The Berlin School of Experimental Psychology is founded by

Carl Stumpf Carl Stumpf (; 21 April 1848 – 25 December 1936) was a German philosopher, psychologist and musicologist. He is noted for founding the Berlin School of Experimental Psychology. He studied with Franz Brentano at the University of Würzburg bef ...

, a pupil of

Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was an influential German philosopher, psychologist, and former Catholic priest (withdrawn in 1873 due to the definition of papal infallibility in matters of F ...

and

Hermann Lotze Rudolf Hermann Lotze (; ; 21 May 1817 – 1 July 1881) was a German philosopher and logician. He also had a medical degree and was well versed in biology. He argued that if the physical world is governed by mechanical laws and relations, then dev ...

and a professor at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. It adhered to the method of experimental phenomenology, which understood it as the science of phenomena. It is also noted as the originator of Gestalt psychology. Noted members include

Max Wertheimer Max Wertheimer (April 15, 1880 – October 12, 1943) was an Austro-Hungarian psychologist who was one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology, along with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler. He is known for his book, ''Productive Thinking'', and f ...

Kurt Koffka Kurt Koffka (March 12, 1886 – November 22, 1941) was a German psychologist and professor. He was born and educated in Berlin, Germany; he died in Northampton, Massachusetts from coronary thrombosis. He was influenced by his maternal uncl ...

, and

Wolfgang Köhler Wolfgang Köhler (21 January 1887 – 11 June 1967) was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology. During the Nazi regime in Germany, he protest ...

History

Stumpf founded the Berlin Laboratory of Experimental Psychology in 1893. The institute, which is also known as the school of Gestalt psychology, was part of the University of Berlin. It was a refinement of Brentano's neo-Aristotelian theory or the study of phenomena's qualitative properties. After the German revolution, the Berlin laboratory relocated to a wing of the former Imperial Palace. This marked the expansion of the Berlin school after it was forced to reduce its operations during the war. The new facility, which was also supported by the Society for Experimental Psychology, focused on applied work and incorporated its own laboratory so that it became an expanded university institute. Stumpf was the chair of the institute for 26 years. He was succeeded by Wolfgang Köhler. Stumpf influenced his pupils such as Wertheimer, Koffka, Köhler, and Kurt Lewin, and these contributed to the school's development. Lewin, for instance, developed a set of models and ideas linked to change management theory and practice. These psychologists further refined Stumpf's work, which facilitated experimental investigation that culminated in the development of Gestalt psychology. These psychologists stressed the primacy of objects as units of experience, instead of sensations. Only after Köhler took over the direction of the psychology institute in 1922 did the Berlin School effectively become a school for

Gestalt psychology Gestalt-psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology that emerged in the early twentieth century in Austria and Germany as a theory of perception that was a rejection of basic principles of Wilhelm Wundt's and Edward T ...

References

* Fredrik Sundqvist
"The Gestalt Phenomena and Archetypical Rationalism: The Crossroads Between Empiricism and Rationalism: Part I"
''Gestalt Theory'' 29(1), 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin School Of Experimental Psychology Psychological schools History of psychology

History

See also

References