Resources
Primary Publications
It is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve a consensus concerning classic, influential and enduring works in psychology (or any discipline) for a variety of reasons. Trained historians may have a perspective on the importance of a publication that a practitioner (researcher, clinician) may not share. Psychologists may evaluate a publication differently than would a trained historian outside psychology. And the definition of “classic” may differ depending on whether the list is developed from empirical data (e.g., self-report surveys, statistics on how frequently a publication is cited in the literature) or from the personal experience of a prominent individual in the field.
Use the select resources below as a starting point for further study in this area.
Goodwin, C. J. (2010). Annotated readings in the history of modern psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
Hartley, J., & Ho, Y. S. (2015). Classic papers in psychology: From theory to practice. Teaching Review, 21(1), 73–75.
Higbee, K. L. (1975). Psychological classics: Publications that have made lasting and significant contributions. American Psychologist, 30(2), 182–194.
Sundberg, N. D. (1960). Basic readings in psychology. American Psychologist, 15(6), 343–345.
Watson, R. I., Sr. (1979). Basic writings in the history of psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Robert Solso and colleagues have published an interesting series of articles that list enduring texts in psychology from survey data gathered from faculty members at graduate schools in psychology.
Solso, R. (1987). Recommended readings in psychology over the past 33 years. American Psychologist, 42(12), 1130–1132.
Solso, R. (1979). Twenty-five years of recommended readings in psychology. American Psychologist, 34(8), 703–705.
Solso, R. (1971). Recommended readings in psychology during the past 17 years. American Psychologist, 26(12), 1083–1084.
Solso, R. L., & Johnson, J. E. (1967). A survey of recommended readings in psychology. Psychological Reports, 20, 855–857.
http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/
Dr. Christopher Green maintains an extensive list of classic publications in the history of psychology that is searchable by author or by topic. Dr. Green is a prominent author, researcher and historian of psychology.
Secondary Publications
Secondary Publications
The select resources below represent scholarship in the history of psychology as a whole. For each resource listed, every effort has been made to accurately cite bibliographic information.
Early Publications
These may be difficult to locate but are well worth the effort, if only because these histories are actually part of the history of psychology itself. In addition, a historical record that an author writes about an event close in time to the actual event itself provides a perspective that is not possible to obtain when an author writes at a much later point in time about the same event. See a sample below:
Annin, E. L., Boring, E. G., & Watson, R. I. (1968). Important psychologists, 1600–1967. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 4, 303–315.
Boring, E. G. (1950). A history of experimental psychology. (2nd ed.). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
First published in 1929, this classic publication is useful as an early history and as an example of a historical work that hasbeen re-evaluated by contemporary authors.Brett, G. S. (1963). Psychology ancient and modern. New York: Cooper Square.
Brett, G. S. (1912–1921). A history of psychology. (Vols. 1–3). London: Allen. Reprinted many times.
Heidbreder, E. (1933). Seven psychologies. New York: Century.
Herrnstein, R. J., & Boring, E. G. (Eds). (1965). A source book in the history of psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Klein, D. B. (1970). A history of scientific psychology: Its origins and philosophical backgrounds. New York: Basic Books.
A comprehensive work that delves into the philosophical origins of psychology more deeply than in an introductory text.
Misiak, H., & Sexton, V. S. (1968). History of psychology: An overview. (2nd ed.). New York: Grune & Stratton.
Misiak, H. (1961). The philosophical roots of scientific psychology. New York: Fordham University Press.
Useful and readable work that offers a concise introduction to philosophies from which scientific psychology emerged.Murphy, G. (1949). Historical introduction to modern psychology. (Rev. ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace. Reprinted many times.
Pillsbury, W. B. (1929). The history of psychology. New York: W. W. Norton.
Rand, B. (1912). Classical psychologists: Selections illustrating psychology from Anaxagoras to Wundt. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Spearman, C. E. (1937). Psychology down the ages. (Vols. 1–2). London: Macmillan & Company.
Watson, R. I. (1974–1976). Eminent contributors to psychology: A bibliography of primary references. (Vols. 1–2). New York: Springer.Watson, R. I. (1968). The great psychologists from Aristotle to Freud. (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.
Surveys the philosophers, physiologists, and psychologists whose ideas and scientific activities significantly influenced the emergence and growth of psychology.
Woodworth, R. S., & Sheehan, M. R. (1964). Contemporary schools of psychology. (3rd ed.). New York: Ronald Press.
Devotes three chapters to behaviorism and includes chapters on associationism and Soviet schools of thought.
EXPERIMENTATION • NOTEWORTHY STUDIES
See resources below for historical scholarship on noteworthy studies and the nature of psychological experimentation itself.
Danziger, K. (1990). Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Explores the way in which psychological research was conducted during the early to mid-twentieth century. Most useful for readers already familiar with the intellectual history of psychology.Hock, R. R. (2015). Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of psychological research. (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Lemov, R. (2005). The world as laboratory: Experiments with mice, mazes, and men. New York: Hill and Wang.
Mook, D. G. (2016). Classic experiments in psychology. (2nd ed. rev.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Morawski, J. G. (Ed.). (1988). The rise of experimentation in American psychology. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Other
Benjamin, L. T., Jr. (Ed.). (2009). A history of psychology: Original sources and contemporary research. (3rd ed.). New York: Blackwell Publishing.
Collection of historically significant original publications (annotated) in psychology and contemporary interpretations of those publications.Benjamin, L. T., Jr. (Ed.). (1993). A history of psychology in letters. Dubuque, IA: Brown & Benchmark.
Benjamin, L. T., Jr., et al. (1989). A history of American psychology in notes and news 1883–1945: An index to journal sources. Bibliographies in the history of psychology and psychiatry (Vol. 5). Millwood, NY: Kraus International Publications.
Hilgard, E. R. (Ed.). (1978). American psychology in historical perspective: Addresses of the presidents of the American Psychological Association, 1892–1977. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Popplestone, J. A., & McPherson, M. W. (1999). An illustrated history of American psychology. (2nd ed.). Akron, OH: University of Akron Press.
Street, W. R. (1994). A chronology of noteworthy events in American psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Viney, W., Wertheimer, M., & Wertheimer, M. L. (1979). History of psychology: A guide to information sources. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Co.
Watson, R. I. (1978). The history of psychology and the behavioral sciences: A bibliographic guide. New York: Springer.
Zusne, L. (1975). Names in the history of psychology: A biographical sourcebook. Oxford: Hemisphere.
Journals
History of Psychology. Published by the American Psychological Association as the official journal of the Society for the History of Psychology (American Psychological Association Division 26). Content includes refereed articles concerning historical perspectives on psychological topics, the intersection of psychology with other disciplines, and individuals influential in the discipline’s development.
Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. A peer-reviewed publication of the American Psychological Association and the official journal of the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (American Psychological Association Division 24). Content represents the intersection of psychology and philosophy.
History of the Human Sciences. Peer-reviewed coverage includes the history of the humanities, social, behavioral and biological sciences and interdisciplinary fields such as neuroscience.
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (associated with the European Society for the History of the Human Sciences) is published as a peer-reviewed journal concerning the history of the social and behavioral sciences within a variety of contexts, e.g., technology, culture.
Revista de Historia de la Psicologia (The Journal of the History of Psychology) is a Spanish- and English-language publication affiliated with the Spanish Society for the History of Psychology.
Societies
Website for the Society for the History of Psychology, a division (26) within the American Psychological Association, whose members’ professional interests include the study of the development of psychology as a science, practice, and academic discipline. Offers links to teaching and learning resources, including short, topical videos.
Forum for History of Human Science promotes relationships among historians of the natural sciences and historians of the behavioral and social sciences. Site includes links to related groups, teaching resources, and noteworthy publications.
The European Society for the History of the Human Sciences is a forum for international and multidisciplinary study of the history of human sciences, including psychology, sociology, and political science. Maintains links to resources across different disciplines, such as psychology, neuroscience, and psychiatry.
Cheiron: The International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences promotes historical study across the behavioral and social sciences and its website offers links to information specific to psychology, such as websites and blogs.
Membership of the International Union of Psychological Science represents many countries worldwide and its site offers history of psychology resources, including archives, images, and a timeline.
The Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences promotes scholarship in a variety of subfields through its laboratories, one of which is the History of Psychology and Historical Psychology. The site includes information about its publications.
The History Section of the German Psychological Society hosts a German-language site that includes lists of recent publications in the history of psychology and links to research resources in Germany.
Sociedad Española de Historia de la Psicología (Spanish Society for the History of Psychology) hosts a Spanish-language site that includes resources.
Sociedade Brasileira de História de Psicologia (Brazilian Society of History of Psychology) hosts a Portuguese-language site that includes resources.
The British Psychological Society, History and Philosophy of Psychology Section maintains a website that is a forum for its membership.
The Canadian Psychological Association Section on History and Philosophy includes past bulletins with informative articles.
The International Society for Theoretical Psychology provides a forum for discussing contemporary psychological issues in the context of the relationship between theoretical psychology and both the history of psychology and the philosophy of knowledge. Its site links to related organizations and a library of its newsletters.
Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, Division 24 within the American Psychological Association. Its focus is issues relevant to both psychology and philosophy, some of which are an integral part of the history of psychology.
Collections, News, And Archives
MUSEUMS • LIBRARIES • RESEARCH INSTITUTES • AUDIO AND VIDEO
The archival collection of the American Psychological Association holds images, classic books, documents, tests, and films relevant to psychology and its history at its facility in Washington, DC.
Archives of the History of American Psychology at Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Akron. The collection is searchable via an online database and includes scientific instruments, books, documents, videos, audio recordings, images, psychological tests.
The Wellcome Collection is a London museum with contemporary and historic exhibits related to the relationships between medicine and society. The site describes its exhibits (some of which touch on topics relevant to the history of psychology, including consciousness, neuroscience, and brain anatomy) and contains resources such as images and material to download.
The Science Museum in London hosts a website with resources to explore its science-themed exhibits, some of which are relevant to the histories of medicine and psychology. The exhibit Mind Maps: Stories from Psychology is closed but the site displays images and text about it.
The Psychology Museum at the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney holds collections of early laboratory and mental testing apparatus as well as intriguing cartoons and pamphlets that express historical public commentary on psychological topics. Images of these collections are displayed on the website
The Adolf Würth Center for History of Psychology at the University of Würzburg in Germany maintains collections of publications, instrumentation, tests, audio and visual material, and military material relevant to the history of psychology. The website displays information about its collections in a variety of formats, such as images and 3D animations of laboratory apparatus, and computer animations and short films of psychological experiments (some in German) conducted by scholars such as Kurt Lewin and Hermann von Helmholtz.
The Psychology Historical Research Archive is affiliated with the University of Hagen in German, a state-maintained distance teaching university. Its collection includes psychological tests and documentation and its website displays images and descriptions of its collection of psychological apparatus.
The Association for Psychological Science offers videotaped interviews with important figures in the history of psychology as part of a series titled Inside the Psychologist’s Studio. The site’s search tool can yield articles and news relevant to the history of psychology that are drawn from the association’s Observer publication.
Online domain of educational videos that have been culled from online sources like YouTube and produced by organizations such as PBS, universities, and the BBC. Searchable content ranges from humorous animations to university lectures and is organized by category (the categories Science, History and Philosophy, and Religion and Ethics contain videos relevant to psychology and its history).
The Top Documentary Films site hosts short documentary videos organized by categories that include Philosophy, History, Psychology, Science, Technology, and Society. Content is contemporary but some topics have been relevant to psychology throughout its history, such as the nature of reality, the brain, mind, and individual differences.
The website for this mainstream publication includes text articles, and short videos and podcasts on contemporary topics relevant to all sciences and also to psychology. Its page titled ‘Mind’ focuses on Behavior & Society, Cognition, Mental Health, Neurological Health, and Neuroscience.
The website for the British Broadcasting Company offers contemporary, science-themed presentations with short embedded videos. Of relevance to history of psychology are presentations about the brain and the human body.
The website for the Public Broadcasting Service displays clips and sometimes full-length videos that it has broadcast, including ones relevant to science and history.
National Public Radio (NPR) maintains a site with a directory of broadcast radio program podcasts relevant to science and medicine, including Invisibilia and Hidden Brain.
The program 60-Second Mind is a series of commentary podcasts on contemporary brain and behavior research.
The Open Mind is a series of public affairs interviews broadcast beginning in 1956 by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The site displays videos of both recently broadcast and archived episodes. Browsing by category or guest yields interviews with eminent figures in the history of psychology.
The website for the National Academy of Sciences hosts podcasts (e.g., interviews with prominent scientists) and short videos relevant to the science and its history.
Dr. Christopher Green maintains a series of highly topical, podcast interviews. Prominent scholars in the history of psychology engage in casual conversation on subjects such as G. S. Hall, Max Wertheimer and Stanley Milgram’s obedience studies.
The Library of Congress serves as the national library of the United States and its collections are searchable.
Internet Archive is a non-profit online library with material in a variety of formats including images, texts, films, and audio recordings. Searchable for historically significant works by individuals across disciplines.
The Hathi Trust Digital Library site displays “content from a variety of sources, including Google, the Internet Archive, Microsoft, and in-house partner institution initiatives.” It is searchable and results can be filtered in a variety of ways, for example, place of publication and source material type.
Project Gutenberg is an online resource that provides access to free electronic books, or eBooks that are both academic and non-academic. Coverage includes popular titles in areas such as psychology, philosophy, science, education, and social science. Browsing each category may yield works important to the history of psychology.
Exploring and Collecting History Online (ECHO) is an online guide to thousands of websites relevant to the histories of science, technology, and industry maintained at George Mason University. Search or browse by discipline (e.g., medicine and behavioral science), time period or type of source material (e.g. video, audio, artifacts).
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTATION
The Behavioral Apparatus Virtual Museum, sponsored by Aubrey Daniels International. Content includes images and information about scientific instruments integral to the study of behavior. Collections are arranged in “rooms” organized thematically (e.g., one is devoted to the presentation of stimuli).
University of Toronto Scientific Instruments Collection. Descriptions and images available online for collections of scientific apparatus from a variety of disciplines, including psychology.
The Barnard College Psychology Department History of Psychology Collection website provides images and descriptions of documents and instruments from the department’s archives.
The website of the Museum of the History of Psychological Instrumentation at Montclair University includes images and descriptions of psychological instrumentation reproduced from a manufacturer’s catalog (created and maintained by Edward J. Haupt and Thomas B. Perera).
The Scientific Instrument Society promotes the preservation of scientific instruments among professionals from a variety of backgrounds. Sponsors an official bulletin and site includes a reading list.
The Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, England maintains a collection of early scientific instruments, including ones relevant to psychology. The site contains searchable images of the collections as well as a database of its library holdings that date from 1476.
OTHER
The Advances in the History of Psychology website maintains a comprehensive set of resources, including lists of bibliographies (e.g., histories of feminist psychology and American Functionalism), a blog, and links to journals, societies, and podcasts.
Research resources for the history of psychology compiled by Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr., PhD, author, researcher, professor, and historian of psychology.
The Teaching of Psychology Idea Exchange website is maintained by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (Division 2 of the American Psychological Association). Provides links to information about the history of psychology (and other fields within psychology) in a variety of formats: video and audio material, books and films, and current events.