History of psychology (Essay Sample)

History of Psychology Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Details Submission Date History of Psychology Psychology is an old discipline that has grown significantly, starting with scholars developing hypotheses and submitting them for either approval or disapproval. Psychology traces back to the 17th century when scholars developed theories to explain the workings of the mind about human behavior. However, the development of psychology as an academic discipline that involved experiments dates back to the 19th century. The first branches of psychology were the structuralism and functionalist school of thought. The protagonist of the structuralism school of thought was Edward B. Titchener, who focused on how the brain processes thoughts and sensations (Wundt et al., 2022). On the other hand, William James was the proponent of the functionalist psychological argument, positing that the mind's primary role is to help an individual adapt to their physical environment. The structuralism school of thought's primary focus is to conduct psychological experiments on the brain's structure. Wilhelm Wundt first introduced the idea of structuralism before Titchener adopted and developed it. Titchener believed it was possible to understand a person’s conscious experiences through analyzing their sensations, components of their thought, and how they process emotions (Wundt et al., 2022). Through Titchener’s experiments, he discovered the primary tests of sweet, bitter, sour, and salty (Wundt et al., 2022). He exposed the participants to different substances, and they reacted immediately to the feelings that accrued. Through the work of Titchener through structuralism, the world discovered that it is possible to study the mind and behavior in a controlled laboratory setting. On the other, William James was one of the scholars who contributed heavily to psychology. James developed the functionalist school of thought that borrowed heavily from Darwin's theory of evolution, which argued that species adapt to their environment. James seconded Darwin's argument that for a species to thrive anywhere, it must adjust its behavior and devise a mechanism for survival and reproduction (Segal, 2021). In his argument, James focused on the role of psychology in understanding the role of human behavior in their day-to-day endeavors. Functionalism focuses on studying the activities of the mind and how they contribute to an organism adjusting to fit in a new environment. James believed the mind is a powerful tool that helps people adjust their external behaviors. James criticized the argument presented by structuralism that there are different parts of consciousness. James believed that consciousness is a changing concept that works uniquely for everyone (Segal, 2021). The functionalist school of thought argues that humans can transform their thinking by changing their attitudes toward life and thriving in any social environment. It is clear from the argument above that ...