An essay on the background of experimental psychology and behaviourism

Abstract

Although ideas on human being' soul, sense, and mind could come back to Ancient Times in Philosophy, the foundation of ‘psychology’ in modern meaning began in the 19th century through the research of Wilhelm Wundt. Modern psychology founded by Wundt’s experimental studies based on experiment and observation. This essay started with a comprehensive debate on how philosophical ideas formed the modern notions and techniques in psychology. Then, it discussed some effective approaches in modern psychology before the foundation of experimental psychology and behaviourism. In the context of this study, the primary method based on a qualitative debate. A theoretical discussion and explanation way used to reveal the thematic ideas of the study. The primary motivation is to fill the literature gap, which covers the founder theoretical approaches on 'psychology', 'experimental psychology' and 'behaviourism'. The essay answered the question on how the modern psychological movements positioned to define ‘behaviourism’; this has been the most significant contribution of the study to the body of knowledge.

Keywords

• Perception
• Cognition
• Psychology
• Experimental Psychology
• Behaviourism

References

1. Adamson, R. (2013). Fichte. Miami: HardPress Publishing
2. Al, T. S. M. S. (2014). Averroes, Kant and the origins of the Enlightenment: Reason and revelation in Arab thought. London: I.B. Tauris
3. Andreas, B. G. (1972). Experimental psychology. New York: Wiley.
4. Ballard, S. (2001). Rudolf Otto and the synthesis of the rational and the non-rational in the idea of the holy: Some encounters in theory and practice. New York: Peter Lang.
5. Barnes, J. (2015). Pre-socratic philosophers. New York: Routledge.
6. Bettcher, T. M. (2008). Berkeley. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
7. Bower, G. S. (2010). David Hartley and James Mill. New York: Putnam.
8. Burns, R. M. (2006). Historiography. London: Routledge.

9. Cole, P. R. (2011). Herbart and Froebel: An attempt at synthesis. Lexington: bibliolife.
10. Copleston, F. (2003). A history of philosophy: Vol. 1. London: Continuum.
11. Della, R. M. (2008). Spinoza. New York: Routledge.
12. Dunkel, H. B. (1969). Herbart & education. New York: Random House.
13. Ebbinghaus, H. (1998). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. Bristol: Thoemmes Press.
14. Evans, E. G. S. (2017). Modern Educational Psychology: An Historical Introduction. London: Routledge.
15. Farrell, M. (2014). Historical and philosophical foundations of psychology. New York, NY: Cambridge Univ. Press.
16. Ferguson, H. (1983). Essays in experimental psychology. London: Macmillan.
17. Fisher, S. (2002). Revelatory positivism?: Barth's earliest theology and the Marburg School. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
18. Garrett, D. (2015). Hume. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge
19. Hackett, J. (1992). Medieval philosophers. Detroit, Mich: Gale Research Inc.
20. Hayek, F. A. (1999). The sensory order: An inquiry into the foundations of theoretical psychology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
21. Healy, A. F., Proctor, R. W., Weiner, I. B. (2013). Experimental psychology. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
22. Heffernan, T. M. (2015). Student's Guide to Studying Psychology. London: Taylor and Francis.
23. Hollingdale, R. J. (1985). Nietzsche. London: Ark Paperbacks.
24. Hull, C. L. (1951). Essentials of behavior. Westport: Greenwood Press.
25. Kantowitz, B. H., Elmes, D. G., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). Experimental psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
26. Kardas, E. (2014). History of Psychology: The Making of a Science. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
27. Lindworsky, J. (2016). Experimental psychology. New York: Psychology Press.
28. MacGuigan, F. J. (1978). Experimental psychology: A methodological approach. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
29. McBurney, D. (1990). Experimental psychology. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Pub. Co.
30. Ostaric, L. (2018). Interpreting Schelling: Critical essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
31. Perkins, F. (2010). Leibniz. London: Continuum International Pub. Group.
32. Piaget, J., Fraisse, P., & Reuchlin, M. (2014). Experimental Psychology Its Scope and Method: History and Method. London: Psychology Press.
33. Plant, R. (2013). Hegel. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
34. Rieber, R. (2013). Wilhelm Wundt and the Making of a Scientific Psychology. New York, NY: Springer.
35. Robins, S. (2020). The Routledge companion to philosophy of psychology. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge.
36. Shaffer, D. (2019). Developmental Psychology. Toronto: Cengage.
37. Sharan, A. K. (2003). Experimental psychology. New Delhi: Anmol Publicaitons.
38. Smith, J. L. (2000). The psychology of action. New York: St. Martin's Press.
39. Spellman, W. M. (1997). John Locke. New York: St. Martin's Press.
40. Wixted, J. T. (ed.) (2018). Stevens' handbook of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Volumes 1-5. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
41. Vial, T. M. (2013). Schleiermacher. London: T & T Clark.
42. Wilson, M. D. (2016). Descartes. London: Routledge
43. Woodworth, R. (1983). Experimental psychology. New York: Henry Holt.