Pivotal Contributors that Impacted Psychology History Of Psychology PS210 3/14/2014

Pivotal Contributors that Impacted Psychology

It’s predominately known that everything in life that’s current now day’s is a mere reflection of the past. It’s some many imperative people that have significantly impacted and changed the infrastructure of today’s world with their contributions especially in the world of psychology. Many of the philosophers and physiologists have served as visionaries and founding fathers of the hierarchy system that have revolutionized the way things are in the psychology field, along with inspire the work of other psychologists in the earlier eras. It’s some many different key proponents that were responsible for laying down the blueprint and blazing the trail towards the forward continuity of growth in psychology. It’s philosophers like John Locke and physiologists like Herman Von Helmholtz that have been responsible for changing the landscape of psychology with their monumental contributions.
John Locke was a very keen intelligent college student that was a catalyst for helping evolve the world of new psychology immensely with his contributions in the early 1600 era. He had a plethora of accomplishments that cultivated him to being one of the influential philosophers of his time. According to Shultz (2012) John Locke was the commissioner of appeals in England where he went on to write a multitude of books on topics such as education, religion and economics (p. 37). ‘’His writings brought him much fame and influence, and he was known throughout Europe as a champion of liberalism in government’’ says Schultz (2012, p.37). According to Schultz ‘’Some of his work had an impact on the writers of the American Declaration of Independence’’ (2012, p. 37).
Shultz says that ‘’Locke’s major work of importance to psychology is An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), which was the culmination of 20 years of study’’ (2012,p.37). ‘’This book, which appeared in four editions by 1700 and was translated into French and Latin, marks the formal beginning of British empiricism’’ writes Schultz (2012, p.37). Hermann Von Helmholtz was a marquee iconic scientist of the early nineteenth century that researched physics and physiology. He was a very multi-faceted scientist that was dexterous when it came to covering every spectrum of his research including in psychology. Herman Von Helmholtz was notoriously known as a very adept connoisseur that brought some many different intangibles and innovative things that push the envelope towards a significant change in new psychology with his contributions. According to Schultz ‘’Of major importance to psychology are Helmholtz’s investigations of the speed of the neural impulse and his research on vision and hearing’’ (2012, p.57). ‘’Scientists had assumed that the nerve impulse was instantaneous, or at least that it traveled too fast to be measured’’ says Schultz (2012, p.57).
Schultz also states ‘’Helmholtz provided the first empirical measurement of the rate of conduction by stimulating a motor nerve and the attached muscle in the leg of a frog’’ (2012, p.57). ‘’He arranged the demonstration so that the precise moment of stimulation and of the resulting movement could be recorded’’ writes Schultz (2012, p.57). In addition to all these contributions Hermann Helmholtz also significantly helped new psychology emerge with his studies on vision. In 2012 Schultz noted that ‘’Helmholtz investigated the external eye muscles and the mechanism by which internal eye muscles focus the lens’’ (p.57).’’ He revised and extended a theory of color vision published in 1802 by Thomas Young, and this work is now known as the Young-Helmholtz theory of color vision’’ says Schultz (2012, p.57). Many people now days to contrary belief think that it’s not rational for a philosopher and physiologist to have an enormous influence in psychology due to the different vocal points of both fields. It’s been proven from prolific figures such as philosopher John Locke and physiologist Hermann Helmholtz that people from other perspective field’s studies can have a profound effect in psychology. One psychologist of the early nineteenth century that thrived from finding a jolt of inspiration from his predecessors was Franz Brentano. He was a very multi – dimensional psychologist that seemed to be heavily intrigued by exploring every aspect of psychology. According to Schultz ‘’Brentano is considered one of the more important early psychologists because of his diverse interests’’ (2012, p.82). I think Franz Brentano was heavily influenced by John Locke and Hermann Helmholtz simply because