A Brief History of Modern Psychology

“From a renowned historian and teacher of psychology comes what psychology students will welcome -a crisp and beautifully crafted history of their discipline, replete with fascinating stories of the people who shaped it and whose shoulders we now stand upon.” - David G. Myers, Hope College

“A Brief History of Modern Psychology will itself become part of the history of modern psychology. It is a classic work by one of the most distinguished living historians of psychology. Anyone who wishes to understand how the field of psychology has reached its present state should read this book.” - Robert J. Sternberg, Tufts University

Welcome to the website to accompany A Brief History of Modern Psychology.

In A Brief History of Modern Psychology, Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr., leading historian in the field, discusses the history of both the science and the practice of psychology since the establishment of the first experimental psychology laboratory in 1879. The book:

• Captures the excitement of this pervasive field that features prevalently in modern mass media
• Presents facts and interesting tidbits about individual psychologists' lives and ideas, as well as illuminating tie-in's to the social contexts in which they lived
• Features widely known figures such as William James, Carl Jung, Wilhelm Wundt, G. Stanley Hall, James Catell, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner as well as lesser known luminaries such as E.B. Titchener, Mary Calkins, Leta Hollingworth, Kenneth and Mamie Clark, and Helen Thompson Wolley
• Provides the historical and disciplinary context that will help readers to better understand the richness and complexity of contemporary psychology
• Includes discussions of important events, societies, and landmarks in the history of psychology such as the growth of psychological laboratories in the US, the Thayer Conference (the landmark summit which defined school psychology), Kurt Lewin's social action research, and Lewis M. Terman and the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale (now the well known, “Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale”)

Further information about the book is available here.

The following resources are available at this site:

• Test manual for instructors with questions and answers

(Please note that these resources are password protected and only available to instructors. Use the link at top to navigate to the test manual.)