Here's a list of famous psychologists that helped found the basics of psychology. You need to know their name and the contribution they made.
1. Willhelm Wundt
Born in 1832, he founded the first psychology lab in Leipzig in 1879. He conducted some of the first experiments on human behavior, officially beginning the study of psychology.
2. William James
Inspired by evolutionary theory, he created a theoretical perspective on psychology. This theory became to be known as functionalism, which sought causal relationships between internal states and external behaviors.
3. Edward Thorndike
Most famous for his work on learning theory that lead to the development of operant conditioning within Behaviorism. He devised a classical experiment in which he placed a cat inside a puzzle box, which was encouraged to escape to reach a scrap of fish placed outside.
4. Sigmund Freud
Known as the founder of psychoanalysis. He developed a set of therapeutic techniques centered on talk therapy that involved the use of strategies such as transference, free association, and dream interpretation.
5. B.F. Skinner
Best known for his work on operant conditioning. He held experiments that rewarded animals for manipulating a lever, known as the Skinner Box, which led to theories about ideal reward reinforcement schedules.
6. Mary Calkins
The first woman to become president of the American Psychological Association(APA) and the first woman to establish her own psychology lab in the U.S., she is most famous for her introduction of self psychology.
7. Alfred Binet
Partially responsible for the IQ test. He developed the first attempt to objectively measure intelligence in children.
8. Ivan Pavlov
He developed the theory of of classical conditioning to help explain human behavior, demonstrating the external stimuli can have a direct influence in a behavioral response. He made an experiment with dogs, food, and a bell to make them salivate.
9. Harry Harlow
Studied behavior of monkeys by taking baby monkeys and giving them inanimate surrogate mothers. He discovered that in order for babies to thrive emotionally and psychologically, they needed contact comfort.
10. Charles Darwin
Developed Evolutionary Psychology which includes natural selection and theory of evolution, survival of the fittest, pace of evolutionary change, and evolution of the human mind.
11. Dorothea Dix
Created the first generation of mental asylums, changing the America's and Europe's perspectives of the mentally ill.
12. G. Stanley Hall
The first president of the American Psychological Association, and the first American to earn a Ph. D. in psychology, theorized that mental growth proceeds by evolutionary stages.
13. Jean Piaget
Most famously known for his theory of cognitive development that looked at how children develop intellectually throughout the course of childhood. Combined with his epistemological(what distinguishes justified belief from opinion)view, this is called genetic epistemology.
14. Carl Rogers
One of the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology, he believed that humans have one basic motive: to fulfill one's potential (self-actualization).
15. Margaret Washburn
The first woman to be granted a PhD in psychology, and the second woman to serve as an APA President, she developed the motor theory, which said that thought or consciousness could be seen in bodily movements. She believed that consciousness is the result of sensation and motion. She discovered the human ability to learn through association with this theory.
16. John B. Watson
The founder of classical behaviorism, his theory focused on people's external behaviors to gain insight on their internal emotions. Most famous for his classical conditioning experiments with Little Albert the baby and how he trained him to be afraid of rats.