The 10 most important and famous psychologists in history

There have been several decades of research in psychology and the number of investigations about our way of thinking, feeling and behaving has grown in number and complexity. Waves of experiments, publications and papers Scientists have been sedimenting to create a mass of theories and knowledge about psychology and neuroscience that is intimidating to approach from scratch, but that does not mean that during these years there have not been existed relevant researchers with special importance.

This little Top 10 With some of the most famous psychologists it can be used to get an idea about the moments through which the research in psychology has passed.

A totally questionable list of the most important and famous psychologists

Psychologists are listed here more or less according to the era to which they belong, not because of the magnitude of their works and discoveries. It is a list of the most important and influential psychologists in which, obviously, there will always be those who believe that we have forgotten someone. Although it is possible that they are not all who are, we can affirm that they are all who are

1. Wilhelm Wundt

Wundt (August 16, 1832 - August 31, 1920) is considered by many the first psychologist in history. This is debatable, since psychology has its roots in philosophy and, depending on how we understand what the study of mental processes and human behavior we can go back to the time of the pre-Socratic philosophers in search of their origins.

However, it is less debatable that Wilhelm Wundt deserves to be on any podium of the most famous and relevant psychologists for his role as a pioneer in the scientific psychology. It was he who opened, in Leipzig in 1879, the first laboratory focused exclusively on the experimental psychology, a symptom that psychology was consolidating as a discipline Independent. To Wundt we owe, at least, the recognition of being the promoter of psychology as a systematic study of behavior and mental processes.

• Wundt's biography, in this link

2. William James

Something similar to what Wundt did in Europe was also achieved by William James (January 11, 1842, in New York, United States - August 26, 1910, in New Hampshire, United States) in America, emphasizing on the need to study psychology applying typical methods of the natural sciences.

In his book The Principles of Psychology, the American William James adopted some of the ideas that the English naturalist Charles Darwin made public a few years earlier with The Descent of Man about the instincts that supposedly expressed themselves in human behavior.

For all this, James is one of the most influential psychologists in the early stage of science.

• Get to know his biography, through this link

3. Sigmund Freud

Possibly, the personality that has more clearly shaped the stereotypes of the classic psychologist. What father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (Príbor, May 6, 1856-London, September 23, 1939), is not part of the history of scientific psychology, but it is he is a benchmark in psychology in its broadest sense.

Freud was one of the pioneers in theorizing about unconscious aspects of our behavior and the role that culture and social relationships with others play in them.

Sigmund Freud is, due to his contributions and his groundbreaking theories, the most cited and famous psychologist in history. The personal biography of him, in addition, is full of curiosities Y controversial. It is likely that if you ask an acquaintance with no connection to academic circles, they will not be able to tell you anything about Vygotsky, James, Bandura... But about Freud everyone has heard

4. Lev vygotsky

The Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky (November 17, 1896, Orsha, Russian Empire, now Belarus - June 11, 1934, Moscow, Soviet Union), is one of the great references of the Evolutionary Psychology.

Vygotsky was one of the first researchers to emphasize the importance of cultural context and human relationships in the cognitive development of human beings from early childhood.

And all this at a time when it was customary to consider that the mind emerged spontaneously from the individual, regardless of the living conditions in which it was immersed. Vygotsky broke with the geneticist and deterministic tradition.

• You can read more about Vygotsky, here

5. Jean piaget

Another of the most famous psychologists who have contributed the most to the study of the science of behavior and mental processes is the Swiss Jean Piaget (Neuchâtel, August 9, 1896 - Geneva, September 16, 1980). Together with Vygotsky, he is one of the great figures of developmental psychology.

His constructivist approach to pedagogy is very current even today, decades after his death. Most educational psychologists and pedagogues refer to the theories and teachings of the Swiss psychologist.

• Here you have more information about his Learning theory

6. B. F. Skinner

One of the great references, together with John B. Watson, of the behavioral psychology.

Bhurrus Frederic Skinner (Susquehanna, March 20, 1904 - Cambridge, August 18, 1990) started from the discoveries arising from the line of research initiated by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov and adapted them to experimental psychology.

His approach to investigating behavior involved isolate behavioral variables in a laboratory to study the conditioning processes that he believed shaped the repertoire of human actions, beyond the influence of cultural differences, historical processes, and subjective states of consciousness.

• You can discover more about his life and his theories, here

7. Abraham Maslow

Abraham Harold Maslow (Brooklyn, New York, April 1, 1908 - June 8, 1970 Palo Alto, California) is one of the most famous psychologists featured in the historical tour of the Humanistic Psychology.

Furthermore, his hierarchy of human needs (today presented graphically in the form of Pyramid of Needs), in which the satisfaction of the most essential or subordinate needs allows access to the higher links of more complex needs.

In addition to his influence on the realm of motivation and desire in human beings, his theories about self-actualization and self-actualization. self realisation can be considered foundational pieces of Positive Psychology

8. Albert bandura

Albert Bandura (Mundare, Canada, December 4, 1925) is the creator of the Theory of Self-efficacy and one of the researchers who contributed the most to developing the Learning theory Social, as well as in the field of Personality Psychology.

This author is recognized especially for his contributions in relation to learning styles and the relationship between social relationships and the human cognition. Besides, andn a survey conducted in 2002, thousands of psychology professionals and students ranked Bandura as the fourth most influential psychologist in history, behind Skinner, Piaget and Freud. Bandura has the honor of being the most cited living psychologist.

You can read more about this psychologist in the two articles dedicated to the Ukrainian-Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura:

• "The Theory of Social Learning by Albert Bandura"
• "Albert Bandura's Self-efficacy: Do you believe in yourself"

9. Daniel kahneman

This Israeli psychologist is known for his contributions to the field of behavioral economics and the decision making. Along with other researchers, Daniel Kahneman (Tel Aviv, Israel. March 5, 1934) he has contributed to cast doubt on the assumption that the human being behaves rationally in those contexts in which it should be governed by a cost-benefit logic, how to buy products or the voting.

Furthermore, he is privileged to be one of the very few psychologists to have won a Nobel Prize.

• By the way, a few months ago we recommended one of his books on this article

10. Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker (Montreal, September 18, 1954) is known for his theories about language as a mechanism of adaptation to the environment carved by evolution and for being one of the most famous psychologists among those who are ascribed to the evolutionary psychology.

A brilliant writer, Pinker is a professor at the prestigious Harvard University, being an eminence in the fields of perception and from language development in childhood. In this regard, the Canadian defends the controversial idea that human language is a biological adaptation modeled by natural selection.

• You can read more about his ideas at The clean slate or The instinct of language.