Foundations of Psychology
Psychology has more than one foundation. It can be found in both biology and in philosophy. "Humans are complex creatures whose psychological experience lies at the intersection of biology and culture" (Kowalski & Westen, 2005).
Psychology came to the forefront in early biological studies. People suffering from head trauma were the subjects of investigation into the correlation between the brain and physical responses. It was during these research studies that emotional responses were noticed in the subjects that could not recall the actual memory tied to the response rendered. This is when interest was sparked in the correlation between psychology and biology and further experiments began.
Intentional lesions were given to animals to help identify what part of the brain was associated with certain emotional responses. These studies revealed that emotional responses were ingrained into several parts of the brain. No single section of the brain could be linked with an emotional response. This type of experiment is still used by behavioral neuroscientists and new technology has allowed for further, less invasive, brain study. This new experimentation has caused psychology to have a more biological foundation and "behavioral neuroscience has extended into virtually all areas of psychology" (Kowalski & Westen, 2005).
The study of understanding, or philosophy, is at the core of psychology. Psychology is used to understand behavior, thoughts, and feelings while philosophy relates to understanding what people experience, not the emotion behind it. Although both are very different, it is easy to see how philosophy and psychology correlate with one another. In order to understand the mind and what motivates a person to think, act, or feel a certain way, William Wundt, known as the "father of psychology" opened the first psychological lab in 1879, in Lipzig, Germany. (Kowalski & Westen, 2005).
William Wundt spent most of...