Explain How Have Historical Events And Technological Advances Contributed To The Early Development Of Psychology

How have historical events and technological advances contributed to the early development of psychology?

History affects many aspects of our lives. We depend upon the knowledge gained from previous research and conclusions in order to survive and to develop in different ways. Psychology is continuously evolving and has faced a lot of different views and implications surrounding it over time. Since Psychology concerns itself with the studying of peoples’ mental states and its relation with the behaviour committed, it makes sense why there is an abundance of different views and classifications of psychology. Especially since it branches into various fields of study and relations. Diverging from Philosophical schools of thought, it wasn’t

The start of Psychology is relatively arguable among people. Some view that modern psychology officially started when Wilhelm Wundt, a German Physiologist, had established an institutional laboratory in 1879 dedicated to the study of experimental psychology. Wundt is even referred to as the ‘father of psychology’. In addition to Wundt, another important figurehead of the time that set the basis for the development of modern psychology was William James. His work ‘The Principles of Psychology’ in 1980, according to Mishcel (2018), had “defined psychology as the science of mental life and provided insightful discussions of topics and challenges that anticipated much of the field’s research agenda a century later.” However, Psychology can theoretically be traced back to the time of ancient Greece. Psychology has evolved from many different areas and ideas to the one that is being studied nowadays, and various historical events and

From developing new techniques and treatments to adding on old ones, technology played a huge role in the change of many aspects of psychology. Technology advanced provided new means of dealing with and treating various forms of psychological disorders. What marked a new way of psychological assessment and was one of the most noticeable technological advancements was the Psychograph Phrenology machine back in 1905. It followed the ideas that the shape of one’s skull ultimately affects one’s traits and characteristics. Although phrenology ended up being disproved and rebuked as a theory, the idea of the psychograph machine was viewed as a huge progress when it came to early technological advancements. “Technological development can drive changes in science. For psychological science, the growth in technologies that monitor behaviour or facilitate human interactions will lead to powerful, novel tools to aid our research.” (Phelps, 2014). Advancements in technology also aid in making it easier and more efficient to gather information, conduct research or organizational studies, and even analysing brain scans and similar in order to get more accurate results on what exactly is needed to be done or what is needed to be improved upon. At the 2016 APS Annual Convention in Chicago, a panel of researchers had demonstrated how technology can be used to strengthen data collection,