Published on 28 October 2021

Who is the Founder of Psychology?

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The way one deports oneself orates and saunters each and every facet depends upon or works on the basis of psychology. Psychology is the aspect that connects the mind to the body to which we counter-respond in our quotidian lives. 

According to the American psychological association report, psychology studies and understands the mind and behavior involving mental processes,  brain function, social pressures, and environmental factors.

Psychologists are the ones who understand their patient's mental states by studying their behaviors. As the psychology term is derived, the world revolves around it. In accordance with what is previously stated, let`s look at psychology and its discovery more precisely.

Everything Revolves Around Psychology? What is it?

Psychology is considered the scientific study of our mind or intellect and acquits or, in simple words, behavior and usually includes the conscious or unconscious aspects such as thoughts or how we feel or perceive things.

This mainly comprises several subfields, namely social behavior, cognitive process, sports, human development, etc., and are segregated into five main classifications that are; behavioral, psychodynamic, cognitive, biological, and humanistic.

All these components are developed to understand the internalized perspective of the human brain, i.e., the thought process, how we can come up with ideas, perseverance, etc. However, all these terms and conditions have been discovered by a personage. Who is he? Let`s enlighten ourselves. 

Frequently asked questions

Cognitive psychology is the breakdown of how individuals think and function with data. Cognitive development is a widely studied concept by Jean Piaget. It got famous as the cognitive stage theory.
Sigmund Freud was the founder of one of the branches of psychology known as psychoanalysis. He also introduced new theories that changed people's perceptions.
Psychology as a field of experimental study started in the year 1854 in Leipzig, Germany when Gustav Fechner created the first theory of judgments about sensory experiences made and how to experiment on them

History: Who Is The Founder Of Psychology?

No such distinct persona has involved themself in the discovery of psychology. Like every other invention and discovery, several such people are engaged in its emergences, such as William James, Sigmund Freud, John Bowlby, Kurt Lewin, and more.

However, the person who is significantly called the Father of psychology is Wilhelm Wundt, who gained great recognition for his work. Let`s walk in his shoes and learn more about his discovery. 

Wilhelm Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt is a well-known psychologist, born in Germany in 1832; his main goal was to study the consciousness of human behavior and conscious experience. He eagerly wanted to figure out how all the components of consciousness result in conscious experiences. To do so, he also unearths a process wherein one can discern their own conscious experiences, which he named “introspection.”

He was the first person to be well acknowledged for his discovery in psychology, mainly due to the formation of the “world’s first experimentation on psychology lab” in the year 1879 at the University of Leipzig, Germany, which sundered psychology from science and became a whole new concept of research.

According to Wikipedia, some of his successful and famous American students are G.stanley hall: The father of child and adult psychology, James McKeen Cattell: The first psychology professor in the united states and Edward Bradford Titchener, the developer of a theory of the mind called structuralism.

Unfortunately, because of the language difference, some of the theories of Wilhelm Wundt were misunderstood and led to misconceptions about his beliefs and theories. However, to know more about his observational experimentation, let`s have a deeper look at the theory of introspection. 

Theory Of Introspection

As previously said, this theory was mainly brought to light to learn about conscious human behavior in-depth. Thus, with the prospect of achieving that goal, he managed to create a setup that involved a keen observer who could readily look through the reaction.

An external stimulus that would help produce repeatably similar reactions or experiences that a particular person gained would make the reaction more pragmatic, allowing the trained observer to record the reaction that would aid in procuring results.

In this experimentation of introspection, Wundt`s main aim was to look into the reaction and conscious experiences that would come internally from the person and, thus, help gain more related knowledge.

Wundt would also indulge their students in psychology even more by teaching them significant experimentations to receive their students' reactions. Thus, this attempt to figure out the characteristics of the mind was also called Structuralism. Now that we know about Wilhelm and his theory of introspection, Let`s see how he came up with other ideologies.

Wilhelm Wundt, The Founder Of Structuralism

Wilhelm Wundt is considered the founder of the idea behind Structuralism. However, the more likely tends to call the concept voluntarism. Nonetheless, this concept of Structuralism was not discovered or invented by Wundt himself; instead was contrived by his student Edward Titchener and named the conception of Structuralism.

Even though the idea behind it was of Wundt, Edward completely structured it. The notion behind Wundt`s voluntarism was that the mind could be structured into conscious experiences by breaking it down into small parts and scrutinizing them.

However, Edward decided to revamp the ideology. According to his concern, conscious experiences cannot be easily administered and, thus, concentrate on quantitative measures. Now that we are well aware of the discovery and how these theories emerged, let`s see the contribution of Wundt.

Wilhelm Wundt's Contributions To Psychology

  • He established the laboratory of experimental psychology.
  • Wrote a book called “principles of philosophical psychology.”
  • Emerged the concept of introspection.
  • Brought in the idea of voluntarism. 

Impact Of Wilhelm Wundt Theories 

The invention of a psychology lab established psychology as a different field of study with its own methods and queries. Wilhelm Wundt's support of experimental psychology also set the stage for Behavior, and many of his practical techniques are still used today.

Wundt even had some students who became famous psychologists, including James Mckeem Cattel, Charles Spearman, G. Stanley Hall, Charles Judd, and  Edward Titchener.

Different Theories: Father Of Psychology

Psychology is not a smaller concept. Wherein there are many psychological inventions as time goes by. There are many psychologists who have invented various theories and worked on them for many years to help people going through different psychological problems.

John Bowlby

He invented the theory of attachment. Also known as the father of Attachment theory.

Sigmund Freud

Discovered the theory of psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud's ideas work established the theory of psychoanalysis as a significant school of thought in psychology.

Williams James

He gained recognition through his book “The Principles of Psychology” and is also called the Father of American psychology.

Kurt Lewin

He introduced scientific methods to study social behavior and is called the Father of social psychology.

Lightner Witmer 

Founded the first-ever journal of clinical psychology in the year of 1907. He is also known as the father of modern clinical psychology

Gordon Allport

He was the first person who studied personality psychology and is also called the Father of personality psychology.

Jean Piaget

The father of developmental psychology. His theory of cognitive development research taught us about children's intellectual growth.

Bottom Line From Practical Anxiety Solution

Wilhelm Wundt was not the only person referring to himself as a psychologist. Several people worked hard and discovered different theories about the human mind and behavior. 

Wundt also established psychology as a formal discipline other than biology and philosophy. We are very grateful because his contribution to our society found a new field for the study of psychology. 

Thus, these are the founding fathers of psychology, who not only discovered theories but guided us with a whole new concept that could help us gain knowledge in the field. Due to these psychologists, we can now detect and cure all the obstacles related to the mind, thoughts, and human behavior.