When did psychology begin?

Psychology began in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first exclusive psychology laboratory in Leipzig. Wundt's laboratory conducted experiments related to matters in experimental psychology. He was the first person to refer to himself as a psychologist and wrote the first book on psychology.

Although 1879 marks the year that psychology as an individual science began, it had long been a branch of philosophy. Rene Descartes lived from 1596 to 1650 and is known for his Cartesian Dualism that states while the mind and body are different, the mind can influence the body and the body can influence the mind.