Brief History of Psychology Essay

Before science, psychology was untested. People assumed all psychological problems were caused by evil spirits. The roots of psychology go behind to the ancient Greeks, the term itself comes from two Greek words, psyche and logos which means the soul and the study of a subject. Philosophy and physiology both contributed to psychologys event as a scientific discipline.The formal beginning of psychology started in the mid 18th century when a German physiologist named Wilhelm Wundt treated psychology as an independent science discipline. His book Principles of Physiological Psychology was published in 1874, it focused on consciousness, including feelings, emotions and ideas. His perspective came to be known as structuralism psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how they are related. Wundt and others also used a procedure called introspection- a self- examination of ones conscious thoughts and feelings. However, by 1895 structuralism was repl aced by functionalism- it focused on the acts and functions of the mind and behavior rather than its structure.In 1924, John B Watson published Psychology as way launched behaviorism which proposed that psychology should study only observable behavior. Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, whose work and theories helped shape the views of childhood, personality, memory, sexuality and therapy which attempted to explain motivation and mental disorders.Another compound of psychology happened when humanism rose its theoretical perspective emphasized conscious experiences. One of the founders of this theory, Carl Rogers strongly believed in the power of free will and humans potential to grow.Psychology celebrated to grow, more new ideas and perspectives were introduced. Psychology evolved out from philosophy and physiology to a separate and independent field of study with further outgrowth and theories to explain human thought and behavior throughout centuries. Today, psychologists f ocus on a particular specialty or perspective but their ideas and theories will continue to shape psychology for years to come.