Essay on History of Psychology

Although psychology has been studied under the faculty of philosophy, since the ancient time, it has its own brief history as a scientific discipline. Firstly, the contemporary foundations of psychology trace back to when the renowned Wilhelm Wundt created the first psychology laboratory in 1879 (Rieber & Robinson, 2001). Beginning from this time, the understanding and interpretation of psychology have evolved to what the modern day scholars perceive from a scientific perspective. This being said, the primary intent of this essay is to offer an honest discussion on the approach to psychology as a scientific discipline, as explained by my interviewee, Dr. Wales, my undergraduate school professor at California State University.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

While the definitions of psychology have evolved over time, Dr. Wales maintains that psychology is a scientific discipline, and therefore, defines it as the study of the human mind and how it functions, concerning behavior. Citing Wundts definition of psychology, he further contends that it is through the study of psychology, that we can investigate the facts related to consciousness. After delineating psychology as the study of human behavior, Dr. Wales points out that the scientific approach of psychology can be understood from two different perspectives; the cognitive and behaviorist approach, which both have different psychological assumptions. For instance, the behaviorist approach emphasizes on both the scientific and objective methods of investigation. In this regard, various underlying assumptions are primarily made in the behaviorist approach. For example, according to this approach, the assumption that psychology should be seen as a science is made. This means that any psychological theories ought to be supported by empirical data, which is obtained through careful observation and measurement of behavior. Another assumption made in the behaviorist approach is that all behaviors that we uphold are learned from the environment. It is therefore assumed that our mind is usually tabula rasa, or rather in a blank state when we are born (O'Boyle, 2006). More commonly, however, the environment we live in, influences our behavior to the extent that any inherited or innate factors can become excluded.

The cognitive approach, on the other hand, studies the human mind as an information processor. This includes perception, language, consciousness, memory, and attention, among many others. Similar to the behaviorism; the cognitive approach makes several assumptions regarding psychology as a science of personalities. The very first basic assumption made in this method alludes that the mental processes lie between stimulus and response. Therefore, our behavior is perceived as a series of responses to the external stimulus. Besides, another assumption made in this approach is that the human mind operates in a similar way with the computer, since it has the ability to encode, store and output data. In the same vein, the mind is assumed to have the capacity to manipulate and organize any information that it obtains from the surrounding environment.

According to Dr. Wales, psychology, as a scientific discipline, has various methodologies which are employed in the investigation of various psychological subjects of interest. Some of the key methodologies which are commonly applied by the modern day psychologists to describe different events or behavior include correlational, and experimental methodologies. Under the correlational methodology, psychologists may use laboratory observation, case studies and surveys to investigate various subjects of interest. On the other hand, the experimental methodologies involve the use of both human participants and animal subjects to study various subject topics such as memory, cognition, sensation, and learning, among others.

While both the current and ancient psychological scholars show significant differences in their concern for the primary subject matters in psychology, Dr. Wales, my interviewee believes in Wundts perspective of the key psychological subject matters. He, therefore, believes that psychology, as a scientific discipline, is substantiated by the discovery of the elements relating to consciousness as well as how these elements individually relate to one another. Also, having delineated psychology as an evolving science, Dr. Waless system of thought is construed as open. In his affirmation, he believes that the science underlying psychology is flexible enough and that it can be interpreted and perceived in numerous ways by different scholars.

With regard to time, it is evident that Dr. Waless system of thought is not time bound. This is because, as a scholar and psychologist, he bases most of his psychoanalytic explanations to medieval psychologists such as John B. Watson and Wilhelm Wundt. In the same vein, he believes in change and evolution of science, an aspect which is extensively evidenced by the fact that he borrows a lot of his modern day understanding of psychology from philosophers such as Rene Descartes and Aristotle.

As a firm believer of psychology as an evolving scientific discipline, Dr. Wales incorporates observation as a fundamental methodology that determines the diverse psychological approaches taken by different scholars. In this regard, he considers himself worthy of a free person who despite the fact that he borrows various psychological concepts from the traditional methods, is a firm believer of change and the different theoretical perspectives held by modern day psychologists. For this reason, his system of psychological thought is perceived from a libertarian point of view.

References

O'Boyle, C. G. (2006). History of psychology: A cultural perspective. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Rieber, R. W., & Robinson, D. K. (2001). Wilhelm Wundt in history: The making of a scientific psychology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.