History of psychology
History of psychologyAcademics have always been interested in how the mind works and indeed psychology has existed in one form or another for many years, but other subjects, especially philosophy, have often overshadowed it. Often it was seen as not scientific and philosophical in the sense that there seemed to be no concrete answers within the subject. Now it is one of the most popular subjects to study and has a firm place within the sciences. It is interesting to consider how this formulation of psychology as a science arose and how this new psychology and the old psychology have been merged together. The aim of this essay is to consider Wundt and James's involvement in this transitional process between philosophy and psychology. The evidence presented should show that Wundt and James were extremely instructive and influential figures in the history of psychology.
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt, the son of an Evangelical pastor, was born near Manheim, Germany, on 16 August 1832. He was from an academic family with members who were scientists, professors, government officials and physicians. He was often inattentive in his own schooling and was a habitual daydreamer. He failed his first year of high school and was sent to Heidelberg to live with an aunt. Here he improved academically and graduated at age 19. He decided to embark on a career in medicine and indeed excelled in this area. His achievements lead him into the field of physiology and he decided to proceed into the academic side of this subject by becoming a lecturer.
As a lecturer at Heidelberg Wundt earned a very low salary so he began to teach courses privately. His first course in experimental physiology he taught in his own home and attracted only four students. Wundt wished to further his career by both private teaching and private studies. His studies at this time were connected with earlier work in the fields of physiology and astronomy however these studies also carried implications for a future science of psychology. It was in these scientific experiments that Wundt developed his ideas for a hybrid of philosophy and physiology, which would eventually become psychology.
He formulated two branches of psychology. The branch he is most famous for is experimental psychology. In this he took his experiences as a philosopher studying the mind and experiences in physiology studying the body and created a new area of science. He believed the mind could be studied in relation to the body and by controlled experimental conditions new hypotheses could be formulated and either supported or not in this new field. He did not believe however, that the experimental method would prove enough to provide a balanced view of the science of psychology. He also devised what he termed Volkerpsychologie (ethnic or folk psychology). This embraced especially the study of language, myth and custom.
Once he had devised these two new branches he began to actively pursue them. In the summer of 1862 Wundt offered a new course of lectures...
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