The 12 most influential psychologists of today
Psychology is a discipline in continuous renovation and its fields of study are practically impossible to access. Considering this, it is normal that every day they are being published new articles and research about the human psyche, our behavior patterns and the biological foundations on which they are anchored.
That is why today the names of professionals in psychology that appear most in the media and in scientific publications are very different from those that appeared twenty, thirty or forty years ago, and possibly they are not the same. classic authors (of which we echoed in the article "The 10 most important psychologists in history") of which is spoken in the faculties of psychology.
If you think that your knowledge about the main personalities in psychology is a bit rusty, this list with the most influential psychologists and psychologists It will be good for you to catch up.
12 referents of current psychology
1. Steven Pinker
One of the most current exponents of the evolutionary psychology . Pinker has talked about the way in which our genetics predispose us towards certain behaviors with a high adaptive value, and has also proposed the idea that language is a product of the evolution of our species carved by natural selection.
2. Paul Ekman
This psychologist is known for his study of the connections between emotional states and the facial expressions that trigger. In fact, his work has inspired a work of fiction starring Tim Roth , TV series Lie to Me.
3. Philip Zimbardo
Zimbardo is known to have directed the famous experiment at Stanford Prison. Since then Zimbardo has been president of the American Psychological Association and he has written and given lectures about the role of context in the moral conduct of human beings, for which he uses case studies such as the Stanford experiment and cases of torture Abu Ghraib .
4. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
Ramachandran is known for his research on the phantom limb and for having invented the mirror box, a simple device that serves to alleviate the pain associated with this phenomenon.
5. Elizabeth Loftus
Elizabeth Loftus has led successful research on human memory , especially as regards the degree to which the criterion of witnesses in a trial can be relied upon. He has provided evidence on how the experiences that are lived alter memories that may seem perfectly reliable.
6. Daniel Kahneman
This researcher of Israeli origin is one of the few psychologists awarded with a Nobel Prize: specifically, that of Economic Sciences. He is specialized in behavioral economics and has found numerous evidences about how the decisions we make in our day to day are guided more by irrational thinking and heuristics than by perfectly logical and rational ways of thinking.
7. Gordon H. Bower
Bower has investigated the relationship between memory and emotions . He has provided evidence on how different emotional states influence the way we remember things, as explained in this article.
8. Albert Bandura
Bandura has been one of the great references of psychology for decades and is currently one of the living psychologists most referenced in books and journal articles. His Theory of Social Learning and Self-efficacy are two of his best-known theoretical constructs.
9. Dan Ariely
Dan Ariely has focused his work on decision-making, deception and self-deception strategies and the irrational styles of thought. He is also a successful author of books in which he explains his way of understanding human behavior and the morality that underlies it. By the way, we have previously recommended one of your books in this list of interesting readings related to psychology.
10. Walter Mischel
Mischel has been one of the main references in the field of personality theory. He has emphasized the need to study both the variables related to personality and the motivations born of interaction with the context to be able to predict with more or less reliability the behavior of individuals.
11. Barbara Fredrickson
Barbara Fredrickson specializes in research on positive psychology and how positive emotions influence behavior following certain patterns.
12. Richard Wiseman
Wiseman originally began by dedicating himself to the world of magic tricks and later went on to study psychology and obtain a PhD in this discipline.He is currently a successful writer with several best sellers behind his back, like Rarology or The Luck Factor. Also, as an ex-magician, part of his publications focus on the processes by which it is easy for mediums and seers to deceive people with ease. As a curiosity, he is the psychologist with the most followers on Twitter.
