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Scientific
Beginnings
Studies
in cognition emerged from the field of philosophy in the late 1800's,
as early investigators began to apply the scientific method to questions
on the nature of the human mind, consciousness, and thought processes.
In 1890, William James, a physician and philosopher, authored The
Principles of Psychology. This seminal work removed psychology
from the realm of philosophy and established it as a separate, scientific
discipline, based in the application of the experimental method.
In 1879, James founded the first psychology research laboratory
in the U.S.
The
Principles of Psychology, a massive two-volume work, that took
12 years to write, addressed a full range of psychological issues
and concepts that are still under study today. Among the subjects
included were: brain function, brain activity, stream of consciousness,
the self, attention, conception, discrimination and comparison,
association, the perception of time, memory, sensation, imagination,
perception of things, space, reality, reasoning, voluntary movement,
instinct, the emotions, will, and hypnotism. James was the first
to distinguish a primary (conscious) and secondary (unconscious,
permanent) memory.*
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Pulse
Rate Data: B. During intellectual repose
Pulse Rate Data: A. During intellectual activity |
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Reaction
Time Measurements |
Brain
Centers of Sensory Functions
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Illustrations
from The Principles of Psychology by William James,
1890. |
* James, W.,
The Principles of Pychology, 1890 from Emory University web-site.
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