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Wilhelm Wundt Von Helmholtz

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Wilhelm Wundt Von Helmholtz W Wilhelm Wundt von Helmholtz. While there, he authored Beiträge zur Theorie der Sinneswahrnehmung [Contribu- Yzar S. Wehbe and Todd K. Shackelford tions to the Theory of Sense Perception] – Department of Psychology, Oakland University, published in 1862. In this book, he challenged Rochester, MI, USA the dominant ideas of the physiologists and phi- losophers of the time by arguing that the study of the psyche can be a science if done experimen- Preface tally. Wundt also presented the first course on the topic of psychological science, which had been This entry relies heavily on the following three considered a branch of philosophy and had been books: (1) Wundt and the Philosophical Founda- studied primarily via rational analysis. Wundt tions of Psychology: A Reappraisal (Araujo turned his course of psychology into a book titled, 2016), which provides a philosophical history of Lectures on the Mind of Humans and Animals. His Wundt’s ideas on psychology, (2) Wilhelm Wundt career spanned about 65 years, and he graduated in History: The Making of a Scientific Psychology 186 doctoral students. He was thrice nominated (Rieber and Robinson 2001), and (3) The Story of for a Nobel Prize. Wundt was extraordinarily pro- Psychology (Hunt 2007). These three references lific – his published work spans an estimated substantially overlap on the facts about Wundt 53,000 pages (Kim 2016). featured in this entry. Other references are cited as needed. Psychological Science’s Beginnings Biography and Impact In 1879, at the University of Leipzig, Wundt founded the first official laboratory for psycholog- Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (1832–1920) was a ical research, which became known as The Insti- German physiologist and psychologist generally tute for Experimental Psychology. In 1881, he known as one of the founders of scientific psy- formed the first academic journal for psychologi- chology. After earning a medical degree at the cal research, Philosophische Studien [Philosophi- University of Heidelber, and studying briefly cal Studies], which published the institute’s with Johannes Müller, he was employed as a research. The institute attracted a large number lecturer in physiology at the University of Heidel- of faculty and students who, in turn, became berg, where he became an assistant to the prominent figures in psychology across the renowned physicist and physiologist Hermann globe, including Emil Kraepelin, G. Stanley © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 J. Vonk, T. K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1994-1 2 Wilhelm Wundt Hall, and James McKeen Cattel. His textbooks example, three key propositions that he later aban- influenced the first two generations of American doned or toned down were: (a) all mental acts are psychologists and their students, until the 1920s, structured by logical rules, (b) unconscious pro- when interest in Wundtian psychology began to cesses are key, and (c) – linking the first two wane. Wundt wrote on many subjects, despite his principles – the idea that the mind makes “uncon- belief that most could not be adequately empiri- scious inferences” by constructing more complex cally tested. It was typical of Wundt to compare representations based on, for example, data from and contrast his ideas with those of other schools sensory perception. While Wundt appreciated that of thought, both new and old. For these reasons, his theory of unconscious inferences had been Wundt could be considered an encyclopedist. adopted by Helmholtz, he did not agree with the manner of its application, since Helmholtz only used it to explain visual illusions, whereas Wundt The Wundtian Method had argued it to be essential for a psychological explanation of the perception of space. For more From the modest beginnings of physiological psy- on the relationship between Wundt and Helm- chology, he created a unique methodology for holtz, see the section titled “Wilhelm Wundt psychology – one that served as a model for 1832–1920” in another entry in this encyclopedia psychologists for decades. Wundt placed a nota- “Hermann von Helmholtz” (Thomas this volume, ble emphasis on studies involving reaction time p. 14). measurements. Although measurement of reac- Wundt’s abandonment of these three proposi- tion time was already taking place in physiology, tions shaped his most influential text, Grundzüge his examination of consciously organized tempo- der Physiologischen Psychologie [Fundamentals ral processing was a unique addition. of Physiological Psychology], in which he argues Wundt’s favored methodology was introspec- that we need an account of the experiencer of tion, or the inward examination of conscious psychology based on conscious experience. experience. Wundtian introspection is more nar- Wundt believed that even though immediate ele- rowly defined compared to how the term is often mentary experiences were caused by particular used today. Wundtian introspection involved stimuli, conscious experience had its own type observing the reactions of participants subjected of causation – ideas that build on one another to stimuli such as lights, colors, and sounds. according to specific laws. Wundt named these Although Wundt had claimed in Contributions laws, which were his conceptualizations of asso- that the psyche could be studied empirically and ciation, judgment, creativity, and memory. quantitatively, he subsequently believed this to be Actions resulting from more complex mental pro- true only for the basic elements of consciousness – cesses are acts of will or volition. Wundt believed sensations, perceptions, and feelings, as well as that these volitional processes are the products of the associations among them. Helmholtz and an experiencer who actively chooses to think, others had conducted similar experiments, though speak, and act in certain ways. While this theory these were limited to studying manifest behaviors. no longer plays a key role in contemporary psy- Wundt’s contribution was the use of introspection chology, it was part of Wundt’s attempt to move to gather quantitative information about non- away from the automatism of mechanistic psy- behavioral conscious experiences. chology and toward what he regarded as a more complete model. Wundtian Psychology Wundt’s Animal Psychology Many of Wundt’s theories and conceptualizations were subject to his own revisions, and many of the Wundt considered animal psychology a fitting major revisions involved the topic of volition. For topic for ruminations, philosophies, and informal Wilhelm Wundt 3 experiments (including some that he lectured on It is not uncommon to see quotes from works featuring his poodle) but did not allow any work by Wundt in which he communicated great appre- with animals in his laboratory because no data ciation for Darwin’s contributions, but when read based on introspection could be obtained. In an in context, one finds that they are often followed idea reminiscent of Aristotle’s Scala Naturae, by a rejection of a basic premise of Darwinian Wundt believed that humans are at the pinnacle evolution (that evolution is driven by blind forces of a progressive evolution, and that animals may that lack foresight) and instead endorse a view of therefore be helpful insofar as they represent a evolution that accords with German idealistic phi- precursor to the human mind. In his autobiogra- losophy (directed by teleological rather than phy, he commented that his studies of animals in mechanistic causal forces). For example, Wundt the book Lectures on the Mind of Humans and claimed that the theory of natural selection Animals were superficial and that they had been expresses a teleological rather than a causal prin- included due to his interest in Darwinism at ciple, and that in calling variations on which nat- the time. ural selection operates “accidental,” Darwin had In Wundt’s Völkerpsychologie [People’s Psy- repudiated his own attempt at providing a causal chology], a 10-volume nonempirical investigation explanation. of social psychological phenomena, he hypothe- sized that volitional mental processes reflected advanced evolution, and that these abilities are Conclusion what render humans intellectually superior to other animals. Specifically, he argued that the Wundt’s writings reveal deep and wide-ranging human capacity for selective attention is what interests (culture, art, law, language, history, reli- facilitated intellectual progress and the develop- gion) which have long been overlooked, partly ment of human culture. Without these abilities, due to the fact that most of his works have never Wundt believed that humans would be buffeted been translated into English. A recent digitization about aimlessly by sporadic thoughts, memories, of his corpus may revive interest in his vast col- and perceptions. lection of papers and books (Meyer et al. 2017). When Wundt first became preoccupied with Wundt was not merely a compiler of volumes, explaining human and animal movement, the dif- despite popular descriptions that portray him this ference between action and movement prompted way. Less known facts about Wundt include his extensive research and debate with highly influ- lack of adherence to a positivistic approach, his ential researchers such as Alexander Bain and arguments for the idea that psychology and phi- Hermann Lotze. All three were indebted to the losophy are intertwined, and importantly, his view earlier work of physiologist Johannes Müller. that Völkerpsychologie (essentially, social psy- Unlike Bain and
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