From Plato to now. Click to view an interactive timeline of psychology’s history from the Online Psychology Laboratory:

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The first Psychology lab was created in 1879, in a University in Germany. The experimenter? William Wundt: known now as the father of Psychology. There, he and other colleagues helped create an new experimental device. His goal was to find measure atoms of the mind.

Eventually, psychology became split into two different sections: structuralism and functionalism. Structuralism was endorsed by Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchener. This view used introspection, or the observation of ones own mental/emotional processes, to examine the structure of the human mind. Functionalism was promoted by William James. It was also influenced by Darwin. This view was focused on how mental and behavioral processes work or function. Specifically, how an individual is able to survive, adapt, and thrive.

Later, Psychology developed many different subfields or perspectives which include:

• Behavioralism
• Freudian/Psychodynamic
• Humanistic
• Cognitive
• Behavior Genetics
• Cognitive
• Gender and Cross-Cultural
• Evolutionary
• Positive
• and more!

Here are some other links for more information and citations:

• Myers, D. G., & Dewall, C. N. (2015). Psychology. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
• http://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/2013/november-13/what-we-know-now-how-psychological-science-has-changed-over-a-quarter-century.html
• http://www.psychologycareerzone.com/psychology-career-history.html
• https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2014/jan/24/the-changing-face-of-psychology

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One of the main fields that Psychology majors go into is Clinical/Counseling Psychology. However, there are many different paths Psychology majors can take! Here is a list and a little information about some of the other exciting fields Psychology offers!

• Industrial Organizational Psychology
  • I/O Psychology is the study of working and the application of that science to workplace issues (retention, employee satisfaction, diversity, etc.)
  • http://www.siop.org
• Sports Psychology
  •  Sports Psychologists help athletes (professional or amateur) enhance their performance, overcome issues, and achieve their goals.
  •  http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sport-psychologists.aspx
• Rehabilitation Psychology
  • Rehabilitation Psychologists work with people who have disabilities and/or chronic health conditions to help them increase and maximize health, functional abilities, and more.
  • http://www.div22.org/what-is-rehab-psych
• Forensic Psychology
  • Forensic Psychologists assess individuals who are involved with the legal system, and much more!
  • http://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2013/09/forensic-psychology.aspx
• Neuropsychology
  • Neuropsychology is the study of the relationship between behavior/emotion/cognition and brain functioning.
    • Subfield: Neuromarketing
  • http://careersinpsychology.org/becoming-a-neuropsychologist/
• Health Psychology
  • Health Psychology is the study of behavioral processes in illness, healthcare, and overall health.
  • http://www.apa.org/action/science/health/education-training.aspx
• School Psychology
  • School Psychologists work, mostly in a school setting, in order to better support students abilities to learn effectively, as well as support teachers to teach effectively.
  • https://www.nasponline.org/about-school-psychology/who-are-school-psychologists
• Developmental Psychology
  • Developmental Psychologists study lifespan development, specifically how and why humans change over the course of the lifespan.
  • http://www.simplypsychology.org/developmental-psychology.html
• Experimental Psychology
  • Experimental Psychologists area of study is research! These Psychologists study basics processes (cognition, learning, etc.) in animals and humans.
  • http://www.apa.org/action/science/experimental/education-training.aspx
• Research/Quantitative Psychology
  • In this field of Psychology, you would study methods and techniques for the measurement of human characteristics, statistical methods of psychological processes, and research designs.
  • http://www.apa.org/research/tools/quantitative/
• Academia
  • A lot of students who go into any of the areas listed here decide to become apart of Academia. In other words, they apply and become Professors at Universities across the globe.
  • http://www.apa.org/careers/resources/academic/
• Cognitive Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology is the study of mental processes (Language, memory, problem solving, etc.).
  • http://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive.html
• Environmental Psychology
  • Environmental Psychologists seeks to find the relationship between individuals and their surroundings.
  • http://careersinpsychology.org/becoming-environmental-psychologist/
• Social Psychology
  • Social Psychologists study individual behavior in a social environment or context.
  • http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-psychology.html

Below are a few links that can help you find out more about some of the careers listed above! Please also note that this is not an extensive list, there are a lot of different careers and sub-fields you can go into with a Psychology major!

• http://careersinpsychology.org/psychology-careers/
• https://infogr.am/uwgbpsych_jobs-75
• https://www.verywell.com/fields-of-psychology-2794900
• http://www.apa.org/careers/resources/guides/careers.aspx