Famous Psychologists Of Our Time

Although psychology can be traced back around 2,400 years ago to the ancient Greek philosophers, psychology as we know it today, is only around 130 years old.

In this article we shall look at some of the key figures throughout the history of psychology, and the different “schools” of psychology which came as a result of their viewpoints and assumptions.

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) - Structuralism

The early beginnings of modern day psychology are generally associated with the German scientist Wilhelm Wundt, who in 1879, founded the first psychological research laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany.

Wundt was originally trained in physiology (the functions of the body), but later found he was more interested in how the various sensations associated with our sensory organs, combine to produce what we know and experience as consciousness.

For example, Wundt believed that we can understand how we are able to visually experience something, by examining the structure of sensations which make up vision.

The Structure Of Vision

From his studies on vision, Wundt suggested that there are three ways in which we see things. Or as Wundt would say, three “elemental experiences” of sensory perception.

1 - Hue (colour)

When we look at something we can distinguish different colours from each other. For example, black text on a white background.

2 - Brightness

The objects we see have different levels of brightness, thus dark text can be distinguished from light text.

3 - Saturation

The third way in which we see (visually experience) things is by how “rich” a certain colour is, or how “saturated” it is with colour.

The Combination Of Sensations

Wundt believed that combined together, each of these “elemental sensations” allows us to visually experience something.

On a larger scale, all of the sensations we experience (e.g. sight, touch, taste, smell & hearing) give us consciousness.

This way of looking at consciousness is known as introspection, because rather than looking at the whole, you look at its most basic components.

For example, if I wanted to understand what a cup of tea is, I would break it down into: a cup, hot water, a teabag and some milk. All of these components put together, form a cup of tea.

William James (1842-1910) - Functionalism

Following on from William Wundt’s research was another influential figure in the history of psychology, William James.

Like Wundt, James also had a keen interest in physiology and founded a psychological research laboratory at Harvard University.

Later in his career, James published the first psychology textbook in the United States, entitled “The Principles Of Psychology”. You can read both volumes of this book, by “clicking here“.

However whereas Wundt was interested in the structure of consciousness, James believed psychology should be focused on examining how things worked, how things functioned.

So instead of looking at consciousness by examining the sensations associated with our sensory organs, James would study how things like thinking and memory worked together to produce consciousness.

In other words, he would study what something does, rather than what makes that thing possible in the first place.

Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) – Gestalt Psychology

Another psychologist who disagreed with Wundt’s views was a fellow countryman named Max Wertheimer.

Wertheimer thought that placing the greatest importance on elemental sensations as the building blocks of perception was incorrect, as he believed that something is more than just the sum of its parts.

He illustrated this point by saying that even though you can change the notes of a melody by playing it in a different key, the melody (the gestalt) still remains the same.

His ideas subsequently lead to the formation of “Gestalt Psychology” (in English, “gestalt” means “pattern”, “configuration” or “organised whole”).

Perception Of Motion

Another way to understand this would be to think of a film, or something you recently watched on TV. The moving images you see on the screen are not actually moving. They are a series of rapidly flashing still images which appear as though they are moving.

This perception of movement can be changed by flashing those images slower (slow motion), or by speeding them up (fast forward). 

Therefore what we see is more than just a result of a series of still images, but rather a result of the pattern (gestalt) in which they are displayed.

This is why Wertheimer thought Wundt’s view of psychology was incorrect, because even though you can change the components of something, you can still get the same gestalt (organised whole).

Thus Gestalt psychology proposes that the way in which we are presented with stimuli has a big influence on how we think and perceive the world around us.

John B. Watson (1878-1958) - Behaviourism

Unlike William James who described psychology as “the mental science of life“, John B. Watson believed psychology was not a mental science at all because the “mind” cannot be studied by science.

Only you can know exactly what is going on in your mind, and therefore whatever conclusions we come to about the mind of another person is nothing more than an educated best guess.

So instead of studying the mind itself (consciousness), Watson proposed that psychology should focus on trying to understand behaviour.

Watson’s lack of enthusiasm for studying the mind resulted in much criticism from his peers, with some even going so far as to say he didn’t believe consciousness actually existed.

Today Watson’s views are regarded as rather extreme, and are referred to as “radical behaviourism”, a discipline of psychology that doesn’t consider consciousness to be an important factor.

However despite these misgivings, some psychologists became heavily influenced by Watson’s views. One such psychologist was B. F. Skinner, who studied behaviour and learning.

Note : There may be truth behind  the ideas of radical behaviourism.  In some cases, such as with fear responses, we often react to things automatically and without thinking about them.

It seems as though the more we use the primitive parts of our brain (e.g. during sex, violence, food etc.) the less consciousness becomes a significant (or controlling) factor in how we behave.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) - Psychoanalysis

One of the most famous psychologists of all time, Sigmund Freud is recognised as the founder of psychoanalysis.

Initially trained as a medical doctor, Freud began his early work by observing his patients. He concluded that in a large number of cases there was nothing physically wrong with the patient, even though they had been diagnosed with a particular disease or condition.

As a result, he began to believe that the reason people became sick was because of some psychological problem they were having. In other words, he believed it was their mind, not their body, which caused the disease.

Note : Work done by Bruce Lipton suggests that our thoughts and emotions can indeed make us sick.

The Unconscious Mind

Freud is best known for proposing the idea of the “unconscious mind”, where he believed painful experiences were stored (repressed) to protect the ego (the centre of self, you).

Given enough time, these repressed emotional memories would eventually stress the body to the point where those memories would physically manifest themselves in the body as disease.

Therefore by working with people to help them overcome problems in their unconscious mind, Freud believed they could overcome their condition.

Note : It is known that stress can have a negative impact on our health and contribute to disease.  But not all disease is due to repressed emotions.

Summary

The first psychological laboratory was founded in 1879 by Wilhelm Wundt, who wanted to study consciousness by looking its structure.

He believed that consciousness was best understood by breaking down mental processes into their most basic components.

For example, he believed vision could be broken down into the sensations of hue, brightness and saturation. The relationship of these sensations, then allows us to visually experience something.

On a larger scale, the relationship between all our senses combined (e.g. touch, taste, vision, hearing & smell) gives us consciousness.

William James

William James is associated with functionalism, which focuses on what the purpose of our consciousness and behaviour is, rather than the things which make it up.

Max Wertheimer

Max Wertheimer believed the patterns of sensations we experience and not the structure of those sensations, is what determines how we perceive something.

For example, a melody played in a different key still retains the same melody, even though the notes are different.

John B. Watson

Watson said you can’t study the mind with science, and so the best way to study it is indirectly by studying behaviour.

Sigmund Freud

Freud believed that painful life experiences are repressed in the unconscious mind, where they can later physically manifest themselves as disease in the body.