Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Wilhelm Wundt" - New World
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Wundt subscribed to a "psychophysical parallelism" (which entirely excludes the possibility of a mind-body/cause-effect relationship), which was supposed to stand above both [[materialism]] and [[idealism]]. His [[epistemology]] was an eclectic mixture of the [[idea|ideas]] of [[Baruch Spinoza|Spinoza]], [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz]], [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]], and [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]]. | Wundt subscribed to a "psychophysical parallelism" (which entirely excludes the possibility of a mind-body/cause-effect relationship), which was supposed to stand above both [[materialism]] and [[idealism]]. His [[epistemology]] was an eclectic mixture of the [[idea|ideas]] of [[Baruch Spinoza|Spinoza]], [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz]], [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]], and [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]]. | ||
| − | + | =Wundt's life= | |
| − | Wundt was born August 16, 1832 | + | Wilhelm Wundt was born on August 16, 1832 in Neckarau, in Baden. He was the fourth child in the family. His father was Maximilian Wundt, who was a Lutheran pastor, and his mother was Marie Frederike.Many ancestors on both sides of Wilhelm Wundt’s family were intellectuals, scientists, professors, physicians, and government officials. During his childhood and adolescence, Wundt was allowed only a strict regimen of learning, with little time of play or idleness. This kind of upbringing produced a rather dour person, totally committed to intellectual endeavors of systematic type and a prolific nature. At the age of thirteen, Wundt began his formal education at a Catholic Gymnasium. The German gymnasium of the nineteenth century was a college preparatory high school, and the entrance was typically restricted to the sons of middle-class intellectuals. The German university system also was highly unique. One had to obtain the usual doctorate and then a second, higher level doctorate before one could teach. |
| − | + | From 1851 to 1856 Wilhelm Wundt studied at Tübingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. After graduating in [[medicine]] from the [[University of Heidelberg]] in 1856, Wundt studied briefly with [[Johannes Peter Müller|Johannes Müller]] before joining the University of [[Heidelberg]], where he became an assistant to the [[physics|physicist]] and physiologist [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] in 1858. There he wrote ''Contributions to the Theory of Sense Perception'' (1858-62). He married Sophie Mau, while at [[Heidelberg]]. | |
| − | + | It was during this period that Wundt offered the first course ever taught in scientific psychology, stressing the use of experimental [[scientific method|methods]] drawn from the [[natural sciences]]. His lectures on psychology were published as ''Lectures on the Mind of Humans and Animals'' (1863). He was promoted to Assistant Professor of Physiology, in 1864. | |
| − | In 1875 | + | In 1874, Wundt published Grundzüge der physiologischen Psychologie (Principles of Physiological Psychology), which became a standard textbook of the science. This work in its many editions profounded the central tenets of Wundt’s experimental psychology and advanced a system of psychology that sought to investigate the immediate experiences of consciousness, including sensations, feelings, [[volition|volitions]], [[apperception]], and [[idea|ideas]]. |
| + | |||
| + | In 1875, Wundt took up a position at the [[University of Leipzig]], and in 1879, set up the first psychological laboratory in the world. Two years later, in 1881, he founded “Philosophische Studien” ('Philosophical Studies), a journal to report the experimental studies of his laboratory. The list of Wundt’s students includes the names of many of the founders of psychological systems in Germany, throughout Europe, and in America. The vast majority of Wundt’s students deviated from his conception of psychology to varying extents. | ||
| + | |||
| + | During the years at Leipzig, Wundt supervised 186 doctoral dissertations in various disciplines and taught over 24,000 students. In 1900, Wundt began a massive undertaking, the publication of his masterwork, ''Völkerpsychologie'' (Folk Psychology), which was completed only in 1920, the year of his death. In this 10-volumed work Wundt believed he developed the other half of psychology, the study of man in cultural and societal surrounding as opposed to man as an individual in the laboratory. | ||
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An [[optical illusion]] described by him is called Wundt illusion. | An [[optical illusion]] described by him is called Wundt illusion. | ||
Revision as of 22:59, 28 September 2006
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (August 16, 1832–August 31, 1920) was a German physiologist and psychologist. He is generally acknowledged as a founder of experimental psychology and cognitive psychology. He is less commonly recognised as a founding figure in social psychology, however, the later years of Wundt's life were spent working on Völkerpsychologie which he understood as a study into the social basis of higher mental functioning.
Wundt combined philosophical introspection with techniques and laboratory apparatuses brought over from his physiological studies with Helmholtz, as well as many of his own design. This experimental introspection was in contrast to what had been called psychology until then, a branch of philosophy where people introspected themselves. Wundt argued that "we learn little about our minds from casual, haphazard self-observation...It is essential that observations be made by trained observers under carefully specified conditions for the purpose of answering a well-defined question." (Principles of Physiological Psychology, translated by Edward Titchener, 1904)
The methods Wundt used are still used in modern psychophysical work, where reactions to systematic presentations of well-defined external stimuli are measured in some way—reaction time, reactions, comparison with graded colors or sounds, and so forth. His chief method of investigation was called "introspection" in the terminology of the time, though "observation" may be a better translation.
Wundt subscribed to a "psychophysical parallelism" (which entirely excludes the possibility of a mind-body/cause-effect relationship), which was supposed to stand above both materialism and idealism. His epistemology was an eclectic mixture of the ideas of Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant, and Hegel.
Wundt's life
Wilhelm Wundt was born on August 16, 1832 in Neckarau, in Baden. He was the fourth child in the family. His father was Maximilian Wundt, who was a Lutheran pastor, and his mother was Marie Frederike.Many ancestors on both sides of Wilhelm Wundt’s family were intellectuals, scientists, professors, physicians, and government officials. During his childhood and adolescence, Wundt was allowed only a strict regimen of learning, with little time of play or idleness. This kind of upbringing produced a rather dour person, totally committed to intellectual endeavors of systematic type and a prolific nature. At the age of thirteen, Wundt began his formal education at a Catholic Gymnasium. The German gymnasium of the nineteenth century was a college preparatory high school, and the entrance was typically restricted to the sons of middle-class intellectuals. The German university system also was highly unique. One had to obtain the usual doctorate and then a second, higher level doctorate before one could teach.
From 1851 to 1856 Wilhelm Wundt studied at Tübingen, Heidelberg, and Berlin. After graduating in medicine from the University of Heidelberg in 1856, Wundt studied briefly with Johannes Müller before joining the University of Heidelberg, where he became an assistant to the physicist and physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz in 1858. There he wrote Contributions to the Theory of Sense Perception (1858-62). He married Sophie Mau, while at Heidelberg.
It was during this period that Wundt offered the first course ever taught in scientific psychology, stressing the use of experimental methods drawn from the natural sciences. His lectures on psychology were published as Lectures on the Mind of Humans and Animals (1863). He was promoted to Assistant Professor of Physiology, in 1864.
In 1874, Wundt published Grundzüge der physiologischen Psychologie (Principles of Physiological Psychology), which became a standard textbook of the science. This work in its many editions profounded the central tenets of Wundt’s experimental psychology and advanced a system of psychology that sought to investigate the immediate experiences of consciousness, including sensations, feelings, volitions, apperception, and ideas.
In 1875, Wundt took up a position at the University of Leipzig, and in 1879, set up the first psychological laboratory in the world. Two years later, in 1881, he founded “Philosophische Studien” ('Philosophical Studies), a journal to report the experimental studies of his laboratory. The list of Wundt’s students includes the names of many of the founders of psychological systems in Germany, throughout Europe, and in America. The vast majority of Wundt’s students deviated from his conception of psychology to varying extents.
During the years at Leipzig, Wundt supervised 186 doctoral dissertations in various disciplines and taught over 24,000 students. In 1900, Wundt began a massive undertaking, the publication of his masterwork, Völkerpsychologie (Folk Psychology), which was completed only in 1920, the year of his death. In this 10-volumed work Wundt believed he developed the other half of psychology, the study of man in cultural and societal surrounding as opposed to man as an individual in the laboratory.
An optical illusion described by him is called Wundt illusion.
The Wundt illusion is an optical illusion that was first described by the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt in the 19th century. The two red horizontal lines are both straight, but they look as if they are bowed inwards. The distortion is induced by the crooked lines on the background, as in Orbison's illusion. Hering illusion produces a similar, but inverted effect.
Another variant of the Wundt illusion is the Horizontal-Vertical Illusion, introduced by Wundt on 1858. The two intersecting lines are equal in length although the vertical line appears to be much longer. The horizontal line needs to be extended up to 30% to match the perceptual length of the vertical line. This is not confined to simple line drawings, as this can also be seen in buildings, parking meters, as well as other things viewed in a natural setting.
Wundt's Impact
Several of Wundt's students became eminent psychologists in their own right:
- James McKeen Cattell, the first professor of psychology in the United States
- Edward Bradford Titchener, founded the first psychology laboratory in the United States at Cornell University.
- Charles Spearman, the English psychologist who developed the two-factor theory of intelligence and several important statistical analyses (cf factor analysis, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.
- Oswald Külpe at the University of Würzburg
- Hugo Munsterberg at Harvard (industrial psychology)
- G. Stanley Hall, the father of the child psychology movement and adolescent developmental theorist.
- Lightner Witmer, founder of the first U.S. psychological clinic.
- Charles Hubbard Judd, Director of the School of Education at the University of Chicago.
Wundt's laboratory students called their approach Ganzheit Psychology ("holistic psychology") following Wundt's death.
Much of Wundt's work was derided mid-century in America because of a lack of adequate translations, misrepresentations by certain students, and behaviorism's bias against the structuralist program. Titchener, a two-year resident of Wundt's lab and one of Wundt's most vocal "proponents" in the United States, is responsible for several English translations and mistranslations of Wundt's works that supported his own views and approach, which he termed structuralism and claimed was wholly consistent with Wundt's position.
Titchener's focus on internal structures of mind was rejected by Skinnerian behaviorists, who dominated psychological studies in the mid century. Part of this rejection included Wundt, whose work fell into eclipse during this period. It is only in the late twentieth century that his true positions and techniques have seen reconsideration and reassessment by major American psychologists.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Works by Wundt
Die Lehre von der Muskelbewegung (1858); Beiträge zur Theorie der Sinneswahrnehmung (1862); Vorlesungen über die Menschen- und Tierseele (1863), English translation, Lectures on Human and Animal Psychology; Lehrbuch der Physiologie des Menschen (1865); Die physikalischen Aœiome und ihre Beziehung zum Kausalprincip (1866); Handbuch der medizinischen Physik (1867); Untersuchungen zur Mechanik der Nerven und Nervencentren (1871-76); Der Spiritismus, eine sogenannte wissenschaftliche Frage (1879); Logik, eine Untersuchung der Principien der Erkenntnis und der Methode wissenschaftlicher Forschung (1880-83); Essays (1885); Ethik, eine Untersuchung der Thatsachen und Gesetze des sittlichen Lebens (1886), English translation, Ethics: An Investigation of the Facts and Laws of the Moral Life; Zur Moral der literarischen Kritik (1887); System der Philosophie (1889); Hypnotismus und Suggestion (1892); Grundriss der Psychologie (1896), English translation, Outlines of Psychology; Völkerpsychologie, eine Untersuchung der Entwicklungsgesetze von Sprache, Mythus, und Sitte (1900); Einleitung in die Philosophie (1901); Sprachgeschichte und Sprachpsychologie (1901); Festrede zur fünfhundert jährigen Jubelfeier der Universität Leipzig (1909); Principien der mechanischen Naturlehre (1910); Kleine Schriften (1910); Probleme der Völkerpsychologie (1911); Einführung in die Psychologie (1911), English translation, Introduction to Psychology; Elemente der Völkerpsychologie (1912); Reden und Aufsätze (1913); Anfänge der Phylosophie und die Philosophie der primitiven Völker (1913); Sinnliche und übersinnliche Welt (1914); Deutschland im Lichte des neutralen und des feindlichen Auslandes (1915); Die Nationen und ihre Philosophie (1915).
- W. Wundt, Beiträge zur Theorie der Sinneswahrnehmung, Leipzig, 1862.
- W. Wundt, Grundzüge der physiologischen Psychologie, first edition, 2 volumes, 1873-4. [scanned source]
- W. Wundt, Vorlesungen über die Menschen und Thierseele, Leipzig, 1893.
- W. Wundt, Grundriss der Psychologie, Leipzig, 1896.
- W. Wundt, Grundzüge der physiologischen Psychologie, fifth edition, 4 volumes, 1903.
- W. Wundt, Völkerpsychologie, 10 volumes, Leipzig, 1900-1920.lb
External links
- Detailed study by Alan Kim at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Principles of Physiological Psychology.
- Outlines of Psychology.
- Wilhelm Wundt - Father of Psychology.
- Biography and bibliography in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
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