I'm in psychology class and we were assigned a project. One of the questions are "What is the history of Psychology? Write a brief report."

I tried looking on the internet, but i didn't get anywhere.

If you could also tell me some of the theories of psychology, it would help me alot.

Thanks

-- A curious student (daisy_sue24@hotmail.com), September 11, 2001

Answers

The history of psychology is quite extensive and complicated. You should look at any one of the many textbooks on the topic. One of the most readable is Ray Fancher's _Pioneers of Psychology_.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), September 12, 2001.

Hi Daisy, I've got some good news for you and then some bad. First the good news, there is a history of psychology; it only seems to follow doesn't it, as practically all the universities have if not departments of psychology, at least classes in psychology. Now before I give you the bad news, consider what history is to a practical person; isn't it instances of people and events that are preceived as leading up to and creating the current state of affairs in psychology? And this takes the form of a historical narrative which is probably held together by a unified theory that defines the field. Right now, psycology's unified theory of its history is up in the air, and so the deeper you look into your thesis, the more confused you are likely to find yourself. I think what would help you the most is just a good course outline of the history of psychology, and for this I have good news for you - you just didn't know where to go on-line. Go to Central Washington University, then psychology department, and then look up Warren Street, go to his home page and check out his course outline. I think those issues which he highlights will be of great help to you organizing you project. Good luck, David

-- david clark (doclark@yorku.ca), September 12, 2001.