Wilhelm Wundt, Essay Example

Recognized as the “father of experimental psychology,” Wilhelm Wundt of course occupies an obvious place in the history of psychology.  The monumental work, Principles of Physiological Psychology, transformed psychology into a science, which translated into an important subject at universities.  Also founding the first formal laboratory for psychological research, Wundt wrote at a extremely fast pace, making him a notorious writer in his fields of study.

Life

Wundt studied at the University of Tubingen, University of Heidelberg, and the University of Berlin before graduating in medicine from Heidelberg (Balance and Evans, 1975).  Becoming an assistant to Hermann von Helmholtz in 1858, Wundt joined the staff of Heidelberg and wrote Contributions to the Theory of Sense Perception from 1858-62.

During this time Wundt married Sophie Mau and began teaching scientific psychology, the first course of its kind.  His lectures were published in 1863, and in the following year he would become Assistant Professor of Physiology at Heidelberg.  Through this time Wundt would explore his new science to psychology, illuminated by his background in physiology.

The first half of Wundt’s life would occupy an interesting comparison to his later success.  Rieber and Robinson (2001) would call these years working “… as a physiologist with only modest success, before the appearance  of the Physiological Psychology suddenly made him the most prominent figure in an emerging science,” which also included Wundt’s “seventeen years of depression” in this period.  This early portion of his life is an important part in order to understand his full contributions, though of course out of the range of this brief analysis.

Following one of the most important works in the history of psychology in 1874, as it was previously mentioned, Principles of Physiological Psychology made Wundt an important figure immediately.  He would go on to make vast contributions to psychology, along with his presence at Leipzig.  According to Boring (1960), Wundt would become one of the most prolific scientists of all time, at the rate of seven works a year in 68 years, on average (over 490 works, 110 pages long on average).

The personal effect on his work can be seen.  As previously mentioned, Wundt dealt with depression and is generally known as a shy person.  However, that would be sharply contrasted to his intellectual prowess.  He dominated the classroom, such as in regards to his popularity at Liepzig, where registrations would skyrocket.  This propensity for the academic would continue for much of his life, as he remained in the context of academia in his 80s.

Influence

The scope of Wundt’s influence is almost too great to define.  Consider his estimated 53,000 pages of writings, that spanned topics such as areas in physiology to ethics, philosophy, history, politics, and hypnotism.  In addition, he had a major impact on the figures that came after him, as the immediate individuals went on to accomplish much.  This analysis will attempt to briefly tackle both areas with this task.

Works

No analysis of Wundt would be complete without at least a few words regarding his Principles.  This monumental work tackled Wundt’s system of internal perception, or more broadly his theoretical framework of experimental psychology.  Giving rise to a possibility of a physiological psychology, Wundt concentrated on self-observation, where consciousness and sensation would collide.  This system of psychology would be one of the greatest central systems that Wundt would approach.

Other points of interest would include the more “philosophical” ideas in psychology.  His unusual treatment of “logic,” for instance, is great in volume and goes along with his ideas in the field.  Wundt wanted to separate psychology from the natural sciences, as he distinguished psychological causality from physical causality in general.  For Wundt, the following can be reduced no further: psychology, philosophy, natural science, and human science.

Wundt’s psychological monism would be seen in other subjects as well.  Take, for instance, the study of memory which as, according to Carpenter (2005), has escaped the awareness of modern cognitive psychologists.  Overall, however, it is important to respect and understand the sheer volume that Wundt produced within his systems of experimental psychology.  While Wundt was extremely important in the growth and onset of psychology, debate continues regarding the current relevance of his influence.  However, it is important that many misrepresentations would occur in the years following Wundt’s career.  One notable aspect of this are the mistranslations from Edward Titchener, who made these in order for Wundt’s system to fit seamlessly with his ideas.

Figures Following Wundt

Both the work of Wundt and the figures that follow the important psychologist collide with the figure of Edward Titchener.  Titchener studied under Wundt for several years and is responsible for structuralism, his version of psychology that approaches the structure of the mind.  Titchener was directly affected by Wundt, such as in Wundt’s ideas of association and apperception.

Other figures followed Wundt that are important to mention.  Following the short description of Titchener is Margarent Floy Washburn, one of Titchener’s graduate students.  She would be the first woman to be granted a PhD in psychology, in 1894.  She was instrumental in her work in motor theory development and animal behavior.

Many of Wundt’s students would go on to major accomplishments.  G. Stanley Hall would be recognized as the father of the child psychology movement.  James McKeen Cattell would become the first professor of psychology in the United States.  The statistical analyses of Charles Spearman, the contributions to industrial psychology with Walter Dill Scott, and the philosophy of Constantin Radulescu-Motru can be connected to Wundt’s influence (they were all students of Wundt).

Conclusion

Wilhelm Wundt was a major figure in the development of psychology.  Responsible for transforming it into a legitimate science, Wundt offered an immense amount to the field of psychology.  Most notable, and perhaps most important, was his analysis on experimental psychology and relationship with physiology.

While there is some debate here, Wundt continues to be influential.  His contributions to the philosophy of psychology, as well as his overall body of work that has been misrepresented, is not to be overlooked.  Even if these were to be left out, the influence of Wundt could be greatly felt in the form of his students, who went on to achieve great things in psychology and cognate subjects.

The body of Wundt’s work is far too great to be properly analyzed in this brief overview.  The prolific nature of his Wundt commands respect across psychology, philosophy, and many other related subjects.  The life of Wilhelm Wundt is an important one that tremendously helped psychology thrive in current and later years.

References

Balance, William and Rand Evans.  (1975).  Wilhelm Wundt 1832-1920: A brief biographical sketch.  Journal of the History of the Behavioral Science, 11(3): 287-297.

Boring, Edwin.  (1960).  A History of Experimental Psychology (2^nd Edition).  New York: Prentice Hall.

Carpenter, Shana.  (2005).  Some neglected contributions to Wilhelm Wundt to the psychology of memory.  Psychological Reports, 97(1): 63-73.

Rieber, Robert and David Robinson.  (2001).  Wilhelm Wundt in History: The Making of a Scientific Psychology.  New York: Kluwer Academic.