One influential psychologist was William James. He was not only known as the “Father of American Psychology” but also was a great philosopher and a physician. He studied and then taught at Harvard University, and during his time there he introduced and taught the first psychology course in America. Additionally he discovered the theory of ‘functionalism’. This was the idea that behaviour and personalities can adapt based on the environment around them. Thus, this uses the sociocultural approach to psychology as it looks at how external stimuli affect behaviour. James also published a few books, one of which took him twelve years to write. This book was titled ‘The Principles of Psychology’ and was published in 1890. A condensed version of the book was also published in 1982, titled ‘Psychology: The Brief Course”.
Another important psychologist is Michael Merzenich. He is currently a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, where he teaches neuroscience. He explored the idea of ‘Brain Plasticity’. This theory discusses the fact that the brain can change and rewire itself as time progresses. There are two main periods when this occurs; The Critical Period (infant) and the Adult Plasticity (adult). Since he looks at the way the brain functions, it means that he uses the biological approach to psychology. Merzenich has contributed to over 247 publication in the course of his life, however his most recent one is called “Positive impacts of early auditory training on cortical processing at an older age” which was published in 2017.
I think that one major change that has occurred in the history of psychology, is when psychology got separated from the rest of the sciences and became its own subject. Furthermore I think that another major change in psychology was the realisation that is is not nature or nurture that defines us, but rather a combination of both that helps to establish our personalities. I am most intersted in looking at the cognitive approach to psychology since I think that it is connected to a lot of other parts of the course and can really help to understand people’s thought processes.