Psychology Independent Discipline

History states, that for many years there has been a debate on the date which psychology became an independent discipline. Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context. Most identity with the date 1879 when German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt opened the first laboratory exclusive to the practice of psychology. However, this date is still disregarded as the beginning of psychology. Despite the major impact of the laboratory on the science. Persons' concerns are based on the influences to science prior to the laboratory. A number of great persons would have been very influential prior to Wundt's opening. These persons include outstanding philosophers such as Rene …show more content…
Naturalistic observation or historical analysis on the other hand could be useful in understanding the higher mental processes and their products. During this time, Wundt taught lectures which he divided into two categories. The first part would cover the history of psychology and lead into a review of research on sensation and perception, he further went on with discussions of aesthetic and religious feelings, moral judgments, the development of societies, comparative religion, language, and the will. Wundt taught for 11 years at Heidelberg, in 1874 he accepted a professorship in inductive philosophy at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. A year later he accepted an appointment to teach scientific philosophy at the University of Leipzig which he undertook for 45 years. Wundt had a longing to teach experimental psychology at Leipzig in 1875, but due to the lack of space for his equipment, his request was declined. He ended up teaching courses in anthropology, logic, and language. However in 1876, he obtained enough space to begin teaching experimental psychology. By 1879, Wundt possessed a fully functional laboratory where along with conducting research he was able to supervise student's research. The laboratory was given the name ‘Institute for Experimental Psychology. Although the University was not supportive of Wundt's Laboratory and did not list it under the University's name until 1883. Despite this, Wundt's lectures became the most demanded resulting in him having up to 250 students per lecture giving rise to the Universities popularity. Due to the overwhelming response to, Wundt's laboratory had to be expanded several times until he was finally given an entire building in 1897. During this time, he had supervised 186 doctoral dissertations, 70 in Philosophy and 116 in Psychology. For the rest of the