Scientific Beginnings

Studies in cognition emerged from the field of philosophy in the late 1800's, as early investigators began to apply the scientific method to questions on the nature of the human mind, consciousness, and thought processes. In 1890, William James, a physician and philosopher, authored The Principles of Psychology. This seminal work removed psychology from the realm of philosophy and established it as a separate, scientific discipline, based in the application of the experimental method. In 1879, James founded the first psychology research laboratory in the U.S.

The Principles of Psychology, a massive two-volume work, that took 12 years to write, addressed a full range of psychological issues and concepts that are still under study today. Among the subjects included were: brain function, brain activity, stream of consciousness, the self, attention, conception, discrimination and comparison, association, the perception of time, memory, sensation, imagination, perception of things, space, reality, reasoning, voluntary movement, instinct, the emotions, will, and hypnotism. James was the first to distinguish a primary (conscious) and secondary (unconscious, permanent) memory.*

	Pulse Rate Data: B. During intellectual repose Pulse Rate Data: A. During intellectual activity
	Reaction Time Measurements
Brain Centers of Sensory Functions	Illustrations from The Principles of Psychology by William James, 1890.

* James, W., The Principles of Pychology, 1890 from Emory University web-site.