analytical psychology | Manon Eileen

Tag Archives: analytical psychology

Top 10 Most Influential Psychologists

September 22, 2011

In 2002, the American Psychological Association created a ranking of the 99 most influential psychologists . The rankings were based on amount of journal citations, introductory textbook citations. They also surveyed the 1725 members of the APA.

The following list is an overview of that ranking survey. These are not just well-known people, they all made a significant contribution to psychology and our collective understanding of human behavior. They play an important role in the history of psychology.

The attempt of this list was not to name who was the best, but instead focuses on the influence their work has had on psychology and on the culture as we now understand it.

Jung

10. Carl Jung

Carl Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist. He was an influential thinker and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as “by nature religious” and make it the focus of exploration. Although he was not the first to analyze dreams, he is one of the best known pioneers in the field of dream analysis.

9. Kurt Lewin

Lewin (1890-1947, Germany) is known as the father of modern social psychology and one of the founders of Gestaltpsychology. He pioneered work that used scientific methods and experimentation to look at social behavior. Lewin was a classical theorist whose enduring impact on psychology makes him one of the preeminent psychologists of the 20th century.

8. Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), best known for his experiment with the drooling dogs, was a Russian physiologist whose research on conditioned reflexes influenced the rise of behaviorism and in psychology. Pavlov’s experimental methods helped move psychology away from introspection and subjective assessments to objective measurement of behavior.

7. Erik Erikson

Erikson

Erik Erikson’s (1902-1994, German/American) stage theory of psychosocial development helped create interest and research on human development through the lifespan. Erikson expanded psychoanalytic theory by exploring development throughout the life, including events of childhood, adulthood, and old age.

6. William James

Psychologist and philosopher William James (1842-1910) is often referred to as the “father of American psychology”. His 1200-page book, The Principles of Psychology, became a classic on the subject and his teachings and writings helped establish psychology as a science. Additionally, James contributed to functionalism, pragmatism, and influenced many students of psychology during his 35-year teaching career.

5. Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers (1902-1987, USA) placed emphasis on human potential, which had an enormous influence on both psychology and education. He became one of the major humanist thinkers and an eponymous influence in therapy with his “Rogerian therapy.”

4. Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget’s (1886-1980, Switzerland) work had a profound influence on psychology, especially on our understanding children’s intellectual development. His research contributed to the growth of developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, genetic epistemology, and education reform. Albert Einstein once described Piaget’s observations on children’s intellectual growth and thought processes as a discovery “so simple that only a genius could have thought of it.”

3. Albert Bandura

Bandura

Bandura’s (1925-, Canada) work is considered part of the cognitive revolution in psychology that began in the late 1960s. His social learning theory stressed the importance of observational learning, imitation, and modeling. “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do,” Bandura explained in his 1977 book Social Learning Theory.

2. Sigmund Freud

When people think of psychology, many tend to think of Freud. Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939, Austria) work supported the belief that not all mental illnesses have physiological causes and he also offered evidence that cultural differences have an impact on psychology and behavior. His work and writings contributed to our understanding of personality, clinical psychology, human development, and abnormal psychology.

1. B.F. Skinner

Skinner

Skinner’s (1904-1990, USA) staunch behaviorism made him a dominating force in psychology and therapy techniques based on his theories are still used extensively today, including behavior modification and token economies.

Which of these psychologists had you heard before (okay, except Freud)? Did you know what they contributed to psychology?

Is there another psychologist you think should have been on this list?

Download article as PDF