PSY 3950 - History of Psychology

Goals: To provide information that will allow the student to place modern psychology in historical perspective and thus to see it as a dynamic, evolving body of information that is subject to emotional and societal factors and is often characterized by fads and fashions.

Content: Early Greek philosophy; after Aristotle: a search for the good life; beginnings of modern psychology; empiricism, associationism, materialism, and positivism; rationalism, romanticism, and existentialism, early developments in physiology and the rise of experimental psychology; structuralism: psychology’s first school; the Darwinian influence; functionalism; behaviorism, neobehaviorism; Gestalt psychology; early treatment of the mentally ill and the events leading to the development of psychoanalysis; psychoanalysis; third force psychology; and psychology today.

Prerequisite: PSY 1330 or equivalent.

Credits: 4 credits