History of Psychology

Most psychologists would agree that psychology as an experimental science begins with Wilhelm Wundt’s establishment of the world’s first psychological research laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879. In 1979, the centennial of the Leipzig laboratory’s founding was recognized in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Brazil, and Japan. The American Psychological Association issued a special minting of a gold medal bearing Wundt’s portrait on the obverse and proclaiming “a century of science” on the reverse. A safe prediction is that in 2029, the 150th anniversary of that founding will be widely recognized and celebrated by psychologists throughout the world. Who then was Wundt and how did he come to establish that laboratory? In photographs a bearded, distinguished-looking Wilhelm Wundt gazes calmly through wire-rimmed glasses. He seems the very model of a nineteenth-century German “Herr Professor.” Wundt is usually identified as the “founder of psychology” or the “world’s first true psychologist.” It is appropriate that Wundt is the first psychologist we will consider.