The 9 most famous psychologists in history

They are the founders of great psychological schools. Thinkers who have made fundamental scientific contributions and who have contributed to the development of human thought and knowledge. We are referring to the 9 most famous and important psychologists in the history of this discipline.

They are classic authors who have marked a before and after in Psychology. Its currents continue to be studied, are the subject of research and applied in the clinical setting. We bring you a few glimpses of the career of the most famous psychologists and their most transcendental contributions to this science.

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

This physiologist, psychologist and philosopher developed the first experimental psychology laboratoryin Leipzig (Germany) in 1879. Its celebrity is due to the fact that this event marked the beginning of a new period of Psychology: the scientific stage.

Wundt was the instigator of Structuralism. He had the concern to banish philosophical questions surrounding Psychology, because he believed that it should focus on studying what is measurable and the structure of the mind. He was interested in measuring mental processes and investigating sensations, ideas, attention and emotions.

William James (1842-1910)

In contrast to Wundt, William James’ Functionalism emerged in the US. This American philosopher was in favor of The important thing was to know how the mind works to be able to adapt to the environment.

William James delved into the concept of intelligence, which led to the birth of Psychometrics as a science that studies the use of tests for measuring the human mind.

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

He was an experimental physiologist greatly influenced by Russian reflexology (a clear antecedent of Behaviorism). Definitely, He is currently considered one of the most famous psychologists in the world. He defended an objective and rigorous experimental methodology. He fled from what had been proposed until now, such as Wundt’s introspection, which could not be measured.

It is considered the father of classical conditioning for his research on the animal digestive system, specifically that of dogs. His discoveries led him to formulate the law of conditional reflex which, due to a translation error, was called conditioned reflex.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

This Austrian doctor and neurologist of Jewish origin is considered one of the greatest intellectual figures of the 20th century. In addition to being the father of Psychoanalysis, his theory of the unconscious continues to be one of the most important milestones in Psychology.

Freud was the first scientist to talk about emotional traumas, sexual stages of development, mental conflicts, the personality triad or the meaning of dreams. He set a precedent for his revolutionary approach to the study of the mind and personality.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

During the 1930s, under the total dominance of behaviorism, two schools focused on developmental or evolutionary psychology stood out. One of them, the Geneva School, had Jean Piaget as its main standard.

Its main objective was to analyze the development of knowledge and create a general theory of it. It was, therefore, creator of genetic epistemology, the science of the development of knowledge. He also became one of the most famous psychologists for his contributions to the study of childhood.

Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

Along with Maslow, he was one of the greatest representatives of humanistic psychology. Against psychoanalysis, Rogers had a positive view of man. He defended the idea that human beings are good by nature and, therefore, should not be controlled with defense mechanisms, but should express themselves to be free, to be themselves.

He designed client-centered or non-directive therapy. It was based on the existence of a latent and manifest capacity in all people, which allows them to solve their problems. To exercise it, a specific context is required in which you will achieve personal satisfaction and full and adequate functioning.

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990)

He was the main representative of Behaviorism and was greatly influenced by Pavlov. He determined the existence of two types of responses, but focused on the operants. For it, created an experimental paradigm, a pioneering work in psychology, which he called the operant conditioning chamber.

In contrast to Psychoanalysis, it focused on the mechanism of reinforcing behavior and left aside the unconscious. He believed that the consequences of our actions can increase or decrease the probability of the behavior.

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

This author received extensive training that gave him a global vision of the human being. He drank from Thorndike’s Behaviorism, from the precepts of Gestalt, investigated Anthropology and became interested in the concepts of Psychoanalysis of Fromm, Horney and Adler.

Such variety allowed being one of the founders and main exponents of humanistic psychology. Furthermore, he stood out for introducing the pyramid of needs, based on the idea that people fulfill themselves through the satisfaction of a series of needs ranked according to their urgency.

Albert Bandura (1925 – present)

At 91 years old, this Canadian psychologist can boast of having consolidated the importance of cognition in relation to behavior and his Social Learning Theory. His postulate of reciprocal determinism, according to which person, situation and behavior are in mutual interdependencewas a fundamental advance for the cognitive program.

His contributions to socio-cognitivism represented a true approach to personality. It proposes a proactive subject; that is self-organizing and interprets reality and himself.

The last of the most famous psychologists in history, We leave that number 10 to your choice! Who do you think, due to their contributions, contributions, number of citations or impact of their research, should occupy this position? Kurt Lewin? Lev Vygotsky? Erich Fromm?

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