I ndia, Psychology in

Abstract Beginning early in the twentieth century, psychology emerged as one of the most popular professional disciplines in India. It has deep philosophical roots, far more ancient than one might suspect. In the beginning, modern Indian psychology was influenced mainly by the Wundt–Titchener tradition, which was introduced by N. N. Sengupta at Calcutta University in 1915. At about this same time, G. Bose (1886–1953) was instrumental in initiating a postgraduate course of study in psychoanalysis at this very same university. Psychoanalysis subsequently took firm roots in Indian soil when Bose established the Indian Psychoanalytical Society in 1921 in Calcutta. In the south, M. V. Gopalaswamy (1896–1957), a protégé of Spearman, instituted efforts to standardize tests of higher mental functions on the basis of Western constructs. He also spearheaded an independent Department of Clinical Psychology at the All‐India Institute of Mental Health in 1955 (AIIMH, now called NIMHANS, Bangalore). In this institute, M. V. Govindaswamy (1904–1961) subsequently brought to bear the rigor of Johns Hopkins University in the United States and the Maudsley Hospital in London in the education and training of qualified clinical psychologists in India.