Evolution of Psychology as Science, Research Paper Example

Psychology is a discipline that studies behavioral and mental characteristics of the person. What now is a complex science with various branches, such as comparative, clinical, developmental, social psychology, was considered to be a part of philosophy and became a separate discipline only at beginning of XIX century. The origins of psychology can be found in Greece, Egypt, and India. Various theories about separate nature of person’s mind and body were suggested. Though these ideas were expressed in philosophical form, the question about the role of human brain and its functions was raised. Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras highly contributed psychology of ancient times. Development of medieval Islamic world and progress in medicine marked a new stage of establishment of psychology as a separate field of studies. Human feelings, such as happiness, anger, sadness, were examined. Muslim scientists conducted various researches in social psychology, physiotherapy, neurosurgery, etc. As philosophy and theology in medieval Europe were interrelated, an interest in these sciences increased rapidly. “The central theme of medieval scholasticism, which had important implications for psychology, was the attempt to synthesize and reconcile the teachings of Christianity –the Bible and the writings of the Church Fathers – with the more secular knowledge that was believed to be contained in the classic writings.” (Kemp 3)

Scientific development as a result of Industrial revolution marked a new era in the development of psychology as a separate science. Induction method of Francis Bacon preconditioned experimental nature of the researches. Various laboratories were opened to test and investigate scientific problems. Wilhelm Wound is considered to be the father of modern psychology as he was the founder of the first laboratory devoted to this science in 1879. “Enrollment in his courses doubled about every 15 years, reaching a peak of 620 students in the summer of 1912[;] Wundt ended up sponsoring 186 Ph.D. dissertations, about a third of which apparently involved purely philosophical topics” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Since that time psychology acquires characteristics of a real science.

Various assumptions about human nature have been made from the theories of prominent psychologists. For instance, human aggression is one of the assumptions about human nature. Modern scientists identified that aggression was a genetic factor. Scarcity, some external factors that threaten life of the individual are considered to cause aggression among human beings. The most interesting fact is that Thomas Hobbes was the first person who identified this feature of human personality. According to this scientist, if people’s actions were not limited by the law and norms of morality, there would be “a war of every man against every man”. In his theory, Thomas Hobbes addresses people as egocentric and selfish personalities who seek only for satisfaction of their needs. This idea was also supported by Sigmund Freud who thought that “human beings are only concerned with the fulfillment of their own needs, and that they are aggressive by nature.” (Staub 90)  The only difference between assumptions of two scientists was that Freud supported the idea of human natural aggression, not the external factors that influence development of aggression among individuals. Konrad Lorenz identified that aggression was a common feature of not only human beings, but also animals. His research has shown that external factors had no influence over aggression. Therefore, assuming that human beings are part of the animal world it is logical that this theory can refer to people as well. In fact, conclusion about human aggression is based on the long series of research.

Human brain is the most complicated part of the body. Moreover, even modern equipment cannot guarantee accurate results in investigation of person’s temper, behavior, and reactions that drive person to act in one or another way. Therefore, different theories that contradict each other can be considered scientific. In fact, only those theories based on data collection, research, and experiments can eliminate opposing ones. The example discussed above shows how different ideas and assumptions changed over time. Thomas Hobbes had no necessary means to develop his theory. Though he has explored the same issue as Freud or Lorenz, he could not accurately identify the causes that drove people to act in certain way. Genetic factors are considered to be the real cause of human aggression as this idea is based on the recent data. This research is considered to be the most accurate and scientific. Nonetheless, it can still be refuted in future if more accurate data will appear in future. Those theories that contradict each other are considered to be true if there is no possibility to disprove any of them.

Modern psychology fundamentally differs form ancient. For instance, in medieval society this science was a part of philosophy and theology. Ancient physiology investigated human behavior only to support some other political or religious theories. Thus, all arguments were based on simple logics and guess. After scientific revolution, hypothesis was used as the starting point to conduct research. If ancient scientists used logical chain to come to certain conclusion, modern psychologists check the hypothesis to either prove or disprove it. Modern psychology is a science based on research, while ancient one was based on guess. “During the Scientific Revolution, concepts that were thought to be philosophical were fused with mathematical and scientific thoughts to come up with profound disciplines such as economics and early engineering.” (Learn Hub)

Establishment of psychology as a science was definitely a positive factor as it enabled rapid development of this discipline. More people were involved in various psychological investigations and tests. Human behavior and emotional patterns became direct subjects for future researches. Psychological principles were no longer found in works of just several people, but thousands of scientists devoted their lives to this discipline worldwide. Laboratories enabled researchers to conduct experiments to verify their assumptions. Finally, establishment of psychology as a separate discipline allowed scientists receive financial support from the government and investors.

Works Cited

Learn Hub. 2009. Brief History of Psychology. All about Psychology. May 20, 2009.<http://psychology.learnhub.com/lesson/3833-origins-of-psychology>

Kemp, S. 1990. Medieval Psychology. Greenwood Press. New York, p. 3.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2006. Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt. May 20, 2009. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wilhelm-wundt/>.

Staub, S. 1992. Psychology and Social Responsibility. NYU Press. New York, p. 90.