Landmark Events in Psychology from 1878 - 1950

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Important Psychology-Related Events of the 19th Century

First American Ph.D. in Psychology

1878

G. Stanley Hall becomes the first American to earn a Ph.D. in psychology. He would eventually found the American Psychological Association.

Credit for this and all events in this diagram: https://www.verywellmind.com/timeline-of-modern-psychology-2795599

First experimental psych lab

1879

Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany dedicated to the study of structuralism. The event is considered the starting point of psychology as a separate science.

John Hopkins University opens lab

1883

G. Stanley Hall opens the first experimental psychology lab in the U.S. at John Hopkins University.

"On Memory" Published

1885

Herman Ebbinghaus publishes his seminal "Über das Gedächtnis" ("On Memory") in which he describes learning and memory experiments he conducted on himself.

Freud begins to offer therapy

1886

Sigmund Freud begins offering therapy to patients in Vienna, Austria.

U Penn introduces first professor of psychology

1888

James McKeen Cattell becomes the first professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. He would later publish "Mental Tests and Measurements" marking the advent of psychological assessment.

"Principles of Psychology" Published

1890

William James publishes "Principles of Psychology." Sir Francis Galton establishes correlation techniques to better understand the relationships between variables in intelligence studies.

American Psychology Association established

1892

G. Stanley Hall forms the American Psychological Association (APA), enlisting 42 members

First lab devoted to psychodiagnosis

1895

Alfred Binet forms the first psychology lab devoted to psychodiagnosis.

Law of Effect developed

1898

Edward Thorndike develops the Law of Effect.

Important Psychology-Related Events From 1900 to 1950

"Interpretation of Dreams" published by Freud

1900

Sigmund Freud publishes his landmark "Interpretation of Dreams."

British Psychological Society established.

1901

The British Psychological Society is established.

First woman president of APA

1905

Mary Whiton Calkins is elected the first woman president of the American Psychological Association. Alfred Binet introduces the intelligence test.

Pavlov publishes findings on classical conditioning

1906

Ivan Pavlov publishes his findings on classical conditioning.

"The Psychology of Dementia Praecox" Published

1907

Carl Jung publishes "The Psychology of Dementia Praecox."

"Animal Intelligence" published

1912

Edward Thorndike publishes "Animal Intelligence" which leads to the development of the theory of operant conditioning. Max Wertheimer publishes "Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement" which leads to the development of Gestalt psychology.

Analytical psychology introduced by Jung

1913

Carl Jung begins to depart from Freudian views and develops his own theories which he refers to as analytical psychology.

"Psychology as the Behaviorist Views" published

1913

John B. Watson publishes "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views" in which establishes the concept of behaviorism.

Freud publishes work on repression

1915

Freud publishes work on repression.

Research on classical conditioning of fear

1920

Watson and Rosalie Rayner publish research on classical conditioning of fear with their subject, Little Albert.

"The Moral Judgment of Children" published

1932

Jean Piaget becomes the foremost cognitive theorist with the publication of his work "The Moral Judgment of Children."

Rogers' client-centered therapy introduced

1942

Carl Rogers develop the practice of client-centered therapy which encourages respect and positive regard for patients.