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History of Psychology I
The theory of consciousness can be traced to the Indus valley civilisation (6,000-1,500 BC) The Vedas date from about 1,500 BC. Upanishads, dating from 600 BC, describe the Vedanta Philosophy and provide the theoretical foundations of Jnana Yoga which are more relevant The Bhagavat Gita describes the four Yogas: Bhakthi, Jnana, Karma and Raja Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a Greek Naturalist and Philosopher, a student of Plato (424/423-348/347 BC), who focused on: emotion; learning; memory; motivation; perception; personality At least five personality inventories are based on the Triguna theory (Rajas, Satwa and Tamas) of Kapila (Sankhya, 6 BC) The first invocatory stanza of Ashtangahridaya, the main Ayurveda text from 4 AD, describes how emotions lead to both physical and mental diseases

History of Psychology II

Rene Descartes (1596-1650), after Plato (424/423-348/347 BC), expanded on the concept of dualism John Locke (1632-1704) introduced tabula rasa (blank slate), arguing that knowledge should be gained through observation Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) established Psychology as an independent discipline, earning him the title Father of Modern Psychology, and developed the first laboratory for psychological investigation in 1879 at the University of Leipzig, Germany

History of Psychology III

Edward Titchener (1867-1927) introduced structuralism William James (18421910) introduced functionalism Claimed that searching for building blocks was wasting time Focused on a stream of consciousness Ivan Pavlov (18491936) introduced classical conditioning

History of Psychology IV
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), introducing psychoanalysis, focused on unconscious processes influencing behaviour Proposed a structure for personality: - Id (Pleasure principle); Ego (Reality); Superego (Morality) - Levels of awareness: Conscious; Unconscious; Preconscious John Watson (1878-1958) introduced behaviourism, the study of observable behaviour He said that given a dozen healthy children he could make them fit for any profession that he chose

History of Psychology V

Narendra Nath Sen Gupta (1889-1944) was a Harvard-trained Indian Psychologist, Philosopher and Professor who is generally regarded as the Father of Modern Psychology in India. In 1916 he established the first independent department of psychology in India, the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Calcutta. Also helped to establish the Section of Psychology and Educational Science at the Indian Science Congress Association in 1923. Founder of the Indian Psychological Association and the founding Editor of the first psychology journal in India, Indian Journal of Psychology

History of Psychology VI
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) focused on child development and, in 1955, created the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology Indra Sen (1903-1994) introduced Integral Psychology to describe observations contained in Sri Aurobindos Yoga psychology and philosophy B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) argued, when introducing operant conditioning, that responses leading to positive outcomes are repeated while those leading to negative outcomes are not

History of Psychology VII

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) and Carl Rogers (1902-1987) focused on the unique qualities of humans including freedom and personal growth. Maslows theory of self-actualisation and transcendental self-actualisation established a link with Indian theories: ancient Indian scriptures (Hindu; Buddhist; Jain) emphasise self-actualisation, Samadhi and nirvana. Maslows theory of meta-motivation is very similar to Nishkama Karma outlined in the Gita Carl Rogers developed clientcentred therapy Albert Bandura (1925-) argued that cognitions and social situations influence learning with humans as active agents

Aspects of Psychology
Cognitive Psychology: The dominant aspect of Modern Psychology which focuses on perception, memory and learning from an information processing perspective Biological Psychology: Focuses on the nervous systems (including the brain), and the actions of genetics and chemicals Developmental Psychology: Originally concerned with infants and children, it is the scientific study of systematic psychological, emotional and perceptual changes that occur in humans over their lifespan Personality Psychology: Focuses on appropriate ways to describe personality and individual differences Social Psychology: The scientific study of how peoples thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others

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