Timeline of psychology

This is a timeline of psychology.

See history of psychology for a description of the development of the subject, and psychology for a general description of the subject.

Also see timeline of psychotherapy.

Early history

 * ca 1550 BC - the Ebers papyrus briefly mentioned clinical depression.
 * ca 100 BC - the Dead Sea Scrolls noted the division of human nature into two temperaments.
 * 1590 - Scholastic philosopher Rudolph Goclenius coined the term psychology.
 * 1672 - in Thomas Willis' anatomical treatise "De Anima Brutorum", psychology was referenced in terms of brain function.

1860s

 * 1860 - Gustav Theodor Fechner wrote Elements of Psychophysics, establishing the subject of psychophysics.
 * 1861 - Paul Pierre Broca discovered an area in the left cerebral hemisphere that is important for speech production (now known as Broca's area), marking the start of neuropsychology.

1870s

 * 1878 - G. Stanley Hall was awarded the first PhD in Psychology from Harvard.
 * 1879 - Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychological laboratory at University of Leipzig in Germany.

1880s

 * 1885 - Hermann Ebbinghaus published Über das Gedchtnis, a groundbreaking work where Ebbinghaus describes experiments on himself.
 * 1886 - Sigmund Freud opened private practice in Vienna.
 * 1887 - The American Journal of Psychology began to be published.
 * 1898 - Edward Thorndike described the Law of effect.

1890s

 * 1890 - William James published Principles of Psychology.
 * 1892 - Foundation of the American Psychological Association (APA) headed by G. Stanley Hall.
 * 1896 - The first psychological clinic was developed at the University of Pennsylvania marking the birth of clinical psychology.
 * 1896 - Edward B. Titchener, student of Wilhelm Wundt and originator of the term structuralism, published his first major work, An Outline of Psychology.

1900s

 * 1900 - Sigmund Freud published 'Interpretation of Dreams' marking the beginning of Psychoanalytic Thought.
 * 1903 - John B. Watson graduated from the University of Chicago. His dissertation on rat behavior has been described as a "classic of developmental psychobiology" by historian of psychology, Donald Dewsbury.
 * 1904 - Charles Spearman published the article General Intelligence in the American Journal of Psychology, introducing the g factor theory of intelligence.
 * 1905 - Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon created the Binet-Simon scale to identify students needing extra help, marking the start for standardized psychological testing.
 * 1906 - The Journal of Abnormal Psychology was founded by Morton Prince.

1910s

 * 1911 - Alfred Adler left Freud's Psychoanalytic Group to form his own school of thought, accusing Freud of overemphasizing sexuality and basing his theory on his own childhood.
 * 1912 - Max Wertheimer published Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement, considered the founding article of Gestalt psychology
 * 1913 - Carl Jung departed from Freudian views and developed his own theories citing Freud's inability to acknowledge religion and spirituality.  His new school of thought became known as Analytical Psychology.
 * 1913 - Jacob L. Moreno applied Group Psychotherapy methods in Vienna. His new methods, which emphasised spontanaeity and interaction, later became known as Psychodrama and Sociometry.
 * 1913 - John B. Watson published Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It, sometimes known as "The Behaviorist Manifesto".

1920s

 * 1920 - John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner conducted the Little Albert experiment, using classical conditioning to make a young boy afraid of white rats.
 * 1921 - Jacob L. Moreno conducted the first large scale public Psychodrama session at the Komoedienhaus, Vienna. He moves to New York in 1925.
 * 1928 - Jean Piaget's book Judgement and Reasoning in the Child is published.

1930s

 * 1938 - B.F. Skinner published his first major work, The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, introducing behavior analysis.

1940s

 * 1942 - Carl Rogers published 'Counseling and Psychotherapy' suggesting that respect and a non-judgmental approach to therapy is the foundation for effective treatment of mental health issues.
 * 1943 - Abraham Maslow described his hierarchy of needs in the paper A Theory of Human Motivation, published in Psychological Review
 * 1945 - The Journal of Clinical Psychology was founded.
 * 1949 - Boulder Conference outlined scientist-practitioner model of clinical psychology, looking at the M.D. versus Ph.D. used by medical providers and researchers, respectively.

1950s

 * 1951 - Carl Rogers published his major work, Client-Centered Therapy.
 * 1951 - In the Asch conformity experiments, Solomon Asch demonstrated the power of conformity in groups.
 * 1951 - Lee Cronbach wrote about his measure of reliability, now known as Cronbach's alpha.
 * 1952 - The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was published by The American Psychiatric Association marking the beginning of modern mental illness classification.
 * 1953 - B.F. Skinner outlined behavioral therapy, lending support for behavioral psychology via research in the literature.
 * 1953 - Code of Ethics for Psychologists was developed by the American Psychological Association.
 * 1954 - Abraham Maslow helped to found Humanistic psychology and later developed his famous Hierarchy of Needs.
 * 1955 - Lee Cronbach published Construct Validity in Psychological Tests, popularizing the concept of Construct validity.
 * 1956 - Rollo May published Existence, promoting Existential psychology.
 * 1956 - Leon Festinger proposed his theory of Cognitive dissonance
 * 1959 - Noam Chomsky published his review of B.F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior, an event seen as by many as the start of the Cognitive revolution.
 * 1959 - Lawrence Kohlberg wrote his doctoral dissertation, outlining his stages of moral development.

1960s

 * 1961 - In the Bobo doll experiment, Albert Bandura studied behavioral patterns of aggression.
 * 1963 - Stanley Milgram described his study of obedience to authority, now known as the Milgram experiment.
 * 1967 - Aaron Beck published a psychological model of depression suggesting that thoughts play a significant role in the development and maintenance of depression.
 * 1968 - DSM-II was published by the American Psychiatric Association.
 * 1968 - First Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) professional degree program in Clinical Psychology was established in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign.
 * 1969 - California School of Professional Psychology was established as the first freestanding school of professional psychology.
 * 1969 - The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology was initiated by Abraham Maslow, Stanislav Grof and Anthony Sutich
 * 1969 - John Bowlby published his Attachment theory.
 * 1969 - Harry Harlow published his experiment on affection development in rhesus monkeys.

1970s

 * 1971 - The Stanford prison experiment, conducted by Philip Zimbardo and others at Stanford University, studied the human response to captivity. The experiment quickly got out of hand and was ended early.
 * 1971 - Martin Shubik demonstrated the Dollar auction experiment, illustrating irrational choices.
 * 1973 - Vail Conference of Graduate Educators in Psychology endorsed the scholar-practitioner training model.
 * 1978 - Mary Ainsworth published a book about her work on Attachment theory and the Strange Situation experiment.

1980s

 * 1980 - DSM-III published by the American Psychiatric Association.
 * 1983 - Howard Gardner published Frames of Mind, introducing his theory of multiple intelligences
 * 1987 - Erik Erikson published The Life Cycle Completed, expanding on his stage theory of psychosocial development.

1990s

 * 1994 - DSM-IV published by the American Psychiatric Association.