Lightner Witmer Little-Known Founder of Clinical Psychology

Home , Lightner Witmer, Outline of psychology

Paul McReynolds University of Nevada-Reno

ABSTRACT." Lightner Witmer inaugurated the first psy- sertation topic, and one on individual differences in re- chological clinic in 1896, and he also took a number of action time. other crucial steps in establishing and defining the field This, then, was the beginning of Witmer's profes- of clinical psychology. Witmer was one of the early group sional career. His position of eminence in the history of of Americans who took their doctorates under Wilhelm psychology derives, of course, from his central role in the Wundt. He was a charter member of the American Psy- establishment and development of clinical psychology. As chological Association and the last to die. Clearly, he is is well known, W i t m e r founded the world's first psycho- an important figure in the history of psychology, yet rel- logical clinic at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896. atively little biographical information about him has been This important event was followed by a n u m b e r of other available. This article summarizes his life and career, ex- pioneering contributions to the clinical area. These in- amines the beginnings of his clinic, and evaluates the sig- clude the explicit call for the establishment of a new field nificance of his contributions. of psychology that would be devoted to helping people and would be known as clinical psychology, the development of the first curriculum in clinical psychology, and Late in the s u m m e r of 1892, Lightner Witmer, then a the founding of the first journal devoted exclusively to young man of 25, returned by steamer from Europe, this new profession. The most important of Witmer's ac- where he had earned a PhD in psychology under Wilhelm complishments, however, was not a specific event, but Wundt. On the way home he stopped in London to present a paper on his dissertation research at the International Congress of Experimental Psychology. I W i t m e r was re- This article is a revision of an invited address of the same title delivered at the APA Convention in Los Angeles, 1983, under the auspices of turning to the University of Pennsylvania, where he had Division 26. It is based on material collected for a full-length biography been assistant to James McKeen Cattell before going to of Witmer, in preparation. The collection of data was supported by a Leipzig. When, in 1891, Cattell had accepted a position grant from the Research Advisory Board of the University of Nevada- at Columbia, it had been agreed that W i t m e r would go Reno. Although the sources are too extensive to list here in their entirety, I especially wish to acknowledge, with deep gratitude, the contributions to Leipzig to work on his doctorate, and, if successful, of the University of Pennsylvania Archives, the Karl Marx University would then return to take over the Pennsylvania labora- (Leipzig) Archives, and the Archives of the History of American Psy- tory. Thus, in the fall of 1892 he began a tenure on the chology at the University of Akron. I am deeply indebted to the De- Pennsylvania faculty that was to last for 45 years. partment of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, in particular to Julius Wishner, who made the microfilms of Witmer's Psychological Witmer's stay at Leipzig followed that of Frank An- Clinic available to me and has been a source of encouragement through- gell and overlapped with that of Edward B. Titchener. In out this project, and to Morris Viteles and Frank Irwin. The extensive the same term that W i t m e r took over the laboratory at contributions of Mildred Sylvester, Genevieve Murphy, Helen Graber, the University of Pennsylvania, Angell inaugurated ex- and Marion Graham were invaluable. The following is an incomplete perimental psychology at the newly founded Stanford listing of additional individuals who generously provided relevant doc- uments or reminiscences relating to Witmer: Whitfield Bell, Jr., Wendell University, and Titchener replaced Angell at Cornell. That Carlson, F. J. Dallett, Margaret Forrest, Helen Joyce, Maryellen Ka- same a u t u m n also saw Miinsterberg begin his tenure at minsky, Charles Latham, Zeta Levin, Olive Logan, Klaus Ludwig, Mar- Harvard. American psychology was taking on a shape ion Mack, John Martin, Ingrid Moore, Scott Nearing, Jay Otis, John that it would hold for many years to come. Popplestone, Sidney Repplier, Marvin Rosen, G. Schwendler, Catherine Parsons Smith, Kinsley Smith, Carolyn Walter, John Walter, Robert I. The American Psychological Association (APA) was Watson, Lucy Fisher West, and Lois Ann Zook. also founded in 1892, and Witmer, along with such other Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Paul early figures as G. Stanley Hall, William James, George McReynolds, Department of Psychology, University of Nevada-Reno, Ladd and Cattell, was one of its charter members. Its first Reno, NV 89557. annual meeting took place at the University of Pennsyl- vania in December of that year, and W i t m e r (1894b) read t This was the second of what came to be designated simply as two papers, one on the aesthetics of visual form, his dis- International Congresses of Psychology.

September 1987 * American Psychologist 849 Copyright 1987 by the American Psychological Assooation, Inc. 0003-066X/87/$00.75 Vol. 42, No. 9, 849-858 overemphais on testing; similarly, he was not in sympathy with the Freudian dynamic model, which later greatly influenced clinical psychology; and finally, he worked mainly with children, whereas the prevailing clinical emphasis since World War II, at least until recently, has b e e n on adult psychotherapy. And third, Witmer seems something of an unknown because he is something of an unknown. It is probable that Witmer is the least documented of all the founders of American psychology. There are no Witmer papers, in the sense of a repository of letters, manuscripts, and memorabilia of the kind that professors typically accumulate over a career, and a detailed biography of him, of the kind available on James, Hall, CatteU, and other contemporaries, does not exist. Biographical Sketch Witmer was born on June 28, 1867, in Philadelphia. He was the eldest of three children, being followed in the family by Albert Ferree and Evelyn. His father, David Lightner Witmer, was a highly successful Germantown pharmacist who had graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1862. His mother was Katherine Huchel, about whom little is known. The name Lightner came, of course, from his father, and indirectly from his paternal great-grandmother, Jane Lightner. The Witmers were descended from Benjamin Weitmer, who came to America from Switzerland in 1716 as a part of the im- migration of what came to be called the Pennsylvania Dutch into the Lancaster area. rather the idea, the insight that the new psychology, which The Witmer family was strongly oriented toward was then in its first flush of excitement as an experimental education. Lightner and his brother Ferree both graduated science, might also be of direct help to people. from Episcopal Academy, an outstanding Philadelphia Despite the significance of Witmer's contributions, prep school, and Evelyn was also sent to private schools. to most psychologists, even those interested in history, he During one year all three Witmer children were connected remains a somewhat shadowy, little-known figure. Most with the University of Pennsylvania at the same time-- of the standard texts in the history of psychology either Lightner as a faculty member, Ferree as a medical student, do not even include his name or refer to him in only a and Evelyn as a biology undergraduate. All three even- perfunctory way. There are, to be sure, a number of briefer tually earned doctoral degrees--Lightner his PhD at treatments of Witmer, of which the accounts provided by Leipzig, Ferree his MD at Pennsylvania, and Evelyn her Collins (1931), French (1984), Garfield (1965), Misiak MD at the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia. and Sexton (1966), O'Donnell (1979), Popplestone and Lightner entered the University of Pennsylvania in McPherson (1984), Sexton (1965), and, in particular, 1884 and graduated in 1888. He made an outstanding Reisman (1976) are recommended. Nevertheless, Wit- record as an undergraduate and was active in literary and mer's relative obscurity can hardly be denied. oratorical pursuits. After receiving his BA, Witmer took How is this fact to be explained? Three possible rea- a position teaching history and English at Rugby Acad- sons may be mentioned. First, histories of psychology, emy, a secondary school in Phildelphia. He stayed there following the model, perhaps, of Boring's (1950) History for two years, and during the first of these he also took of Experimental Psychology, have placed predominant some classes in law at the University of Pennsylvania, emphasis on experimental psychology. Thus, most history with the thought that he might enter that profession. texts devote little if any space to the history of clinical During Witmer's second year at Rugby he also took psychology, despite the fact that it is the largest field of classes in political science at the University. Some time psychology and that Witmer's clinic was founded only 17 during that year he transferred to psychology. This was years after Wundt's laboratory and now lacks less than a due in part, no doubt, to the fact that in this year a man decade of reaching its centennial. Second, Witmer's clin- trained in the new experimental psychology, James ical orientation was one with which prevailing clinical McKeen CatteU, joined the Pennsylvania faculty. Witmer perspectives have often been at variance, a situation un- took work with Cattell, and upon being offered an assis- likely to create strong interest in him. Thus, in the earlier tantship for the following year, he resigned his position part of this century, when intelligence testing constituted at Rugby and entered graduate school full time. Cattell the centerpiece of most clinical work, Witmer decried put Witmer to work gathering data on individual differ-

850 September 1987 9 American Psychologist ences in reaction times. At this point Witmer expected lished an article titled "Practical Work in Psychology" in to obtain his doctorate under Cattell. However, these the journal Pediatrics. Then, in December, at the Boston plans, as already noted, were changed by Cattell's abruptly Meetings of the APA, he delivered a separate paper (Wit- shifting to Columbia, and Witmer's going to Leipzig to mer, 1897) on the same topic. It was in this talk that earn his doctorate. 2 Witmer first employed the term psychological clinic in At Leipzig Witmer not only took courses with public. Wundt, but also studied with Oswald Kulpe, who was By the latter 1890s, Witmer was supervising graduate later to achieve considerable eminence in his own right, students of his own, of whom two will be mentioned here. and with several others, including Ludwig Strumpel, who One, Anna J. McKeag, wrote her dissertation on pain was a prominent pedagogist and follower of Herbart. perception (McKeag, 1902); she was one of the first Witmer's dissertation, on the aesthetic values of varying women to receive the PhD in psychology in America. proportions, was a takeoff on earlier work of Fechner Later she served as president of Wilson College. The other (1876), rather than of Wundt, though the dissertation was student, Edwin B. Twitmyer, studied the patellar reflex supervised by Wundt. Although it has often been said for his dissertation (Twitmyer, 1902), and in the process that Wundt discouraged, and even prohibited, the study discovered, independently of Pavlov, what later came to of individual differences in his laboratory, this general- be known as the conditioned reflex. No one, including ization must be qualified, because Witmer's (1894a) dis- presumably Witmer, as well as William James, who pre- sertation, though it focused on the theoretical issue of the sided at the APA session at which Twitmyer (1905) pre- relation of pleasingness to the ratios of different parts of sented this part of his research, realized the full signifi- figures, much in the tradition of the concept of the golden cance of his finding. Twitmyer joined the Pennsylvania mean, also gave considerable attention to individual dif- faculty and clinic staff and spent his entire career there. ferences and offered some speculations as to the deter- He pioneered the clinical study and treatment of speech minants of such differences. disturbances and in 1914 founded the first formal speech When Witmer returned from Europe he was per- clinic. ceived, and no doubt perceived himself, as strictly an ex- In 1904, Witmer married E m m a Repplier, a socially perimental psychologist in the new mold, though accord- prominent young Philadelphian and a graduate of the ing to a later recollection even while in Europe he had exclusive and highly respected Agnes Irwin School. Emma entertained certain thoughts about the possiblity of what Repplier was the niece of the famous essayist of that pe- later was to be designated as clinical psychology. During riod, Agnes Repplier, and was herself a writer of consid- his first few years on the Pennsylvania faculty, Witmer erable skill. She had been on the staff of the library of taught courses, carried out research, and presented papers the American Philosophical Society and had published in experimental psychology. In fact, his last paper of a two papers on her research there. Witmer himself had strictly experimental type, one on psychophysics, ap- been elected to the American Philosophical Society, and peared as late as 1905. For several years after joining the it is conceivable (though this is mere speculation) that it Pennsylvania faculty, Witmer conducted research on in- was through this connection that he met Repplier. The dividual differences in sensory-perceptual variables. Even couple coauthored at least one technical article (E. Wit- more interesting to him in this period were the psycho- mer & L. Witmer, 1928). logical aspects of pain. Another topic of research was the The next milestone event was Witmer's founding, patellar reflex. Both of these topics appeared in early stu- in 1907, of a journal titled The Psychological Clinic. For dent dissertations, as will be noted. several decades (until it ceased publication in 1935), this In 1894 the University organized a special series of journal was the leading, indeed the only, clinical psycho- courses for public school teachers. Witmer became in- logical journal, and was instrumental, particularly in its volved in these courses, and in March 1896 one of the early years, in promoting and defining the profession of students in his class discussed with him the problem of clinical psychology. 3 The journal included research re- one of her students, a 14-year-old boy who was having ports, theoretical articles, case studies, book reviews, and extreme difficulty in learning to spell, even though he seemed quite able in some subjects. This boy's problem 2 Witmer passed his orals in 1892, but his PhD was not formally offered a challenge to Witmer's developing view that psy- awarded until 1893. At the same time he received the title of Magister chology should be of practical benefit, and he undertook (Master). This is the basis on which Witmerl ater indicated he had received remedial work with the youth. This case, which will be the MA degree in Leipzig. Other sources incorrectlystate that he received elaborated shortly, marked the beginning of Witmer's this degree at Pennsylvania. clinical work. 3 The Psychological Clinic was clearly the firstjournal specifically devoted to the developingf ield of clinical psychology,but it was not the In July he gave a special course on methods of work- first to include the term clinicalpsychology within its covers. That honor ing with mentally defective, blind, and criminally dis- belongs to the French periodicalRevue De Psychologie Clinique et Th~r- turbed children. This was the forerunner to a more formal apeutique (Journal of Clinical and Therapeutic Psychology,"B utler, 1983; clinical course offered the following summer and can be Prevost, 1969, 1973). This journal, published from 1897 to 1901, was edited by two physicians--Paul Hartenburg and Paul Valentin--and thought of as marking the inauguration of course work was directed toward hospital physiciansc oncerned with psychopathology. in clinical psychology, though without the use of that term. It can be seen as one expressiono f the strong concern of French psychiatry, Later in the same year, in November, Witmer (1896) pub- around the turn of the century, with abnormal behavior.

September 1987 9 American Psychologist 851 various notes and news items. Although other journals, ogy" (p. 295). Though not wholly without merit, the in- in particular The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, judicious and intemperate nature of Witmer's comments founded in 1906, also carried case studies, those in The marked the beginning of his gradual and partial estrange- Psychological Clinic, many of which were written by ment from the mainstream psychological establishment. Witmer and other clinic staff members, were more directly The episode also pointed up Witmer's growing outspo- focused on psychological diagnosis and treatment. kenness concerning causes that he considered vital 9 During the decade prior to the founding of the jour- Some years later an issue arose at the University of nal, a new profession was gradually coming into being, Pennsylvania that further revealed this side of Witmer's though it still lacked a name. What was needed was, first, character. In June 1915, Scott Nearing, a young faculty a formal call, a proposal for such a profession, and second, m e m b e r at Pennsylvania, was dismissed by the university a name for it. Both of these requirements were filled by trustees because of his radical political views. Witmer Witmer's opening article in the first issue of his new jour- canceled his other plans and devoted the s u m m e r to ef- nal (Witmer, 1907a), which called for a new profession forts, including the preparation of a book (Witmer, and proposed that it be termed clinical psychology. The 1915a), to protest the action of the trustees. Though Wit- following selections from this article afford a brief picture mer was only one of many persons espousing Nearing's of this new profession as conceived by Witmer: cause, his efforts were highly influential. As it turned out, Nearing's dismissal stood, but the case had such wide Although clinical psychology is clearly related to medicine, it national repercussions that it is considered to have been is quite as closely related to sociology and to p e d a g o g y . . . . An a major contributor to the further development of the abundance of material for scientific study fails to be utilized, modern conception of academic freedom. because the interest of psychologists is elsewhere engaged, and those in constant touch with the actual phenomena do not pos- During this period the clinic and the clinical training sess the training necessary to make the experience and obser- program continued to develop. The following selections vation of scientific value . . . . While the field of clinical psy- from the memoirs of Frances Holsopple (later Parsons; chology is to some extent occupied by the physician, especially Parsons, 1977), who was a graduate student under Witmer by the psychiatrist, and while I expect to rely in a great measure before and during World War I, provide a brief but first- upon the educator and social worker for the more important hand glimpse of what the program was like. contributions to this branch of psychology, it is nevertheless I spent the first summer working with the teacher's courses, true that none of these has quite the training necessary for this going through a new book by Lewis Terman; the following winter kind of work. For that matter, neither has the psychologist, unless he has acquired this training from sources other than the usual we were plunging into the early ferment of the war, and I worked course of instruction in psychology. . . . The phraseology of with other graduate students to prepare, assist, and report the cases seen in Witmer's Clinic . . . . We read undergraduate pa- "clinical psychology" and "psychological clinic" will doubtless p e r s . . , cleaned up after frog and brain dissection, took his- strike many as an odd juxtapostion of terms relating to quite tories and prepared subjects for the Saturday clinics and sat in disparate subjects . . . . I have borrowed the word "clinical" as substitute therapists as the faculty one by one went off for from medicine, because it is the best term I can find to indicate army work . . . . Clinic subjects were brought from schools, the character of the method which I deem necessary for this private physicians, the University Hospital Clinics and parents work . . . . The methods of clinical psychology are necessarily of all classes. . . . A required course for which Witmer was involved wherever the status of an individual mind is determined famous was the half-year course of brain dissection. . . . For by observation and experiment, and pedagogical treatment ap- undergraduates, a little frog dissection and reflex experiments plied to effect a change, i.e., the development of such individual was enough, but we had to work with a complex human brain, mind. Whether the subject be a child or an adult, the exami- beginning with cranial nerves, and going on in with everything nation and treatment may be conducted and their results ex- identified in your charts and notebooks . . . . All of this, together pressed in the terms of the clinical method. (pp. 1-9) with some experience in helping with undergraduate tests, cor- In 1908, W i t m e r established a residential school, recting the education student's papers, and proofreading the near Wallingford, Pennsylvania, for the care and treat- Psychological Clinic, was supposed to prepare us to assist in the Saturday morning clinic course. This was held on the stage of ment of retarded and troubled children. This fact indicates a 250 seat amphitheater with a small group of junior or kin- that by this time Witmer was developing a private practice, dergarten furniture, low screens and some carefully selected toys. perhaps the first by a clinical psychologist, in addition to 9 . . Sometimes Witmer asked an assistant to test while he com- his university duties. This school, the idea for which went mented, but he was likely to suddenly say, "Why don't you take back to Witmer's 1896 article, was the predecessor of the Billy out for popcorn now?" when he wanted to discuss fine much larger Witmer School at Devon, which he organized diagnostic points. He was always careful never to talk over the in 1921 and carried on into the 1940s. head of a subject, and he conducted very good interviews with In the same year Witmer (1908) published an ex- parents. This was a little disconcerting to an assistant who was tensive criticism of what he believed to be certain essen- trying to demonstrate perfect testing procedures, but everyone tially fraudulent and unscientific mental health move- was happy and relaxed. ments. In the course of his discussion he directed several In 1920, Morris Viteles (1974), a W i t m e r graduate, undiplomatic, indeed bitter, remarks against William extended the coverage of the clinic by establishing a special James, whom he saw as supporting the unscientific facility--the first of its k i n d - - f o r vocational guidance. movements through an interest in mysticism and whom Viteles's work in vocational guidance led him, in the early he described as "the spoiled child of American psychol- 1920s, to an interest in industrial psychology, the field

852 September 1987 9 American Psychologist for which he is best known and in which he made a num- letter "P." Although it is not certain that Witmer himself ber of pioneering contributions. Witmer's own agenda in saw this child, it is probable that he did. In any event, the 1920s turned, to a considerable degree, to the psy- the case appears to have been an especially important chology of intellectually superior children and to the de- one in Witmer's early formative thought and will be fur- velopment of his residential institution at Devon. ther elaborated. It is interesting to note that Marvin later In 1931, Brotemarkle edited a commemorative vol- married Twitmyer, and her influence was instrumental ume, with 29 contributions by Witmer's associates and in directing his interest to speech defects. former students, to commemorate the 35th anniversary It is not clear precisely how many cases Witmer ex- of the founding of the Psychological Clinic. In 1934-1935, amined during the year 1896, because the existing clinic and again in 1935-1936, Witmer was president of the records for this period are extremely sparse and for the newly formed Pennsylvania Association of Clinical Psy- most part are not dated. However, the consultation date chologists. On retiring from the university in 1937, at the for Case No. 0023 is given as 26 November 1896, and age of 70, Witmer was awarded the honorary degree of the date for the examination of Case 0027 is recorded as Doctoris in Scientia. In 1946, the APA Convention, held 14 January 1897. From these data one would infer that at the University of Pennsylvania, featured a special sym- between 23 and 26 cases were handled by Witmer during posium (Shaffer, 1947) and convocation (American Psy- 1896. This conclusion, however, would be somewhat chological Association, 1946) to mark 50 years of clinical problematic, due to the just-noted limitations in the sur- psychology. Witmer died in 1956, at the age of 89; he had viving early records. 4 In particular, two of the 26 first been the last surviving charter member of the American numbered cases appear actually to have been initiated Psychological Association. The 75th anniversary of The after 1896, indicating a probable maximum of 24 cases Psychological Clinic was commemorated by an editorial for 1896. It can confidently be stated that at least 15 new (Garfield, 1982) in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical cases were initiated in 1897. In any event, these statistics Psychology. indicate that the March 1896 case of Charles Gilman was not an isolated event, but was followed by considerable Beginnings of the Psychological Clinic clinical activity. Of the 24 early cases referred to above, As noted above, and as frequently pointed out elsewhere, one was a consultation concerning an adult (not herself the development of the Psychological Clinic began with seen by Witmer), and data are completely absent on three. the referral to Witmer, in March 1896, of a 14-year-old The remaining 20 cases included 14 boys and 6 girls. boy with a peculiar spelling problem. This youth will be Most of the referrals were from schools, but at least one, referred to by the name of Charles Gilman, the pseu- and possibly more, was from a medical setting. There is donym used by Witmer (1907b) himself. Charles's teacher reason to assume that the parents were also involved. The was Margaret Maguire, a dedicated, caring woman who most general cause of referral was concern over a child's was also a psychology student at the university, presum- developmental progress, either in some specific sense-- ably in one of Witmer's special classes for teachers. In speech development, motor development, or a learning the words of Witmer (1907a), she was "imbued with the problem--or with respect to the possibility of overall re- idea that a psychologist should be able, through exami- tardation. One child was described as a "case of chronic nation, to ascertain the causes of a deficiency in spelling chorea," and one would probably be described in today's and to recommend the apropriate pedagogical treatment terminology as "hyperactive." Another had previously for its amelioration or cure" (p. 4). This attitude was been labeled as "hydrocephalic," although Witmer was strictly in accord with Witmer's own point of view. He skeptical of this diagnosis. reasoned that "here was a simple developmental defect The case of Charles Gilman holds a position in the of memory; and memory is a mental process of which history of clinical psychology somewhat analogous to that the science of psychology is supposed to furnish the only of Anna O. in the history of psychoanalysis. Although authoritative knowledge. It appeared to me that if psy- Witmer's first case cannot be said to possess the high chology was worth anything to me or to others it should drama of the case of Anna O., it is nevertheless an in- be able to assist in a retarded case of this kind" (Witmer, structive and interesting one, and it is by no means ad- 1907a, p. 4). equately summarized by simply referring to it as a case Witmer examined Charles at length and worked out of difficulty in learning to spell. In his preliminary ex- a systematic program for him. This case will be described amination, Witmer (1907b) concluded that the boy had in more detail, but it will be helpful to first describe other above average intelligence, showed good powers of rea- aspects of the clinic's early months. During the spring of soning, and expressed himself well in spoken language. 1896, Witmer also examined several other children who were referred to him. One of these was afflicted with a severe speech defect, an area in which Witmer recognized 4 This matter cannot be discussed in detail here. but it may be his own inadequacy, and he engaged Mary Marvin, a local noted that the formal case numbering procedure, in terms of which the teacher who had worked with deaf and mentally retarded earliest cases were eventually ordered, was apparently not inaugurated until sometime later, this procedure superseded an earlier, less systematic children, to assist him. Witmer had great respect for numbering practice. The present article concerns only the origin of the Marvin, and his 1896 paper in Pediatrics included a de- Clinic; for accounts of its overall history, including the 22,000 preserved tailed case study by Marvin of a boy identified by the case records, see Fernberger (1931) and Levine and Wishner (1977).

September 1987 9 American Psychologist 853 However, his reading ability was as deficient as his spelling. but never learned to speak except in a very inarticulate For example, he would read was as saw. The only words way. His attention span was very short, but he would that he could recognize at sight were a few monosyllables string buttons and play with balls by the hour. He had an such as the and an. All other words he had to examine acute sense of smell and was particularly attracted to mu- letter by letter, and try to combine the letter sounds, before sic. Indeed, he could hum from memory most of the tunes he could pronounce them. However, Charles had no dif- he had ever heard. Out of his home, he was difficult to ficulty remembering the sounds of different letters. He control and tended to upset whatever came within his had excellent visual memory for geometric figures, and reach. even for separate letters, though not for words. He was The cases of Charles and P. have been elaborated good at drawing and did well in history and science. because of their historic significance at the very beginning In the fall of 1896, Witmer undertook a systematic of Witmer's clinical career. It would be a major error, treatment program with Charles, groping for adequate however, to assume--as authors of some accounts ap- techniques as he went along. Charles's underlying problem parently do--that Witmer's development of clinical psy- appeared to be an inability to fix in his memory the form chology can be attributed solely to the fact that Maguire of words, a condition that Witmer designated as visual happened to ask for his help with a difficult child and verbal amnesia. The intense remedial work continued thereby whetted his interest in remedial work with chil- through weekly visits to the clinic and almost daily in- dren. On the contrary, it is evident from the record that struction by the boy's teacher. The aim was to teach Witmer's interest in this area had been growing for some Charles through persistent practice to recognize words years, and it was because of this already present interest without first having to spell them. that he was attracted to the cases of Charles and P. The remedial efforts gradually showed some success. Systematic remedial work was terminated in April 1897, Clinical Practice and Clinical Orientation but Charles continued with directed exercises at home. Although he never learned to read in a normal manner, Because Witmer was the first person to attempt to apply his proficiency did reach the point where, with some dif- the principles of scientific psychology to diagnostic and ficulty, he could read ordinary material. Witmer last saw remedial work with children, it is obvious that he had no him on July 9, 1903. At this time, Charles was physically clearly demarcated lines to follow in working with Charles ill of tuberculosis and had been compelled to withdraw and other early cases. As Witmer wrote later (1907a), from the technical school that he was attending. Charles "The absence of any principles to guide me made it nec- died of tuberculosis in January 1907. essary to apply myself directly to the study of these chil- In discussing this case, Witmer (1907b) commented dren, working out my methods as I went along" (p. 4). that the loss of the ability to read is known as alexia, but These methods were highly practical and problem ori- that Charles "had not lost any of his memories of words. ented. He wrote, He had never acquired them, and seemed incapable of We have always held before us the primary necessity of doing acquiring them in a large and sufficient measure . . . . something for the child, and for those who are responsible for He manifested what I think we have a right to call a visual his welfare . . . . I believe that the clinical psychologist in con- aphasia, dependent upon an arrest in the development of ducting his examination must proceed directly to the work at visual memory for words--that is, he showed a visual hand. I want to know who brings or sends the child to the Clinic. verbal amnesia" (p. 63). The disorder was due, Witmer Why is he brought? What do his parents or teachers complain suggested, to "an arrest of post-natal development, the of?. (1915b, p. 3) result of a defect in the sensory visual process" (p. 64). Witmer would then take a history and learn as much as Today Charles's affliction, based on Witmer's case de- possible about the problem. He wrote further, scription, would be categorized as a learning disability (LD) and would be diagnosed as dyslexia, or develop- Now one question, now another, will serve to make the situation mental reading disorder (American Psychiatric Associa- clear, and give me material for a prognosis and the recommen- tion, 1980). Clinical historians generally credit Pringle dation of treatment. Frequently when I find a proximate cause Morgan, in 1896, with first identifying dyslexia, which I do not search with great diligence for a more remote cause. (p. 3) he labeled "congenital word blindness." It is interesting to note that it was in the same year that Witmer began In this latter sense, his approach was like that of contem- working with Charles Gilman. Witmer, however, did not porary behavior therapists. report the case until 1907, although his article, when it As a practitioner Witmer assumed the role of psy- appeared, was much more detailed than Morgan's. chological expert, and offered direct advice with respect The case of P. noted briefly previously, may now be to various behavioral schedules, living arrangements, and summarized. Although this young boy (who was seven other aspects of the lives of children and their caretakers. years old when Marvin first saw him in 1892) was de- Frequently this counsel, particularly in the early period, scribed as a feeble-minded child, it is my impression, was quite naive by later standards, but as Witmer's clinical from the material given (Witmer, 1896), that actually the experience lengthened and the clinic matured, case plan- boy was an instance of what today would be diagnosed ning became more sophisticated. After the early formative as infantile autism. P. was born of well-educated parents, period, the clinic staff included psychologists, social

854 September 1987 9 American Psychologist workers, special teachers', medical consultants, and grad- were in that period--and had little impact on the profes- uate students, and was a highly professional operation sion at large. Several of his conceptions, however, were (Fernberger, 1931; Levine & Wishner, 1977). The data- quite insightful and possess considerable historical inter- gathering phase, however, was never rigidly standardized. est. One of these was his interpretation of intelligence Thus, Witmer (1915b) wrote, (Witmer, 1922), the essential point of which was that in- My very early experience revealed the necessity for keeping the telligence is the ability to solve new problems. Another examination in a fluid state. I acquired a fear of the formalism key theme was what Witmer referred to as "surpassion- of a blank, especially a blank filled in by some more or less ism." This view held that individuals have the tendency adequately trained assistant. Experience also led me to believe and the capacity to "surpass" themselves, that is, to de- in the inefficacy of the quantified result of a test, as for example velop their abilities and potentials to the fullest. Although the Binet test. If some one reports to me that a fifteen-year-old not systematically developed, the notion of surpassionism child hag a Binet age of twelve, I do not consider this fact as appears to have been one of the antecedents of the later having by itself diagnostic value. It is an interesting statement, concept of self-actualization. which however I would not risk making anything of, until I had further examined the child. (p. 2) The Man and His Legacy Although Witmer depreciated clinical dependence It is assumed, in the title of this article, that Witmer is on tests, he did feel that they could provide useful data, properly considered the founder of clinical psychology, and he was instrumental in the development of two tests-- and this or some similar attribution has been widely ac- the Witmer Formboard 5 (Young, 1916) and the Witmer cepted by other historians of psychology (Brotemarkle, Cylinders (Paschal, 1918) that were widely used in their 1947; Cattell, 1954; Garfield, 1965, 1982; Korchin, 1983; day, particularly--although not exclusively--at the Louttit, 1949; Misiak & Sexton, 1966; Reuchlin, 1967; Pennsylvania Clinic. In both testing and interviewing, Sexton, 1965; Shaffer & Lazarus, 1952). The question, Witmer possessed what has been described to me, by sev- however, is worthy of some discussion. At the outset, it eral informants who worked closely with him, as an astute should be noted that there is a difference between con- power of clinical observation, and he placed great em- sidering someone as the founder of a movement, and as phasis on development of this capacity in his work with the most important contributor to that movement. The students. In both his practice and his publications, Witmer concept of "founder" refers to the individual who, in a highlighted the concept of the individual person. Because significant sense, originated and got the movement under of this attitude, he took a very critical view toward many way, whereas the concept of "most important contribu- of the statistical analyses of his day, which he felt lost the tor" points to the person whose influence on the shape reality of the individual in the collective measures of of the movement has been greatest. groups. From this perspective it seems clear that Witmer Early in his career, in keeping with the general opin- should appropriately be viewed as the founder--or, to ions of the time, Witmer assumed that limitations in put it more sentimentally, as the "father"--of clinical mental capacities and deviations in behavior are largely psychology, but some might argue that Freud, Binet, due to hereditary factors. But as time went on, and as Rogers, Skinner, or someone else has had greater impact accumulated clinical experience revealed to him the on the field. Witmer's role in the formation of clinical powerful influences of living conditions, he shifted to a psychology is somewhat analogous to that of Wundt in generally environmental position. He disagreed with experimental psychology, in that in each case the indi- Goddard over the latter's generalizations from the Kal- vidual deliberately and self-consciously defined the ex- likak family (Goddard, 1912), and long before the con- istence of a new area and nurtured its early development, ccption of Head Start he strongly emphasized the im- but other, later workers were responsible for giving the portance on later mental development of providing varied area greater depth and new directions. In Witmer's case experiences during a child's first few years. the designation of founder is based primarily on the fol- As a clinical psychologist, Witmer combined several lowing six pioneering achievements: roles that also characterize many contemporary clini- 1. He was the first to enunciate the idea that the cians: provision of direct services, both in a clinic setting emerging scientific psychology could be the basis of a new and in private practice; teaching; supervision; community helping profession. consultation; administration; and research. He was also 2. He established and developed the first facility to responsible for a number of theoretical conceptions, implement this idea--a "psychological clinic," headed chiefly in the areas of intelligence and personality. For by a psychologist and primarily staffed by psychologists. the most part these formulations were highly program- 3. He proposed the term clinical psychology for the matic and loosely articulated--as indeed most theories new profession and outlined its original agenda. 4. He conceptualized, organized, and carried out the first program to train clinical psychologists in the sense s The Witmer Formboard was one of a number of revisions of the he defined. original Seguin Formboard;i n the opiniono f Grace Kent (1950), a later, independent authority,it was the most convenienta nd best standardized 5. Through his founding and long-time editorship of the revisions. The Witmer Cylindersw as a modificationo f an earlier of a journal (The Psychological Clinic) specifically in- design by Maria Montessori. tended to be the organ of the new profession, he further

September 1987 9 American Psychologist 855 defined the area, publicized it, and attracted young per- sion is that many of Witmer's peers in the wider academic sons to it. psychological community (I am speaking now primarily 6. Through his own activities in performing the of mainstream experimental psychologists and with re- kinds of professional activities that he envisaged for clin- spect to the latter phases of Witmer's career) either ignored ical psychologists, he served as a role model for early him or tended to depreciate his accomplishments. In large members. part these attitudes, to the extent they existed, appear to Although the present article is concerned primarily have reflected the judgment that Witmer, as a scientist, with the role of Witmer in the conceptualization and was too loose and speculative, although they may also development of clinical psychology, his importance in the have represented in some degree the beginnings of a mu- closely related fields of school psychology and special ed- tual discomfort between experimentalists and clinicians. ucation is no less central (French, 1984; Fagan, 1986). My own evaluation is that the quality of Witmer's writ- He was instrumental in the development of"orthogenic" ings, as compared with his earlier work, did decline no- classes (Witmer, 1909) for the treatment of the mentally tably in the post-World War I period. It is also accurate retarded, and he coined the phrase "diagnostic teaching" to say that Witmer's influence on the clinical movement (Witmer, 1919), a term currently prominent in special decreased significantly during the latter phase of his ca- education. Further, many of Witmer's graduates took po- reer; this was undoubtedly due in large part to the fact sitions as examiners or psychologists, particularly in that his orientation was out of step with the prevailing Pennsylvania. Witmer's place in the school psychology Zeitgeist, which emphasized intelligence testing and psy- movement, however, does not detract from his role in choanalytic theory. In contrast, his zest for, his skill in, fostering the development of the broader discipline of and his sense of fulfillment from direct clinical application clinical psychology. Indeed, it would be a mistake to at- continued unabated well into the 1930s. tempt too strict a distinction between these two profes- All reports agree that Witmer was a very private sional concentrations as they existed in their early for- person, and there is reason to believe that this character- mative periods. 6 istic became accentuated as he grew older. After an initial What was Witmer like as a person? I have inter- fling in APA politics he largely withdrew from establish- viewed or obtained written reminiscences from a large ment affairs, and after his tiff with James he was never a number of persons, including former students, clinical part of the in-group in American psychology. Neverthe- associates, and professional colleagues who knew him. less, for many years after that his influence on clinical The picture that emerges is a complex one. Most of the psychology remained profound. The other early clinics 7 remaining reminiscences of him date from the 1920s and were largely modeled after or suggested by the Pennsyl- 1930s, when he was in the latter stages of his career, but vania clinic, and Pennsylvania students, as they graduated, there is good reason to think that he always possessed a moved into key positions in clinical psychology and re- profound self-confidence and a personality that could be lated areas. described, depending on one's perspective, as either It is probable that had Witmer not inaugurated clin- forceful and assertive or domineering and dogmatic. Cer- ical psychology someone else would have done so, but if tainly he was a strong, if sometimes tactless, fighter for so the field might now be much different than it is cur- causes that he believed in. Yet at the same time he was rently, perhaps even in name. It would probably be more seen by some who knew him well as sensitive, charming, closely allied with psychiatry and more oriented toward and able to poke fun at himself. A highly cultured and psychopathology than the prevailing model. Almost cer- widely read person, he was a passionate admirer of Walt tainly it would be less strongly affiliated with scientific, Whitman. experimental psychology as this is represented in univer- For the most part, those who worked with Witmer sity psychology departments. in the clinic or at Devon strongly respected him, greatly Clinical psychology today is vastly different than it admired his clinical skills (which they considered to be was in Witmer's time. The extensive use of formal psy- outstanding), and in many cases felt a deep, if somewhat chotherapy, of intensive work with adults, couples, and distant, affection for him and an intense devotion and families, and of attention to a diversity of human prob- loyalty to him. Most of his students, it would seem, were lems ranging from schizophrenia to bulimia would have more or less in awe of him. He was, after all, quite de- manding and rather magisterial, much after the pattern, 6 It should be remembered that for its first half-century--roughly, perhaps, of the German professors at Leipzig. But he up to the end of World War II--clinical psychologyw as primarily con- could also be warm and understanding, and it is clear cerned with the problems,e specially( though not exclusively)t he cognitive that many clinical students idolized him. Furthermore, problems, of children. It should also be noted that although most of the clinic's cases were referred by schools, many were also referred by phy- many former students fondly remembered Witmer for sicians, parents, charitable organizations, and civil authorities. Regardless certain idiosyncracies. For example, he always insisted of the source of referral, assessment and treatment were carried out that the temperature in his lecture room be precisely 68 primarily at the clinic. degrees. Witmer's attitude toward the persons he exam- 7 Perhaps the best known of these was the Juvenile Psychopathic ined and treated (mostly children) was, from all I can Institute, founded in Chicago in 1909, for working with juvenile delin- quents; it was under the direction of the psychiatrist William Healy,w ith gather, one of genuine interest, respect, and caring. Grace Fernald as psychologist. Before organizing the institute, Healy In some contrast to the above remarks, my impres- visited Witmer's clinic (Reisman, 1976).

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