Psychology as a science has developed over a long period of time, literally centuries. During this period, many individuals have had an impact on the development of psychology as a science. In this essay I am going to explore several scientists and describe their contributions to psychology. These scientists are considered to be some of the most important individuals in this field.
One of the scientists I consider to have a big impact on psychology is Wilhelm Wundt. He founded the school of structuralism. This concept evolved from the development of the scientific method of experimentation. Structuralism attempted to discover the nature of consciousness into separate parts, and to ultimately discover the structure of consciousness. Wundt held the first academic course in psychology in 1862, and set up the first experimental laboratory where he conducted a series of experiments to
The next scientist I will discuss is B.F. Skinner. Skinner went to Harvard to study psychology and always enjoyed observing behaviors of humans and animals. He became a behaviorist who studied observable behaviors pertaining to the process of learning. He worked in the lab of an experimental biologist and developed behavioral studies of rats. He then decided to design behavioral boxes to automatically reward certain behaviors, such as using depressing levers, buttons and so on. He developed the ideas of operant conditioning and shaping behavior, which is the rewarding of a partial behavior or random act that approaches the desired behavior. Skinners significance to psychology was that he helped individuals understand the power of conditioning.
The final scientist I will be discussing is Carl Rogers who is best known for his views about therapeutic relationship. These views revolutio
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