David Robinson on the founder of experimental psychology Wilhelm Wundt: - Wilhelm Wundt and William James are usually thought of as the fathers of psychology, as well as the founders of psychology's first two great "schools." Although they were very different men, there are some parallels: Their lives overlap, for example, with Wilhelm Wundt born in 1832 and dying in 1920, while William James was born ten years later and died ten years earlier. Both have claims to having established the first psychology lab in 1875. - John B. Watson - notable behaviorist - Charles Darwin wrote book on evolution & natural selection - Edward Thorndike did research on "transfer of training", and found that training in one skill had no effect on the performance of other skills - this refuted the theory of "formal discipline" which was the belief that education strengthens ones general mental powers - Wundt - took a physiological or scientific approach towards psychology, which quickly became the standard in the field ? he was initially focused on physiology & medicine, and later made the move towards philosophy & (physiological) psychology ? Wundt's work was largely dismissed as too "introspective" at first - but later on, it was clear that Wundt's work did not focus on "introspection" as much as some other notable psychologists' did ? Wundt's research focused a lot on observing reflexes, etc. - so he wasn't overly introspective - What caused this pervasive misunderstanding of Wundt's work? And what is his legacy now? ? People initially dismissed Wundt as overly introspectionist & structuralist ? Wundt was labeled as a "structuralist" by Tichener in an effort to set himself apart from "functionalists" - but in reality, Wundt was NOT a Functionalist ? "Wundt is undergoing a resurgence in popularity. Actually, he was massively misrepresented by poorly educated American students in Germany, and especially a rather ego-driven Englishman named Titchener. Wundt recognized that Titchener was misrepresenting him, and tried to make people aware of the problem." "Structuralism was the first school of psychology and focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Researchers tried to understand the basic elements of consciousness using a method known as introspection. ? ? ? Wilhelm Wundt, founder of the first psychology lab, is often associated with this school of thought despite the fact that it was his student, Edward B. Titchener, who first coined the term to describe this school of thought." Introspection - Wundt (unlike some of his peers) felt that introspection must be part of some investigations, b/c he saw
psychology as the study of internal/mental events. He attempted to use introspection in a manner that was objectively & scientifically rigorous as possible. ? Wundt was against the "extended introspection" that Titchener was using at Cornell ? people may have been dismissive of Wundt partially b/c of WWII & the distaste many had towards Germans textbook accounts of Wundt may have contributed to ? dismissing/misrepresenting his works, b/c Wundt had many different areas of