The document provides a historical overview of the development of psychology from ancient times to the modern era. It discusses early thinkers like Homer, Pythagoras, and Hippocrates and how their work influenced later traditions. Major developments included breakthroughs in neuroscience by Broca, Wernicke, and Santiago y Cajal. Wundt established psychology as an experimental science while Freud pioneered psychoanalysis. Behaviorism emerged with Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson, and Skinner, before humanism arose with Rogers and Maslow. The document traces the evolution of ideas and perspectives that have shaped modern psychology.

1. It’s history, art, and science

2. The history of Grand
Central Station cannot
be objectified but it
can be imagined. That
is the beginning of
knowing one’s self: by
observing others and
imagining what their
lives are/were like.
Shortcut to Lighted Gran CS.lnk

3. In the Iliad of Homer Aesculapius is the
archetypal healer whose legacy became the basis
for healing dream temples. From this ancient
tradition supporting the soul for the health of the
body became a paradigm of therapy.
Therapeia >dher >dharma =“carrier” = “thronos” = chair

4.  Pythagoras
 Heraclitus
 Simonides
 Hippocrates
 Socrates & Plato
 Aristotle
 Zeno
 Galen
 Seneca

5. The Renaissance world includes
a world of psychic revolutions
from DaVinci and Machiavelli
to Galileo and William Harvey ,
each of whom changed
collective perceptions about
the social and physical world
realities, subsequently altering
human beliefs.
Splits within religious institutions
were rampant, but science was
“dangerous.”

6. Think Enlightenment
 Isaac Newton
 Rene Descartes
 Baruch Spinoza
 Jean Jacques
Rousseau
 John Locke
 Franz Gall

7. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution changed the
nature of human progress recognizing expression in
animals as comparable to human emotions.
Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton, studied and
measured human intelligence and beauty.
Evolution changed ideas about heredity and
endowment enlarging the Nature vs. Nurture
debate

8. Nature versus Nurture
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9. The Principles Of Psychology:
the “James,” “Jimmy,” & Santiago y Cajal
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10. Belief creates the actual fact.
Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
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The Principles of
Psychology

11. Just before and just after the Civil War two
important discoveries were made in Europe
by pioneering neurologists: Pierre Paul
Broca (speech production center) and Karl
Wernicke (speech comprehension center).
Their discoveries are still important today and stand as testaments to
what science can mean for humanity and the world

12. Born in Aragon in 1852,
Santiago y Cajal theorized
about the nature and
functions of neurons,
actually substantiating an
idea proposed by
Descartes: the nervous
system is a transmission
system. In 1906 Santiago
y Cajal was awarded the
Nobel Prize for his
neuro-anatonomical
research.

13. Wilhelm Wundt established psychology as an
experimental discipline with his laboratory in
Germany in 1879, intent on establishing Structuralism:
study of emotion built up from sensation

14. Franz Brentano’s
empirical act of destroying Structuralism!
 Brentano (1838-1917) was a
rival of Wundt and
Tichtner. He published only
a limited number of works
but believed that he had
establish the primary aims
of psychology: studies into
the lives of animals and
children, examination of the
mental life of the insane,
and use of the imagination
as the most analytical tool
for empirically studying the
human mind.

15. Psychology at the
Threshold
The 20th Century “psy wars” –
Psychodynamic theories vs.
Behaviorist data

16. Sigmund Freud
Psychology has
become what is
taught in college
courses today
because of Freud.
Even as opponents
ridiculed his
psychodynamic
theory they had to
deal with his socio-
political stance:
mental illness was &
is an equal opportunity
matter of possibly
going insane.

17. Behavior as Science:
Behaviorists believe that only observable evidence is worthy of
psychological regard.
Ivan Pavlov
(1906)
Edward
Thorndike
(1911)
John B.
Watson
(1920)
B.F. Skinner
(1938)
Albert
Bandura
(1963)
Physiologist
who
researched
“Classical
Conditioning”
Established
the Law of
Effect
“Little Albert”
a sad case for
conditioning
Established
reinforcement
as the
operating
principle of
behavior
Showed
modeling to
be the most
active process
in social
learning

18. Carl Rogers and
Abraham Maslow
established the
Humanistic approach to
Psychology. Essentially
Psychodynamic practices
centered on mental illness
and Behaviorists were
pushing control factors.
Rogers & Maslow urged
the study of human
potential and strategies
for empowerment
towards self-actualization.
Rogers & Maslow:
A Third Path for
Psychology

19. Baird, A. (2011) Think Psychology, Upper Saddle River, Pearson/Prentice Hall
Carter, R. (1998) Mapping the Mind, Los Angeles, University of California
Press
Hothersall, D. (1995) History of Psychology, New York City, McGraw-Hill
D. Katakalos, MA, MS adjunct instructor - SAC