One of the most well-known scientists of the 19th century was a German scientist named Franz Joseph Gall. Claimed as the founder of Phrenology, Gall was a pioneer in his fields of neuroanatomy, and physics, and also widely known for his theories and concepts of the localized functions of the brain and phrenology. His primary goal in his studies was to develop a functional anatomy and physiology of the brain as well as a revised psychology of personality. (http://grants.hhp.coe.uh.edu/clayne/HistoryofMC/HistoryMC/Gall.htm) This influential psychologist made many influential contributions, yet controversial at the time, to the study of psychology and the human brain.
A.) Franz Joseph Gall’s Early Life And Education
Franz Joseph Gall was born in the village of Tiefenbronn in Baden, Germany on March 9th, 1758 into a culture shaped by the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. The eighteenth century created a lavish and costly aristocratic culture. (http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/4/1053/269656.cw/index.html) Gall was soon accustomed to this culture because he was born into a rather wealthy Roman Catholic Family. His family was one of the leading families in their specific region for over a century. In fact, his father was even the mayor of Tiefenbronn making his family even more well-known and popular amongst their neighbors. Gall was a sibling to twelve brothers and sisters, however, only nine survived to adulthood. In the century of Gall’s childhood, it was quite common for children to not survive to adulthood because couples were conceiving their children at a younger age, causing more complications for the mother and child during pregnancy and childbirth.
As a child, Gall had been very interested in...
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...eveloped into more extensive studies of the brain and its functioning. Another huge contribution that Gall made through his work was the idea of brain localization and the area of the brain that controls speech, language, and also word memory. Gall was also the first to discover that the white matter of the brain contained fibers or axons, and the gray matter in the brain contained neurons or cell bodies. Franz Joseph Gall is now known as one of the most influential people in history because of his ground work of Phrenology that led to later discoveries. His work led to many other scientific branches to become developed such as craniology, psychognomy, and anthropometry. ( Biographies on Psychologists.) We can thank Franz Joseph Gall for improving the field of psychology through his work, and for being strong through the criticisms of his lectures and system.
Many people attribute modern psychology to psychologist such as Sigmund Freud, Ivan Pavlov, and B.F. Skinner. Though, they were a part of developing modern psychology, many forget to recognize important founders such as William James. According to King, Viney and Woody, James came from a family with a strict father, raised in tolerance. James and his father had many encounters because of their different views. They were a wealthy and cultured family. James attended Harvard, studying a broad spectrum of just about everything. He finally received his medical degree in 1869, but then became depressed and anxious about life. He was not fond of medicine and was then offered to teach a course in the Relations between Psychology and Physiology. He was also the founder of Harvard’s first psychology laboratory. James then began to teach psychology as well as writing the first U.S. psychology text, Principles of Psychology, in 1890; this book was the main psychology textbook for many years to come (p.284). James was well known for his philosophy, which he explored many areas. For example individualism, which he believed that circumstances shape individuals and then individuals shape the world also that we understand reality only through individual experiences. Pluralism was another view which he believed that there are many ways to understand the world, and a variety of methods and topics to study. Also, for James pragmatism was a belief that if an idea worked it was valid; these ideas should have “cash value” as he stated. He meant that these ideas should be useful and apply them to the real world. Although philosophy was a major part of his work, he was also known as the American founder of psychology (King, Viney &Woody 2013, p.286). Wi...
Franz Kafka grew up in a financially secure Jewish family in Prague. He spoke German and was neither a Czech nor German due to his Jewish upbringing. Born in 1883, he was the eldest child and the only son. He lived his life in the shadow of his dominating father under constant pressure to take over the family business. Kafka's father viewed Franz as a failure and disapproved of his writing because he wanted Franz to become a business man like him. This obsession with wanting Franz to become a businessman led Herrman to beat his son. Franz Kafka died on June 3, 1924 from tuberculosis of the larynx.
While Gall was incorrect in theorizing that the external skull reflects the personality and tendencies of an individual, he was surprisingly correct and in fact pioneered the idea that specific human functions and emotions are related to specific regions of the brain. His way of coming to this conclusion was scientifically incorrect but the implications of this idea helped modern science discover the idea of cerebral localization that is present today.
Hergenhahn, B. R. (2009). An introduction to the history of psychology (6th ed., p. 224,
Many prominent musicians produced major works during the romantic period. Among these are Beethoven, Strause, and Bach. But the musician that I think had the most impact, was Franz Schubert. Franz Peter, born on 31 January 1797 was one of fourteen children born of Franz Theodore Schubert and Elisabeth Vietz, four of which survived. He grew up in an apartment that daily converted to a classroom in which his father taught several elementary school classes. He received a thorough basic education; his father being a good teacher, and son being a bright student. From his father Franz also learned to play the violin, and from his brother he learned the piano. The family, indeed, was a very musical one; family "String Quartet Parties" were well known in the part of Vienna in which they lived. But soon young Franz learned all that his family had to teach him. Later, any neighbors who could play any instruments were drawn in and the quartet became a little orchestra. At nine years old, this inquisitive little boy auditioned and was accepted for a position as a chorister in the Royal Court Chapel Choir (which would later become the 'Vienna Boys' Choir). The young chorister gained the attention of Antonio Saliere, who saw to the nurture the young boy's education. After leaving the choir, he continued as a student at the school for one unhappy year. Schubert returned to live at home where it was decided that he would help his father teach. This did not last long. A disastrous episode with an unruly pupil was the last straw and Schubert at age nineteen left teaching and his home to pursue what he loved, composing. He moved in to the...
In 1808, Franz Joseph Gall who was a German anatomist discovered that reading the configuration of bumps on the skull can determine a person's character, this is when the study of the brain started to broaden. In 1848, a man named Phinease Gage who was a North American railway worker suffered damage to the frontal lobe of the brain due to the piercing of a metal rod through the skull. Gage survived the accident but his mood and his daily life changed. Because of no treatment due to the lack of knowledge he was unable to work because of aggression (A short history of brain research – 1st Century to 1872). Because this was not the main concern, his behavior remained a
The main concern of the discipline of psychology in ancient times was the “[speculation of] the nature and locus of the mind, sensation and perception, memory, and learning”. There existed a strong connection between psychology and medicine, physiology, and neurology. The purpose of psychology, for the ancient physicians and philosophers, was to describe its procedures and demeanor in terms of science (e.g. medicine). In order to understand the emergence of psychology, the advances in medicine in these ancient cultures must be discussed. That way, one can see how psychology was linked to each one of them, in one way or the other.
The brain has four major lobes. The frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe, and temporal lobe are responsible for all of the activities of the body, from seeing, hearing, tasting, to touching, moving, and even memory. After many years of debating, scientist presents what they called the localization issue, Garret explains how Fritsch and Hitzig studied dog with conforming observations, but the cases of Phineas Gage’s accident in 1848 and Paul Broca’s autopsy of a man brain in 1861 really grabbed the attention of an enthusiastic scientific community (Garret 2015 p.6)
Rieber, R. W. (2001). Wilhelm Wundt in history: the making of a scientific psychology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
They claimed that the information was so broad that it was useless. Although phrenology was practically useless and for the most part just a fad of the 1800s and early 1900s, it helped lead to today’s better ways interpret one’s personality traits. Phrenology began to pick out spots of the brain that correlate to certain mental capabilities. Although impractical, phrenology is the science of the character divination and faculty psychology, and played an immense role in the development of future practices. Feeling the skull seems primitive but it was a huge stepping stone in the psychological field. Today, scientists have so much knowledge of areas of the brain that they are able to put together tests that pinpoint specific regions and reveal a person’s disposition much better than phrenology ever
The development of psychology like all other sciences started with great minds debating unknown topics and searching for unknown answers. Early philosophers and psychologists such as Sir Francis Bacon and Charles Darwin took a scientific approach to psychology by introducing the ideas of measurement and biology into the way an indi...
Most of the body’s functions such as, thinking, emotions, memories and so forth are controlled by the brain. It serves as a central nervous system in the human body. The mind is the intellect/consciousness that originates in the human brain and manifests itself in emotions, thoughts, perceptions and so forth. This means that the brain is the key interpreter of the mind’s content. Jackson and Nagel seem to resist identifying what we call “mental events” with brain events, for different reasons, while J.J.C. Smart takes the opposing view.
Renato, Fosci. "Politics and Naturalism In The 20th Century Psychology of Alfred Binet." History of Psychology. 2006. 267-89.
Psychology started, and had a long history, as a topic within the fields of philosophy and physiology. It then became an independent field of its own through the work of the German Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of experimental psychology and structuralism. Wundt stressed the use of scientific methods in psychology, particularly through the use of introspection. In 1875, a room was set-aside for Wundt for demonstrations in what we now call sensation and perception. This is the same year that William James set up a similar lab at Harvard. Wilhelm Wundt and William James are usually thought of as the fathers of psychology, as well as the founders of psychology?s first two great ?schools? Structuralism and Functionalism. Psychologist Edward B Titchner said; ?to study the brain and the unconscious we should break it into its structural elements, after that we can construct it into a whole and understand what it does.? (psicafe.com)
Franz Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Austria, on April 1, 1732, to Mathias and Anna Maria Koller Haydn. Joseph Haydn's parents had twelve children, but, sadly, six of them died during infancy. His surviving siblings included two brothers, Johann Evangelist and Johann Michael, and three sisters, Anna Maria Franziska, Anna Maria, and Anna Katharina. Many references give March 31 as Haydn's birthday, but official records disprove this. It is rumored that his brother, Michael, was the source of this inaccuracy. Supposedly, Michael didn't want it said that his big brother came into this world as an April Fool.