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experiments may date back as early as 1021; however, many of the most prominent
breakthroughs in psychology have happened, only recently, in the last 150 years or so.
In order to gain a proper understanding of how psychology got to where it is today it is
important to know a little about the roots of the academic discipline and the people that
devoted their lives to helping humankind gain a better understanding of how the mind
works.
The following is a timeline of historically significant contributions made to psychology
by some of the most influential people in the field:
Descartes' Distinction Between Mind and Body in 1649
In his written works The Description of the Human Body and Passions of the Soul, Rene
Descartes describes his famous theory of mind-body duality. He proposed that the
material body functions much like a machine and follows the laws of physics, whereas
the mind, which he equated with the soul, was an immaterial entity that did not follow the
laws of physics. Descartes also suggested that the mind was able to interact with the body
through the brain's pineal gland, which he often referred to as "the seat of the soul".
Though psychology did not emerge as a separate field of study until years later, many of
the topics that are still being debated in the field today, such as the argument of nature vs.
nurture, are rooted in the early philosophical conventions of Descartes.
The First Psychology Lab Established in 1875
Although William James is credited with establishing the first psychology lab in the
United States, it was Wilhelm Wundt who, in 1879, set up the first lab truly devoted to
original psychological research at Leipzig University in Germany.
stimulus of some significance. The neutral stimulus, in this case a dinner bell, can be
anything that does not evoke an overt behavioral response from the dog.
The significant stimulus must be something that is designed to illicit some kind of
observable behavioral response, such as a piece of meat that causes the dog to salivate.
By repeatedly pairing the two stimuli together, they become closely associated and the
animal will begin to illicit a behavioral response to the the unpaired neutral stimulus, an
effect Pavlov referred to as the "conditioned response."
Pavlov's research has had a strong influence on behaviorism and his methods of
conditioning have been utilized by other researchers, like John B. Watson, as a form of
learning. Pavlov also demonstrated techniques that could be used to study a subject's
reaction to the environment in an objective and scientific manner.
Skinner's Theory of Positive and Negative Reinforcement in 1938
Building on the work of Pavlov, B.F. Skinner illustrated how an animal's behavior can be
manipulated through positive and negative reinforcement, what he called "operant
conditioning."
Having been a prolific writer, Skinner published 21 books over his career and has had a
tremendous influence on modern psychological practices. His book Verbal Behavior is
still getting a lot of attention for its insightful analysis of human behavior and relevance
pertaining to experiments and observation in an applied setting.