The Founding Fathers of Psychology

Psychology has many founders whom contributed to influential thinking to the field. When hearing the names Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James, one thinks of the founding fathers of psychology. They are the most well-known pioneers and early founders who contributed their endeavors of better understanding to the psychological frailties. Each of them dedicated their lives to studying and learning about the human mind. They were the contributors to the modern science of psychology each with similar ideas as well as different ideas too. However, not everyone will agree with each philosopher but his perspectives and approaches are still considered in today’s world of psychology. These men have provided a foundation for psychology that will never go unnoticed even if people fail to agree with their ideology.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud considered himself as a scientist first attempting to extend the compass of the human knowledge. He studied biology for the next six years, doing research in physiology with the scientist Ernst Brücke at the University of Vienna. After graduating he took up work as a doctor at Vienna general hospital. Once his sixth child Anna was born, Freud set up a private practice of the treatments within physiological disorders. Freud was impressed by the work of the French neurologist Jean Charcot, who was using hypnotism to treat hysteria and other abnormal mental conditions. Freud also experimented with hypnosis but found that its beneficial effects did not last. He then decided to take on a method suggested by the work of a colleague and friend Josef Breuer, who had discovered that when he stimulated a hysterical patient to talk openly about the earliest incidences of the symptoms. Freud articulated and advanced the idea that many psychoses phobias like hysterical paralysis and pains had their origins in deeply traumatic experiences that had occurred in the patient’s past and were now hidden from consciousness (Stephen P. Thornton). The treatment was enabled to the patient to recall the experience of the consciousness, to confront it in a deep way both intellectually and emotionally, therefore discharging it and remove the underlying psychological causes of the neurotic symptoms.

Carl Jung

Carl Jung learned a lot from Freud, which helped him to identify with his later theories. Carl Jung learned from Freud about the unconscious mind but was more fascinated with the human mind through dreams, myth, art, and philosophy. Jung and Freud were close counterparts until Jung started to deviate from Freud’s views. Jung came to his own conclusion about human personality theory in which he believed religion played a part. Jung formed his own theory called Analytical Psychology. After much evaluation his own subconscious and recording his results in an unpublished book, he concluded the human psyche has three parts: the ego (conscious mind), the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. However, Jung believed the process of individuation was crucial in order to be a complete and entirely established person. Individuation is complete once a person can use both the conscious and unconscious mind.

William James

William James born January 11, 1842 was highly known as an original thinker and one of the greatest multidisciplinary minds in turn of the century. Born to Mary and Henry James Sr. of New York, James was described by his mother as “an emotional individual who must express every fluctuation of feelings.” At the age of 19, James decided to attend Harvard University to study chemistry and soon transitioned into medicine to learn the science that went with it. William James helped establish psychology in the United States and became an instant classic. He was considered America’s greatest philosopher in addition to being the father of American psychology. James’s main contribution to the psychology world focused on emotions and introduced the James-Lang theory. The theory proposed that “the physiological change is primary, and emotion is then experienced when the brain reacts to the information received via the body's nervous system.” In his book The Principles of Psychology, James stated that “Common says we lose our fortune, are sorry and weep; we meet a bear, are frightened and run; are insulted by a rival, are angry and strike. The hypothesis here to be defended says that the order of sequence is incorrect… that we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble…” (pp. 1065-1066). James whole emphasis was that emotion is nothing without the body and that it has evolutionary purpose and believed that we first respond to a situation and then experience an emotion.

Alfred Adler

When discussing theories Alfred Adler implemented into his work, it is important to note his most well known theory simply named as the Alderian Theory. The Alderian Theory suggests individuals have a need to want to feel noticed and appreciated. In achieving this, one must obtain a balanced and well-adjusted lifestyle through socialization with the world, family interaction, and setting goals in order to feel content (Corey, "Alderian therapy," 2005). An individual has to be encouraged in order to feel they have a purpose. Adler believed a person must have a healthy childhood to express positive behavior socially and with themselves. It is important to discard feelings of insecurity and discover a purposeful self.

Differences and Similarities

Between Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, their beliefs differed when it came to theories of discovering psychological functioning in human behavior. For example, Adler did not agree with Freud’s theory of sexual trauma in the early stages of childhood development being a cause of mental disorders. A more in-depth example of their differences would involve Freud’s 5 Stages of Psychosexual Development theory. Adler would view a mother and infant’s relationship as loving and necessary in the way that the infant would be satisfied through hunger and the mother desires for the breast milk to be relieved. Freud would simply suggest the infant is acting out through the first stage, oral, in a cannibalistic manner ("Adler, Alfred", 2013).

According to Feist and Feist (2009), Carl Jung theorized that individuals are not only motivated through subdued experiences, but attitudes and personality are inherited through ancestry Chapter 4). This is what Jung calls the collective unconscious. Jung goes on to explain how individually, people are each introverted as well as extroverted, male and female, conscious and unconscious. He believed this is caused by past events interacting with future possibilities. Adler would agree with the connection between traits of personality and family.

Much like Alfred Adler, William James was interested in discovering oneself. James made it an important point that each individual does self-examination through the mind.

Conclusion

Many years ago Freud, Jung, Adler, and James all formed theories of psychology. Each man had his own perspective and theory but one thing lives on, the foundation of psychology that reinforces modern science. While each man did not agree between theorists, there was some common ground between them. These men paved the way for what psychology is today and even though there will be more psychological discoveries, one thing is for sure, these four men’s theories will continue to lead psychology today.

References

Adler, Alfred. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Alfred_Adler.aspx Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of Personality (7th ed.) Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.

Corey, G. (2005). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (7th ed.) Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.

James, W. (1890). The Principles of Psychology. New York, : Holt. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2000). Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu.entries/james/

Stephen P. Thornton, T. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/