history of psychology research paper topics

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50+ Topics for Psychology Research Papers

If you have ever had to write a paper for one of your psychology classes, then you probably know that choosing psychology paper topics can sometimes be tricky. Fortunately, there are plenty of great topics for psychology research papers to help you finish your assignment. Keep reading to learn more about how to find topics…

In this article

If you have ever had to write a paper for one of your psychology classes, then you probably know that choosing psychology paper topics can sometimes be tricky. Fortunately, there are plenty of great topics for psychology research papers to help you finish your assignment.

Keep reading to learn more about how to find topics for psychology research papers and find inspiration to help you get started.

How to Choose Topics for Psychology Research Papers

If you are going to write a psychology paper, the first thing you need to do is pick a good topic. This is often easier said than done.

In some cases, your instructor might assign you topics for psychology research papers, or at least narrow your range of options by providing a general subject area on which to focus your paper.

But in many cases, choosing the topic of your psychology paper is entirely up to you—and that’s where things can get tricky. How do you choose a great topic? What if you pick something too specific and struggle to find sources? Or what if you go too broad and end up biting off more than you can chew?

Following a few simple steps can make the topic selection process a lot easier.

Choose a General Subject

Part of what makes picking a topic for a psychology paper so difficult is how overwhelmed you are by the information you feel. Make it easier on yourself by restricting your options to at least a general topic area.

Narrow Down to a More Specific Topic

Once you’ve chosen a general area, you can then narrow topics for psychology research papers down to something much more specific and manageable.

For example, you might start by deciding that you want to write your paper on a topic within a specific branch of psychology . From there you might further narrow your focus down to a much narrower subject area within that branch

So, imagine that you’re writing a psychology research paper in your general psychology course. Your instructor has given you free rein to select any topic you please, so you begin by deciding to write your paper on a social psychology topic.

Now that you have a general idea, you drill down further and decide to research and write your paper on how prejudice forms and ways to minimize it.

General Topics for Psychology Research Papers

Because general psychology classes cover such a wide range of topics, you have a very large selection of subject ideas to choose from. Start by choosing a general topic, and then narrow your focus down so that you can fully cover the subject.

Some ideas include:

• An issue paper:  Tackle one of the current issues in psychology, such as parity in mental health care or involving psychologists in military interrogations.
• Profile a famous psychologist:  Select a well-known  psychologist  and then write a profile exploring his or her life, theories, and career.
• Explore a well-known psychology experiment:  Write a paper on a classic psychology study, such as the Milgram Obedience Experiment or the Stanford Prison Experiment.
• Write about a topic within personality psychology:   Personality psychology focuses on the traits and dispositions that contribute to overall personality. This is one of the largest topics within psychology so there are plenty of fascinating research topics from which to choose. Some specific topics that might interest you include whether personality can change, different theories of personality development and the  Big Five theory of personality.

Specific Topics for Psychology Research Papers

You might also want to choose topics for psychology research papers that are related to a specific branch of psychology. Some options that you might consider include:

Clinical Psychology

• How effective is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for treating specific phobias?
• What is the relationship between childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder?
• How do medication and psychotherapy compare in the treatment of depression?
• How does social media affect teen mental health?

Developmental Psychology

• How do parenting styles influence child development?
• What are the long-term effects of early childhood education?
• What role does play have in cognitive development?
• What effect does having siblings have on developmental outcomes?

Cognitive Psychology

• How does sleep deprivation influence the memory consolidation process?
• What impact does aging have on cognitive functioning?
• How does exercise impact working memory?
• Does learning a second language have cognitive benefits?

Social Psychology

• What effect does discrimination have on self-esteem?
• How does self-presentation online differ from self-presentation in real-world settings?
• How do leadership styles influence productivity in groups?

Okay, let’s just imagine that you’re having a bad case of writer’s block. You understand the basic approach for picking a good topic, but nothing seems to be catching your interest. You’re looking for some more inspiration to get you started.

Here are just a few great topics for psychology papers that you might want to consider:

Controversial Topics for Psychology Research Papers

The history of psychology is not always positive, and if you enjoy writing about controversial topics, psychology’s history is rich with material.

• The use of lobotomies to treat mental illness
• The history of mental asylums in the United States
• The use and effects of electroconvulsive therapy
• Conversion therapy and its damaging effects
• Attachment therapy
• Controversial experiments such as Milgram’s obedience experiment or Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment
• The debate over the nature of intelligence
• The impact of the eugenics movement on psychology
• Controversies surrounding the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Disorder Topics for Psychology Research Papers

Writing about the history, prevalence, and treatment of a specific mental condition can be an interesting topic for a psychology paper. Some options you might consider include:

• Eating disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Borderline personality disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Substance abuse and addictions
• Developmental disorders

Other Great Topics for Psychology Research Papers

Here is a sampling of topics that you might consider:

• How attitudes form
• How bullying affects children
• How people use nonverbal communication
• Factors that can affect prenatal development
• How media violence influences children’s behavior
• How parenting styles influence child development
• How does intrinsic motivation influence learning
• How does mindset impact academic achievement
• What factors influence IQ and is it possible to increase IQ
• Factors that influence self-actualization
• Is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs still relevant today
• How does perfectionism impact mental well-being
• Different theories of personality
• How different leadership styles influence the success of groups
• Profile a specific career in psychology

As you can see, your options for psychology paper topics are really only limited by your own imagination (and the specific guidelines issued by your instructor, of course). Spend some time thinking about topics that really interest you, then narrow your focus to hone in on a specific idea.

Finally, always be sure to run your chosen topic by your instructor. He or she may be able to offer suggestions that can help you during your research and make it much easier to write an outstanding psychology paper.

Editor-in-Chief

Kendra Cherry, MS.Ed., is a writer, editor, psychosocial therapist, and founder of Explore Psychology, an online psychology resource. She is a Senior Writer for Verywell Mind and is the author of the Everything Psychology Book (Adams Media).

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History of Psychology

Topics 2017

Topics for 2017

Here is a beginning list of ideas for paper topics.  

One of the best strategies at the beginning is to go to the reserve desk at the library and get the Hilgard book to look at.  For most of you, this should be one of your best early sources no matter what your topic is, so you might as well look at it as a beginning source of ideas as well.

You must establish a topic by Thursday, September 21.

I’ll be available to discuss various ideas with you, to help narrow it down once you are in a ballpark. As I explained in class, I want students to select topics in pairs, one on one side of an issue, the other on an apparently opposite side. This is a way to begin your task with a little bit of structure. Your actual topic will be MORE SPECIFIC than stated here. Taking a side of the issues as stated here is a beginning. Part of your project will be to narrow down and focus your topic.

Where there are obvious key words, I have put them in bold.

One very common type of topic is:  Why was person x so famous at one time and so forgotten later?  What does that tell us about change in psychology?   A variation on this theme is:  Why was person x so famous, then forgotten, then rediscovered?

Was Gestalt Psychology a failure or a success?    To begin, I have one paper that argues that Gestalt psychology was a success, and another that argues it was a failure.   Both were written in the same time period.  Obviously you have to know what Gestalt psychology is, immerse yourself in some of it, as well as the context for its promulgation.  By now, more articles on the subject have been written.  In light of where things stand today, how do we evaluate the articles that I alluded to at the beginning?

John B. Watson was the founder of behaviorism and one of the most important psychologists in our history.   Or –Behaviorism was so inevitable that Watson should NOT be regarded as its founder because it was developing anyway and would exist whether Watson had lived or not.

Behaviorism dominated psychology in the 1940’s and 1950’s.   Or — Behaviorism never dominated psychology as much as people say it did.

Cognitive psychology was a true revolution in psychology.   Or — Cognitive psychology was warmed over behaviorism with a few new words allowed.

Chomsky-inspired psycholinguistics changed psychology forever.   Or — The effects of Chomsky passed quickly and had a very small impact.

Developments in neuroscience have led to real progress in psychology.   Or — developments in neuroscience have been a distraction to psychology and have postponed attention to core problems.

Behaviorism was a necessary development in psychology;  Or — Behaviorism should have sold itself as a branch of biology and not psychology. The latter position has been developed by Trinity alum, Robert Epstein (also B. F. Skinner’s last student).

George Miller ushered in the future for Psychologists, time after time.   Or, George Miller was consistently wrong.

Münsterberg — Applied psychology and pure psychology: an important distinction. “Applied psychology” is not possible. “Applied psychology” is quite possible.

The arguments of Tolman vs. Hull and Spence within behaviorism were a very good example of the operation of “normal science” in the sense of Thomas Kuhn. The work of Tolman, as he argued against Hull and Spence sowed the seeds for a scientific revolution, as this concept was developed by Thomas Kuhn.

Titchener “sold” Wundt as an introspectionist — Was this was historically wrong?

Professional organizations emerge as disciplines develop.  At least two have been organized first here at Trinity.  What is their role?  Formation of the APA; Philosophers break off; experimentalists try to break off several times; the founding of the APS. The role of smaller, more specialized organizations like SRCD and the Psychonomic Society.  Interview faculty members as part of this.

Role of Journals – Mind, American Journal of Psychology (AJP  Hall). Hall was an organizer. Up to Ecological Psychology (see me) perhaps.

Clinical Psychology – Witmer; Prince; Putnam; Shakow; Boulder model; WW II (let the Hilgard book be your guide).

Neuroscience –What happened to Lashley?  There was a spate of research in the early to mid 20th century (from Lashley) that showed much complex activity learned by rats was not localized in any particular brain area .   By 1955, emphases changed and the experimental results in neuroscience favored localization of function.   Was this a change in fact or fashion?

Establishing labs – Hall vs. James. “Real” labs? Colleges and universities.  Establishing psychology as a scientific discipline and at particular institutions regarded the founding of laboratories.   What constituted a laboratory?   How much did these really matter?

Intelligence – Binet, Terman, WW I, WW II  — see the Hilgard book.

Language – Wundt, Blumenthal, Chomsky; Whorf-Sapir (Hartford origins), Roger Brown; What happened to syntax?

Trinity issues – Trinity psychology graduates, Edward S. Reed and Robert Epstein have published work in the history of psychology – You could examine the issues explored by either one.  (1)  Reed — In his philosophy (history) of science dissertation (it won an award), Reed argued that modern physics and modern psychology BOTH started with Descartes and that, therefore, psychology is not different from physics because psychology is young.   (2)  Epstein has argued that Watson made a mistake by trying to make behaviorism a part of psychology.  Epstein says that misunderstandings could have been avoided if Watson developed behaviorism as a branch of biology instead.

Psychology at Trinity — from 1903.  Interesting comparisons to Wesleyan.   What are just “accidents” of history?  Explore old catalogues and original text used here.

Developmental psych – from G. Stanley Hall?  Many themes could be developed within developmental psychology, with the important stress that G. Stanley Hall was central in some way to most of it.

Wesleyan .  Interesting comparisons: Charles H. Judd  (ended up at Chicago) vs. Edward L. Thorndike   (ended up at Columbia) vs. Walter Dearborn (ended up at Harvard)– All Wesleyan undergrads of about the same time. All ended up in Educational Psychology. But they got there by very different routes. Judd studied with Wundt; Thorndike with William James.  Dearborn was influenced both by Dodge at Wesleyan and by Cattell.

MacDougall vs. Watson – 1924 debate.

Lewin vs. Spence at Iowa.

The effects of adopting English as the language of science around the world — the case of psychology.

Extra special topic — Pierre Janet and ties to developmental psychology and to Piaget.  Janet is not all that well known, but there is a hard core group devoted to promoting him now to wider audiences.

History of Psych Syllabus

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Psychology Research Paper Topics

In the list of psychology research paper topics below we have attempted to capture psychology’s vast and evolving nature in the 16 categories and more than 100 topics.

100+ Psychology Research Paper Topics

Research Paper Topics in History of Psychology

• Psychology Before 1900
• Psychology in the 20th Century
• Psychology Into the 21st Century
• Women and Minorities in Psychology
• Conducting Research on the History of Psychology

Research Paper Topics in Research Methodology and Analytic Techniques in Psychology

• Statistical Techniques and Analysis
• Nonexperimental Research Methods
• Experimental Designs
• Single-Subject Designs
• Qualitative Research
• Ethics of Psychological Research

Neuroscience Research Paper Topics

• Biological Psychology
• Neurotransmission
• Traditional Neuroscience Research Methods
• Imaging Techniques for the Localization of Brain Function
• Drugs and Behavior
• Behavioral Pharmacology

Research Paper Topics in Sensory Processes and Perception

• Psychophysics
• States of Consciousness
• Somatosensory Systems

Research Paper Topics in Evolution and Behavior

• Evolutionary Psychology: The Impact of Evolution on Human Behavior
• Evolutionary Perspectives on Mate Preferences
• Animal Learning and Behavior
• Animal Cognition
• Comparative Psychology

Research Paper Topics in Basic Learning Processes

• Classical Conditioning
• Recent Trends in Classical Conditioning
• Taste-Aversion Learning
• Operant Conditioning
• Recent Trends in Operant Conditioning
• Social Learning
• Stimulus Equivalence

Research Paper Topics in  Individual Differences and Personality

• Psychometrics
• Testing and Assessment
• Personality Development
• Personality Psychology
• Intelligence
• Motivation and Emotion

Cognitive Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Memory: A Look Into the Past, Present, and Future
• Memory and Eyewitness Testimony
• Repressed and Recovered Memory
• Language and Language Development
• Thinking and Problem Solving
• Critical Thinking
• Artificial Intelligence

Developmental Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Prenatal Development and Infancy
• Childhood and Adolescence
• Adulthood and Aging: Perspectives on Adult Development
• Disabilities
• Death, Dying, and Bereavement
• Nature Versus Nurture
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Myth or Mental Disorder?

Social Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Social Cognition
• Attitudes and Attitude Change
• Group Processes
• Social Influence
• The Nature of Love
• Prejudice and Stereotyping
• Leadership: Theory and Practice

Research Paper Topics in Health, Stress, and Coping

• Health Psychology
• Stress and Stressors
• Coping Skills
• Positive Psychology
• Human Performance in Extreme Environments

Behavior Disorders and Clinical Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Abnormal Psychology
• Ethics of Therapists
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
• Anxiety Disorders
• Dissociative Disorders
• Personality Disorders
• Mood Disorders: An Overview
• Schizophrenia: Understanding a Split Mind
• Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders
• Psychotherapy
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
• Family Therapy and Therapy With Children
• Pharmacotherapy
• Forensic Clinical Psychology: Sensationalism and Reality
• Sexual Offending Behavior

Applied Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Human Factors
• Community Psychology
• Sport Psychology
• Environmental Psychology
• Psychology and the Law
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Organizational Behavior Management

Research Paper Topics in Human Diversity

• Gender and Sexual Orientation
• Multiple Axes of Human Diversity
• Psychology and Religion
• Cross-Cultural Psychology and Research
• International Psychology

Mental Health Research Paper Topics

• Agoraphobia
• Alcohol Problems
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa
• Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Classifying Mental Disorders: Nontraditional Approaches
• Conduct Disorder
• Dependent Personality
• Mental Retardation and Mental Health
• Mood Disorders
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Panic Attacks
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
• Psychopathology
• Schizophrenia
• Sexual Disorders
• Somatization and Hypochondriasis
• Substance Abuse

Assessment and Psychotherapy Research Paper Topics

• Assessment of Mental Health in Older Adults
• Behavior Therapy
• Behavioral Medicine
• Biofeedback
• Brain Scanning/Neuroimaging
• Child Sexual Abuse
• Classifying Mental Disorders
• Clinical Assessment
• Cognitive Therapy
• Community Mental Health
• Constructivist Psychotherapies
• Coping with Stress
• Couples Therapy
• Depression—Applied Aspects
• Domestic Violence Intervention
• Family Therapy
• Hypnosis and the Psychological Unconscious
• Meditation and the Relaxation Response
• Personality Assessment
• Premenstrual Syndrome Treatment Interventions
• Psychoanalysis
• Psychopharmacology
• Sexual Dysfunction Therapy
• Standards for Psychotherapy
• Support Groups

For example, the early years of the 20th century witnessed the development and popularization of the now classic “schools of psychology” such as structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, and behaviorism. World War II and the Korean War spurred the development of modern clinical psychology. In the middle of the 20th century, individual schools rose to prominence and tended to dominate psychological research and theorizing. These dominant schools often clashed with clinical psychology. For example, disagreements between behaviorists and clinicians, which have their roots in the 1940s and 1950s, still persist.

Toward the end of the 1960s, the nature of the field began to change, and the face of modern psychology was forever altered. First, Ulrich Neisser’s 1967 book, Cognitive Psychology, ushered in the “cognitive revolution” and put behaviorism on the decline. Technological advances in computer technology, which allowed researchers to simulate human thought and memory processes and to create images of neurological processes, played an inestimable role in modern psychology’s metamorphosis. Likewise, advances in social concern and action increased psychologists’ awareness of psychology’s diversity and its ability to make significant contributions in these areas. To be sure, the face of contemporary psychology was changing drastically. In fact, in 1992 former American Psychological Association (APA) president George A. Miller believed that psychology had become “an intellectual zoo” (p. 40). Clearly, that situation has not changed, as psychology is evolving in the 21st century.

Nowhere are psychology’s expansion and change seen more clearly than in the evolution of the APA. Founded in 1892 by G. Stanley Hall at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, the APA began with 31 charter members. Currently, there are over 60,000 APA members and 56 divisions with which these members and other interested psychologists can affiliate. The diversity of the APA divisions clearly reflects the changing face of contemporary psychology as well as represents wide subjects of psychological research. They include General Psychology (Division 1), the Study of Social Issues (Division 9), Clinical Psychology (Division 12), Pharmacology and Substance Abuse (Division 28), Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (Division 33), Media Psychology (Division 46), International Psychology (Division 52), and Trauma Psychology (Division 56). Clearly, psychology research topics in the 21st century continue to be diverse and evolving.

We believe that our choice of traditional and cutting-edge research paper topics reflects contemporary psychology’s diverse nature. For example, the “traditional”  research paper topics include the following:

The cutting-edge research paper topics include the following:

Browse examples of psychology research papers to find sample research paper on all topics in the list above. Whether the research paper deals with a traditional topic or a cutting-edge topic, you will find that it presents the materials in a decidedly contemporary manner. We hope that students will enjoy reading the research papers on different topics in psychology as much as we have enjoyed collecting them for you.

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The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Modern Psychology  

Edited by: wade e. pickren.

The history of psychology as a scholarly field has grown and diversified since the landmark volumes of E. G. Boring’s A History of Experimental Psychology (1929, 1950). It is now a site of scholarly inquiry that attracts practitioners from a range of disciplines. Psychological concepts and practices hold interest for people from all walks of life and from around the globe. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Modern Psychology reflects the range of such interest. The essays found here explore topics from everyday subjective experiences to deep connections among esoteric laboratory sciences and Enlightenment philosophies. Our contributors seek to answer difficult questions about how psychology developed, not only in the Western world, but across the globe. Human history has many examples of how people have used knowledge about themselves, others, and their world to try and change or improve their lives. How did these experiences help make possible a science and profession of psychology? In turn, how has scientific and professional psychology shaped or influenced the psychology of everyday life?

The reader will find in these essays key insights into the profound differences that have marked the growth of Western modernity—race, gender, sexuality among them—and what they reveal about selfhood, identity, and possibilities for human freedom and oppression. In our own time, we see the psychological, economic, and political legacy of past practices and the profound inequities that we now must address. We hope these histories will help readers find or create counter-histories that help us move toward a more equitable world.

Bibliographic Information

Affiliations are at time of print publication..

Wade E. Pickren earned his doctorate in psychology at the University of Florida, with concurrent training in the history of science. He was the Founding Historian and Director of Archives for the American Psychological Association (1998–2006). He served as editor of History of Psychology (2010–2015) and President of the Society for the History of Psychology (2010) and Society for General Psychology (2012). He is the co-editor of Review of General Psychology , the author/editor of eleven books and numerous peer-reviewed publications. Over the last 20 years, his scholarship has focused on knowledge development, certification, and use in historical/cultural context with special emphases on race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and, most recently, ecological impact.

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Aaron Beck and the History of Cognitive Therapy

A crisis in american psychiatry and the development of dsm-iii, a historical overview of psychological inquiry as a contested method, a historical view on attitudes and persuasion, a history of pavlovian science, a history of the concepts of harmony in chinese culture, alternative therapies: sociodrama, nude therapy, primal scream, psychedelic, anglo-american psychology in the cold war, animal cognition, animal communication, animal learning and cognition, attachment theory from ethology to the strange situation, biographies of a scientific subject: the intelligence test, boris ananiev’s theory of self-determination of human development, central european psychiatry: world war i and the interwar period, cognitive psychology during the cold war era, 1955–1975, cold war psychology in eastern europe, creating subjects, decolonial perspectives on psychology and development, front matter, publishing information, editorial board, about the oxford research encyclopedia of psychology, list of articles, directory of contributors.

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The Origins of Psychology

From Philosophical Beginnings to the Modern Day

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Adah Chung is a fact checker, writer, researcher, and occupational therapist. 

Verywell / Madelyn Goodnight

• Importance of History
• Structuralism

Functionalism

• Psychoanalysis
• Behaviorism

Cognitive Psychology

• Continued Growth
• Women in the Field

While the psychology of today reflects the discipline's rich and varied history, the origins of psychology differ significantly from contemporary conceptions of the field. In order to gain a full understanding of psychology, you need to spend some time exploring its history and origins.

How did psychology originate? When did it begin? Who were the people responsible for establishing psychology as a separate science?

Why Study Psychology History?

Contemporary psychology is interested in an enormous range of topics, looking at human behavior and mental process from the neural level to the cultural level. Psychologists study human issues that begin before birth and continue until death. By understanding the history of psychology, you can gain a better understanding of how these topics are studied and what we have learned thus far.

From its earliest beginnings, psychology has been faced with a number of questions. The initial question of how to define psychology helped establish it as a science separate from physiology and philosophy.

Additional questions that psychologists have faced throughout history include:

• Is psychology really a science?
• Should psychologists use research to influence public policy, education, and other aspects of human behavior?
• Should psychology focus on observable behaviors, or on internal mental processes?
• What research methods should be used to study psychology?
• Which topics and issues should psychology be concerned with?

Background: Philosophy and Physiology

While psychology did not emerge as a separate discipline until the late 1800s, its earliest history can be traced back to Egypt, Greece, China, Persia, and India. In the 17th century, the French philosopher Rene Descartes introduced the idea of dualism, which asserted that the mind and body were two entities that interact to form the human experience.

Many other issues still debated by psychologists today, such as the relative contributions of nature vs. nurture , are rooted in these early philosophical traditions.

So what makes psychology different from philosophy? While early philosophers relied on methods such as observation and logic, today’s psychologists utilize scientific methodologies to study and draw conclusions about human thought and behavior.

Physiology also contributed to psychology’s eventual emergence as a scientific discipline. Early physiological research on the brain and behavior had a dramatic impact on psychology, ultimately contributing to applying scientific methodologies to the study of human thought and behavior.

Psychology Emerges as a Separate Discipline

During the mid-1800s, a German physiologist named Wilhelm Wundt was using scientific research methods to investigate reaction times. His book, published in 1873, "Principles of Physiological Psychology," outlined many of the major connections between the science of physiology and the study of human thought and behavior.

He later opened the world’s first psychology lab in 1879 at the University of Leipzig. This event is generally considered the official start of psychology as a separate and distinct scientific discipline.

How did Wundt view psychology? He perceived the subject as the study of human consciousness and sought to apply experimental methods to studying internal mental processes. While his use of a process known as introspection is seen as unreliable and unscientific today, his early work in psychology helped set the stage for future experimental methods.

An estimated 17,000 students attended Wundt’s psychology lectures, and hundreds more pursued degrees in psychology and studied in his psychology lab. While his influence dwindled as the field matured, his impact on psychology is unquestionable.

Structuralism: Psychology’s First School of Thought

Edward B. Titchener , one of Wundt’s most famous students, would go on to found psychology’s first major school of thought . According to the structuralists , human consciousness could be broken down into smaller parts. Using a process known as introspection, trained subjects would attempt to break down their responses and reactions to the most basic sensation and perceptions.

While structuralism is notable for its emphasis on scientific research, its methods were unreliable, limiting, and subjective. When Titchener died in 1927, structuralism essentially died with him.

The Functionalism of William James

Psychology flourished in America during the mid- to late-1800s. William James emerged as one of the major American psychologists during this period and publishing his classic textbook, "The Principles of Psychology," established him as the father of American psychology.

His book soon became the standard text in psychology and his ideas eventually served as the basis for a new school of thought known as functionalism.

The focus of functionalism was about how behavior actually works to help people live in their environment. Functionalists utilized methods such as direct observation to study the human mind and behavior.

Both of these early schools of thought emphasized human consciousness, but their conceptions of it were significantly different. While the structuralists sought to break down mental processes into their smallest parts, the functionalists believed that consciousness existed as a more continuous and changing process.

While functionalism quickly faded as a separate school of thought, it would go on to influence later psychologists and theories of human thought and behavior.

The Emergence of Psychoanalysis

Up to this point, early psychology stressed conscious human experience. An Austrian physician named  Sigmund Freud  changed the face of psychology in a dramatic way, proposing a theory of personality that emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind.

Freud’s clinical work with patients suffering from hysteria and other ailments led him to believe that early childhood experiences and unconscious impulses contributed to the development of adult personality and behavior.

In his book  The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Freud detailed how these unconscious thoughts and impulses are expressed, often through slips of the tongue (known as  "Freudian slips" ) and  dreams . According to Freud, psychological disorders are the result of these unconscious conflicts becoming extreme or unbalanced.

The psychoanalytic theory proposed by Sigmund Freud had a tremendous impact on 20th-century thought, influencing the mental health field as well as other areas, including art, literature, and popular culture. While many of his ideas are viewed with skepticism today, his influence on psychology is undeniable.

The Rise of Behaviorism

Psychology changed dramatically during the early 20th century as another school of thought known as  behaviorism  rose to dominance. Behaviorism was a major change from previous theoretical perspectives, rejecting the emphasis on both the  conscious and unconscious mind . Instead, behaviorism strove to make psychology a more scientific discipline by focusing purely on observable behavior.

Behaviorism had its earliest start with the work of a Russian physiologist named  Ivan Pavlov . Pavlov's research on the digestive systems of dogs led to his discovery of the  classical conditioning  process, which proposed that behaviors could be learned via conditioned associations.

Pavlov demonstrated that this learning process could be used to make an association between a neutral environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

An American psychologist named  John B. Watson  soon became one of the strongest advocates of behaviorism. Initially outlining the basic principles of this new school of thought in his 1913 paper  Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It , Watson later went on to offer a definition in his classic book "Behaviorism "  (1924), writing:

"Behaviorism...holds that the subject matter of human psychology  is the behavior of the human being.  Behaviorism claims that consciousness is neither a definite nor a usable concept."

John B. Watson

The behaviorist, who has been trained always as an experimentalist, holds further that belief in the existence of consciousness goes back to the ancient days of superstition and magic.

The impact of behaviorism was enormous, and this school of thought continued to dominate for the next 50 years. Psychologist,  B.F. Skinner  furthered the behaviorist perspective with his concept of  operant conditioning , which demonstrated the effect of punishment and reinforcement on behavior.

While behaviorism eventually lost its dominant grip on psychology, the basic principles of behavioral psychology are still widely in use today.

Therapeutic techniques such as  behavior analysis , behavioral modification, and token economies are often utilized to help children learn new skills and overcome maladaptive behaviors, while conditioning is used in many situations ranging from parenting to education.

The Focus on Human Potential

While the first half of the 20th century was dominated by psychoanalysis and behaviorism, a new school of thought known as humanistic psychology emerged during the second half of the century. Often referred to as the "third force" in psychology, this theoretical perspective emphasized conscious experiences.

American psychologist  Carl Rogers  is often considered to be one of the founders of this school of thought. While psychoanalysts looked at unconscious impulses and behaviorists focused on environmental causes, Rogers believed strongly in the power of free will and self-determination.

Carl Rogers

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.

Psychologist  Abraham Maslow  also contributed to humanistic psychology with his famous hierarchy of needs  theory of human motivation. This theory suggests that people are motivated by increasingly complex needs. Once the most basic needs are fulfilled, people become motivated to pursue higher-level needs.

During the 1950s and 1960s, a movement known as the cognitive revolution began to take hold in psychology. During this time, cognitive psychology began to replace psychoanalysis and behaviorism as the dominant approach to the study of psychology. Psychologists were still interested in looking at observable behaviors, but they were also concerned with what was going on inside the mind. 

Since that time, cognitive psychology has remained a dominant area of psychology as researchers continue to study things such as perception, memory, decision-making, problem-solving, intelligence, and language.

The introduction of brain imaging tools such as MRI and PET scans have helped improve the ability of researchers to more closely study the inner workings of the human brain.

Psychology Continues to Grow

As you have seen in this brief overview of psychology’s history, this discipline has seen dramatic growth and change since its official beginnings in Wundt’s lab. The story certainly does not end here.

Psychology has continued to evolve since 1960 and new ideas and  perspectives  have been introduced. Recent research in psychology looks at many aspects of the human experience, from the biological influences on behavior on the impact of social and cultural factors.

Today, the majority of psychologists do not identify themselves with a single school of thought. Instead, they often focus on a particular specialty area or perspective, often drawing on ideas from a range of theoretical backgrounds. This eclectic approach has contributed new ideas and theories that will continue to shape psychology for years to come.

Women in Psychology History

As you read through any history of psychology, you might be particularly struck by the fact that such texts seem to center almost entirely on the theories and contributions of men. This is not because women had no interest in the field of psychology but is largely due to the fact that women were excluded from pursuing academic training and practice during the early years of the field.

A number of  women made important contributions to the early history of psychology, although their work is sometimes overlooked. 

A few pioneering women psychologists included:

• Mary Whiton Calkins , who rightfully earned a doctorate from Harvard, although the school refused to grant her degree because she was a woman. She studied with major thinkers of the day like William James, Josiah Royce, and Hugo Munsterberg. Despite the obstacles she faced, she became the American Psychological Association's first woman president.
• Anna Freud , who made important contributions to the field of psychoanalysis. She described many of the defense mechanisms and is known as the founder of child psychoanalysis. She also had an influence on other psychologists, including Erik Erikson.
• Mary Ainsworth , who was a developmental psychologist, made important contributions to our understanding of attachment . She developed a technique for studying child and caregiver attachments known as the "Strange Situation" assessment.

A Word From Verywell

In order to understand how psychology became the science that it is today, it is important to learn more about some of the historical events that have influenced its development.

While some of the theories that emerged during the earliest years of psychology may now be viewed as simplistic, outdated, or incorrect, these influences shaped the direction of the field and helped us form a greater understanding of the human mind and behavior.

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Patanella D. Titchener, Edward Bradford . In: Goldstein S, Naglieri JA, eds. Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development . Boston: Springer; 2011. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9

De Sousa A. Freudian theory and consciousness: A conceptual analysis .  Mens Sana Monogr . 2011;9(1):210-217. doi:10.4103/0973-1229.77437

Wolpe J, Plaud JJ. Pavlov's contributions to behavior therapy. The obvious and not so obvious .  Am Psychol . 1997;52(9):966-972. doi:10.1037//0003-066x.52.9.966

Staddon JE, Cerutti DT. Operant Conditioning .  Annu Rev Psychol . 2003;54:115-144. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145124

Koole SL, Schlinkert C, Maldei T, Baumann N. Becoming who you are: An integrative review of self-determination theory and personality systems interactions theory .  J Pers . 2019;87(1):15-36. doi:10.1111/jopy.12380

Block M. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs . In: Goldstein S, Naglieri JA, eds. Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development . Springer; 2011. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9

Russo NF, Denmark FL. Contributions of women to psychology . Ann Rev Psychol . 1987;38:279-298. doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.38.020187.001431

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By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Modern Psychology

Contemporary psychology is characterized by complexity of ideas, multiple modes of investigation, and an incredible diversity of topics. The history of psychology provides us with the necessary foundation for understanding our current science and profession, while also revealing alternative paths and suggesting new directions. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Psychology addresses multiple facets of the historical development of psychology. Included are the range of theory, methods, and tools that have guided the emergence of the scientific discipline of psychology gradually as it emerged in the last third of the 19th century. The in-depth scholarly articles cover topics and are written by authors drawn from around the world, yielding insights and understanding from multiple cultural and intellectual traditions. All of the articles appear online as part of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology .

Volume Editor

Wade Pickren, Independent Scholar

Associate Editors

  Peter Hegarty , University of Surrey

  Cheryl Logan , The University of North Carolina, Greensboro

  Wahbie Long , University of Cape Town

  Petteri Pietikainen , University of Oulu

  Alexandra Rutherford , York University

Historiography: Metatheoretical Approaches to the History of Psychology

Diverse Cultures, Diverse Origins

Methods and Measurement in the History of Psychology

Foundations of Scientific Psychology

Selves and Subjectivities

Minds, Bodies, Brains

Development

Cognitivism

The Person in Psychology

Order and Disorder in Psychological Functioning

Practices of Psychology

Non-Human Animals and the History of Psychology

Spatial and Material Culture of Psychology

Histories of Indigenous and Post-Colonial Psychologies

Psychology and the Political

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date: 03 November 2024

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