The Founders of Psychology

Many great philosophers, such as William Wundt, Edward B. Titchener, William James, Sigmund Freud, John B. Watson, and Carl Rodgers, have influenced the field of psychology over the years. Although different schools of psychology will continue to evolve over the years, these men laid the foundation for all psychological studies.

William Wundt

Often referred to as the “Father of Experimental Psychology” and the “Founder of Modern Psychology”, Wilhelm Wundt was a German philosopher and psychologist in the late 19th century.  Wundt’s approach to psychological experimentation revolutionized the study of psychology.  His experimentation moved studies from a philosophical aspect. He also inspired experimenting in laboratories around the world. To begin more psychological experiments, Wundt established the first laboratory specifically dedicated to experimental psychology at University of Leipzig.

The events of mental life (known through introspection) became the main tool of psychology experiments. In 1893, Wundt published the idea of ‘tridimensional feelings’. This means that feelings were classified as pleasant or unpleasant, tense or relaxed, excited or depressed. Feelings may be combined at times.  This method of classification did not stay part of experimentation in psychology pas the beginning of the 1920’s. However, his studies and experiments set the stage for behaviorism, and for his many students. 

William Wundt’s greatest addition to the study of psychology was proving that psychology was an experimental science. Throughout his studies, Wundt was estimated to have published 53,000 pages on psychology and experiments.

Edward B. Titchener

One of William Wundt’s students, Edward B. Titchener, took Wundt’s basic ides to the United States in the late 19th century. Titchener spent a lifetime studying Wundt’s theory of psychology, and created his own twist called structuralism. Structural psychology aimed  to define psychology by contrasting it with physics.

Titchener wanted to classify structures of the mind, just like the way a chemist classifies chemical parts. Just like hydrogen and oxygen being part of the structure of chemicals, sensations and thoughts were part of the structure of the mind. This idea was an attempt to describe the combinations of basic elements.

Being the original structural psychologist, Titchener did not follow certain psychological processes- leaving some gaps in this theory. Together, with the gaps in Wundt’s idea of introspection, the narrow ideas of structuralism failed in the wide field of psychology.