Psychology

Psychology

Introduction

The study of the nature of human mind has been going around for at least 2,500 years. Human mind is the topic that has been widely and deeply speculated and contemplated. It dates back as early as the times of ancient Greece when Plato wrote the Menno. Aristotle and Hippocrates too contributed towards the study of psychology even though then psychology had not appeared as a separate discipline. Ibn al-Haytham in the 11th century was one of the Middle Eastern contributors to this field who came forward with the development of psychology of visual perception. The study of human mind and nature continued to be the work of great thinkers over the many coming centuries, but it was not until the experimental scientific methods were developed that something of a profound nature were developed in this field.

The development of psychology in the western world continued to be hindered by the over whelming power of the church. It was the renaissance period in Europe that led to the word psychology be coined. The first use of this word was made in the sixteenth century by Marko Marulic. It was only in the 19th century that the commencement of modern scientific psychology occurred. The first research laboratory was founded by a German psychologist, Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 who is also regarded as the father of psychology. William James was another important psychologist who wrote a seminal psychological text in 1890 that set up the agenda for the study of psychology in the coming decades. Side by side, during the same time, there was also an Austrian physician, Sigmund Freud who came up with the method of psychoanalysis which proved the most prevalent theory of the 20th century. It had a wide cultural impact all over the work and invited much debate and criticism. Theorist like these laid the foundations of the development of psychology in modern times and paved the way for the deep and profound study of human mind and treatment of mental illnesses.

Thesis statement

The development of modern psychology as an independent and separate discipline owes its existence to the declining power of the church. The end of the domination by church paved the way for naturalistic explanations of psychology to develop, which in turn led to schools of thoughts like structuralism and functionalism. Though these did not survive for long, but yet were responsible for other theories and forces that were to develop and expand psychology as a modern discipline.

Discussion

Psychology is a branch of science and philosophy. The foundation of this field was laid as a result of the movements of empiricism and rationalism. Learning theories were involved that provided an explanation of the way knowledge is learned and attained. The history of psychology can be traced back to the times of ancient Greek and ancient Egypt. Psychology till the late 19th century was a branch of philosophy. It has then undergone development as an independent discipline in countries like America and ...