I will begin with an invention I just learned about last semester in my History of Psychology course. It was a contraption known as a "Skinner Box" invented by the famous B.F. Skinner.
The purpose of the so-called "Skinner Box," (which was actually called the "heir conditioner") was to be an improvement from the regular crib made for babies. The Skinner Box controlled air temperature, made cleaning easier, and was soundproof, in that the baby could sleep through the night peacefully without having any outside noises to disturb him/her. The invention received both positive and negative reviews, but due to the media's negative view of the box, it was doomed to fail.
Another device that has been used to catapult psychology into the future is an x-ray machine used to take images of the brain's ventricles. According to the picture below, the machine appeared to "somersault" in order to take these images. In future blogs, I will be covering machines similar to the x-ray that are popularly used today to take more accurate pictures.
The brain is a very complicated structure, therefore, I will be looking at many other examples of technology that have focused on the brain. In addition to machines such as x-ray machines and MRIs, I will look at how focus on the brain even started. With that said, it is important to note that a man by the name of Abulcasis is known as the father of of modern surgery. One of his first surgeries involved cutting open a brain and analyzing its parts.
These are only just a few of the things I will be pointing out. History has definitely made its mark on the psychological world, especially within the medical field. As you will begin to realize after the next few blogs, it is quite difficult to picture our society and the field of psychology as a whole without such technological advancements.
Good background. There are also other technologies that were not so pleasant when it came to measuring brain activity...spooky. :)
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