~ Chapter 1, Part 1 ~
History of Psychology
Introduction
● Wilhelm Wundt → Father of Psychology
○ Taught at the University of Leipzig
● 1879 → Psychology officialized as a science
● Edward Titchener → Studied under Wilhelm Wundt
● Physiology (study of human body) + Philosophy (theories, ideologies) = Psychology
Old Practices
● Trephination (also known as trepanning) → put a hole into a person’s skull to release
evil spirits
● Ancient Egyptians
○ Believed in Ka, who was said to live in a person’s head
○ 7 Ka’s, which controlled each other
■ Stopped at 7 due to it being a holy number
○ Thought they could see the Ka’s in someone’s eyes, when it was really their own
reflection
● Ancient Greeks
○ Plato → believed that mind and body were 2 separate entities
○ Aristotle → believed that mind and body were 1 unit
○ Hippocrates → considered the father of modern day medicine
■ Body contains 4 vital fluids called humors
● Blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile
● Too much of one may cause adverse effects
■ Blood-letting: cutting the body to release “harmful” blood
● Middle Ages
○ Major setback in psychology as they believed the cause behind most issues was
possession
■ Believed that you could be possessed from someone who could potentially
be possessed
● 1600s to 1700s
○ Pseudoscience became popular
■ Phrenology → study of bumps on the head to determine intelligence,
morals, etc.
Schools of Thought
● Structuralism (Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener)
○ Stresses basic units of experience and the combinations at which they occur
History of Psychology
Introduction
● Wilhelm Wundt → Father of Psychology
○ Taught at the University of Leipzig
● 1879 → Psychology officialized as a science
● Edward Titchener → Studied under Wilhelm Wundt
● Physiology (study of human body) + Philosophy (theories, ideologies) = Psychology
Old Practices
● Trephination (also known as trepanning) → put a hole into a person’s skull to release
evil spirits
● Ancient Egyptians
○ Believed in Ka, who was said to live in a person’s head
○ 7 Ka’s, which controlled each other
■ Stopped at 7 due to it being a holy number
○ Thought they could see the Ka’s in someone’s eyes, when it was really their own
reflection
● Ancient Greeks
○ Plato → believed that mind and body were 2 separate entities
○ Aristotle → believed that mind and body were 1 unit
○ Hippocrates → considered the father of modern day medicine
■ Body contains 4 vital fluids called humors
● Blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile
● Too much of one may cause adverse effects
■ Blood-letting: cutting the body to release “harmful” blood
● Middle Ages
○ Major setback in psychology as they believed the cause behind most issues was
possession
■ Believed that you could be possessed from someone who could potentially
be possessed
● 1600s to 1700s
○ Pseudoscience became popular
■ Phrenology → study of bumps on the head to determine intelligence,
morals, etc.
Schools of Thought
● Structuralism (Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener)
○ Stresses basic units of experience and the combinations at which they occur
