Who is the father of psychology?

He studied philosophy and medicine. He was an introspective man, very dedicated to meditation and study. One of his purposes was to separate psychology from philosophy and give it space, convert it into science and demonstrate that it was its own branch of knowledge to which to give recognition. The father of psychology was born in Germany in 1832 and was Wilhelm Wundt.

It is curious how the name of this notable scientist and cornerstone in the field of psychology goes unnoticed by the general public. If we asked anyone right now who is the most decisive figure in this science, names like Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, William James or Albert Ellis would undoubtedly come up. However, Wundt investigated concepts like no one else that would later be key to understanding this area of ​​knowledge and human behavior.

What’s more, if there was something that set Wilhelm Wundt apart, it was his determination. He wanted to understand what this thing we call “consciousness” really was and he also longed to understand what the laws of the mind were for him. To this end, he did what others had not even considered: create the first laboratory oriented exclusively to psychology.

Who is the father of psychology?

If we ask ourselves who is the father of psychology, we must take a trip back in time. We will be placed in Germany in 1857, just when Wilhelm Wundt graduated in medicine from the University of Heidelberg with a cum laudebeing the best of his promotion. Some time later he began his internship with Hermann von Helmholtz, known for his great contributions to the field of physiology.

Now, relations between Helmholtz and Wilhelm Wundt were not particularly good. So much so that he ended up going to the University of Leipzig to study philosophy and where he assumed the chair of Psychology at this faculty. Now, to understand the significance of Wundt, we must first stop at an important aspect. Until that time, psychology was considered part of philosophy.

In those years, the classic ideas inherited from Plato and Aristotle were still rooted in the scientific community. When it came to defining what the mind was, terminologies such as “soul” or “spirit” continued to appear. Later Descartes would arrive, who, separating himself from these concepts, separated the “thinking self” –res cogitans—of matter or body.

Little by little, the understanding of psychological aspects became independent of the philosophical tradition. However, That great step, the most decisive, was taken by Wilhelm Wundt.

What drives the human will? mental structuralism

If we ask ourselves who the father of psychology is, we will say that he was someone capable of asking questions and seeking the answers for himself. Something that on the surface seems easy to us, was not at all at that time when Everything related to psychology was suspended in the world of ideas, abstraction and reflection.

Wilhelm Wundt wanted evidence based on experimentation, he wanted data, feasible evidence. and testable with which to state theories. Thus, one of the questions that most guided him throughout his academic and professional life was to understand what governs the human will. He called this area the psychology of will, choice, and purpose. voluntarism.

Why do we do what we do? What drives us to choose certain things? Why do each of us have certain motivations? Wundt was a strong defender of the scientific perspective, therefore, All of these processes that defined psychology could be studied and investigated in a laboratory.

The Institute of Experimental Psychology at the University of Leipzig

Wilhelm Wundt opened the first institute for experimental psychology in 1879. He did it at the University of Leipzig. This fact, in itself, is considered the beginning of modern psychology. All the research and techniques learned in his years in the physiology department with Hermann von Helmholtz were very useful to him.

That laboratory He began to attract the interest of other doctors and also of students at German universities. To the point that many came to take part in his famous experiments. They were subjected to various stimuli and then they had to explain what sensations and thoughts they had. All this data was measured objectively and rigorously.

These analyses, precise as those of a chemist, gave him valuable data to understand mental processes, consciousness, will, etc. a little better.

The legacy of Wilhelm Wundt

One of his most important books was Fundamentals of Physiological Psychology. Nevertheless, His most interesting legacy is considered to be the reports of his more than 100 experiments.published under the name Philosophische Studien. There were 21 years of his life in which he not only deepened and laid the foundations of psychology.

He was also interested in group psychology.. In his work People’s psychology He studied the products of collective life, such as culture or myths, to further outline his study of the higher operations of the mind.

What he also did was train the psychologists of the new generations, figures who would later bring behaviorism with Watson, Pavlov and Skinner. All of them would continue with experimental research and with that clearly objective approach.

In conclusion, let us remember his name, let us remember the figure of Wilhelm Wundt like that curious man who strove to turn psychology into science.

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