Many great thinkers from history were interested in questions that today would be called "psychological." what did these pre-psychologists have in common with modern psychologists

Psychology is a scientific process to understand the thought process of the human being.  

The common thing between the pre-psychologists and in modern psychologists is the methodology to understand the mental conditions, feeling and emotions of the human being.

Explanation:

In Ancient times, mostly Psychologists were using the Yogic way to understand the feelings and emotions of other's mind but in modern time there are many ways to understand the same things.

We can also use many technological devices to get the psychological conditions of others.

But either in Ancient time or in modern time, the preferred methodology is almost the same.  

a punishment or the threat of punishment used to enforce conformity. enforcement of norms or shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations. social control. not everyone internalizes all of society's norms, and some people must be motivated by self-fulfillment.

chronological thinking is an indispensable tool to structure a historical narrative and to give meaning to a sequence of events. the final section presents the results of a survey to test the chronological thinking of lower secondary school students carried out by the educational research institute.