the role of the past philosophers from the western culture when discussing the contemporary philosophy. This will help in understanding the development of the 19th century psychology science. “Identify philosophers that historically relate to the beginnings of psychology as a formal discipline”. Several philosophers historically connect with psychology as a recognized discipline. The philosophers encompass John Locke, George Berkeley, Davie Hume, Freud Sigmund, Wilhelm Wundt, John Stuart, and Rene Descartes. John Locke differentiated complex and simple thoughts (Cherry, 2012). According to him, simple ideas consist of basic sensory features such as colors and heat. It also involves attitudes towards processes such as finding things pleasant. However, complex ideas entail the combination of simple and other complex thoughts. He also thought that complex ideas could be transformed into simple ideas especially if one breaks them into smaller components. George Berkeley worked on vision and individuals’ perceptions. According to the philosopher, the humans’ perceptions about things such as distance and sizes rely on their experiences with the world. He thought that people do not directly see things, but they judge them through their visual information and experiences (Cherry, 2012). Davie Hume created the rules of association. According to his theory, similar ideas that happen at the same time are correlated. In his theory, he came up with laws that included similarity, contiguity, and impacts. Rene Descartes formulated ideas associated with dualism. According to this idea, body and mind are separate things. However, when they work together, they add to the formation of people’s experiences. David Hartley was another philosopher who also thought that body and minds work separately and parallel to each other. He combined Davies rule of association with his idea of memories. Freud Sigmund introduced the psychoanalytic assumption. In the theory, he asserted that human beings are controlled by life drive and death drive that are the major contradictory desires. Consequently, positivity plays a vital part in ensuring that people depend on God for their survival while living optimistically. Wilhelm studied the human’s brains by relating it with mental disorders, spirituality, and abnormal conditions. Based on the study results, he concluded that people’s mental conditions affect their behaviors (Cherry, 2012). “Identify major philosophers in the western tradition that were primary contributors to the formation of psychology as a discipline”. The philosophers from the western traditions also contributed to creation of psychology discipline. Ralph Waldo was one of the philosophers who formed psychology as a discipline through his transcendent concepts. He explained how the universe and the human beings are related to God. The philosopher believed that human beings could learn everything he wants through freedom. This enables their souls to interact with nature. This concept is still applied in the contemporary psychology. It asserts that the souls’ freedom and its interaction with nature results into effective learning process (Brett, 2004). Gestalt was also a philosopher from the western traditions who contributed to the introduction of psychology as an authority. In his theory, he explained how the patients respond to structural organization instead of the sensory elements. Other philosophers such as Kurt and Wertheimer also created this concept. The philosopher believed that the psychological patients respond by reacting to the outside environment stimuli and not their physiological conditions. Through his ideas, he was able to incorporate humans’ minds, inanimate nature, and people’s lives into a single scientific element referred to as the psychology (Brett, 2004). Another major contributor of the psychology discipline was Abraham Maslow. The philosopher explained how the self-actualization process is acquired when the physical, psychological, and human needs are satisfied. He believed that the main concepts of psychology entail attaining the people’s full potential when they create beneficial relationships with other people. He emphasized that the full potential can only be achieved if his mentioned needs are met (Brett, 2004). Explore the development of the science of psychology during the 19th century. The 19th century was the time of various scientific exploration and comprehensions. This is because many new and controversial theories regarding the human development became widespread in the intellectual world. The most important period during the development of the psychology science in the 19th century, was when Wilhelm Wundt conducted his experiment in his laboratory. His study was mainly about self-consciousness. The laboratory was vital because all psychological researchers were conducted in it. Iva Pavlov also contributed to the development of psychology during this period. This is because he conducted a classical conditioning study, which was vital in the 19th century psychology development. Moreover, the study of people’s memory became very widespread during this period. William James conducted the study (Adler, 2005). Apart from the rampant experimental psychology during this century, other psychological fields such as the scientific pedagogy also emerged. The pedagogy was directed by Stanley Hall. Furthermore, another vital psychological discipline aspect that appeared during this century was the education theory. John Dewey created this theory. Another dramatic even that occurred included the building of the earliest psychological clinic, which also contributed to the development of the psychology science. This occurred during the beginning of the century. James Cattell built the clinic, where the combination of all the anthropometric methods that the philosophers used in testing the patients’ mental conditions was done. Moreover, Sigmund Freud developed another way of studying the human mind. The philosopher referred to the new method as the Psychoanalysis. He introduced the theory of ego and Id, which the contemporary philosophers still use them. His new concepts started influencing how people view themselves especially towards the end of the century (Kelly & Kelly, 2010). Conclusion The modern psychology originated in the 19th century from various philosophical concepts and medical theories. Some of the past philosophers who contributed to commencement of psychological discipline are John Locke who differentiated simple and complex concepts and George Berkeley who formulated the concepts of visions and human’s perceptions. There was also Freud Sigmund who formulated psychoanalytic concepts and Rene Descartes who introduced the concept of dualism. The Philosophers from the west who also formed the discipline are Ralph Waldo, Gestalt, and Abraham Maslow. 19th century was a vital error in the progress of modern psychology. This is because many important events occurred during this time. For example, during the initial part of the century, a laboratory where all psychological studies were conducted was built. Additionally, the earliest psychological clinic was constructed during the same century. References Adler, M. J. (2005). Platonism & positivism in psychology. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction Publishers. Brett, G. (2004). A history of Psychology: Modern Psychology. New York, NY: Rutledge. Cherry, K. (2012). The origins of psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/psychistory.htm Kelly, E. F., & Kelly, E. W. (2010). Irreducible mind: Toward a psychology for the 21st century. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Read More