Beyond Wundt and James: A global origin story of psychological science.

Canonized in psychological scholarship is a specific narrative about the origins of psychological science. A widespread presumption is that psychological science radiated from the United States and Germany outwards to other regions that centers William James and Wilhelm Wundt. However, broader evidence, drawing from the medieval Arab world and from later instantiations of laboratory psychology in Japan, China, India, and Argentina, demonstrates innovation in other world regions. These works are almost entirely absent from the canon of scholars associated with the birth of psychological science, yet their impact, like that of James and Wundt, has endured for over a century. The paper analyzes how the prevailing narrative describing the genesis of psychological science has been an organizing factor in the field. Recognizing a broader genealogy recognizes the accomplishments of psychological pioneers around the world, articulates the range of impacts that psychological science can achieve, and expands the hypothesis space of the discipline.