The notorious Stanford Experiment involved participants of an experiment in the assigned roles of
guards and prisoners that demonstrated abuse and cruelty to others. Little Albert, is an infant in an
experiment that subjected him to the conditioning of his phobia to various stimuli. Both experiments,
while contributing to furthering our understanding of psychology, were unethical and subpar to the
standards of modern scientific experiments. The importance of learning about the history of psychology
is illustrated by cases such as these in which we learn about how psychology theories are originated and
developed to supplement our comprehension of the application of the theories while also have
reminders of the unethical dilemma and errors in scientific methods so that we do not make those
mistakes again.
Chapter One reiterated the importance of learning about history by bringing up the key points that
history helps us predict the future and avoid past mistakes; understanding history also helps us see that
every era has its own set of problems and past accomplishments are not inferior. The history of
psychology has many theories that rely on the concepts developed in an earlier era. For instance,
evolutionary developmental psychology traces its influence to Darwinism. The many issues raised by
early psychologists such as nature vs nurture is still a controversial topic in today’s field of psychology
that requires more studying. In the past, the approach to psychology’s history celebrated cumulative
progress over the years with a focus on being internal, presentist, and personalistic. Today, the study of
psychology’s history values being critical more than celebratory with an emphasis on being external,
historicist, and naturalistic.
Chapter Two makes a clear distinction between the past and the history with the statement that past
is not history; history is the interpretation of the past. Rene Descartes is one of the important figures in
the history of psychology. He lived during the end of Renaissance in which the authority of Church was
being challenged. As a rationalist, Descartes uses reason and logic to arrive at the truth. Descartes’
Discourse on Method has four basic rules: analysis, synthesis, check your work and think for yourself.
His method still influences science today especially with the “never to accept anything for true which I
did not clearly know to be such”. This quote demonstrates the fundamental principle in science that a
conclusion cannot be made, or a fact cannot be established without clear demonstration of evidence to