Gustav Adolf Wohlgemuth (1 November 1868 – 2 March 1942), known as A. Wohlgemuth in his publications, was a German/British businessman who lived in England and made significant contributions to

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

, conducting research into

visual perception Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum reflecte ...

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

, and

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory ima ...

Biography

Wolgemuth was born on 1 November 1868, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

, the son of Eduard Albert Maximilian Wohlgemuth and Louise Berend. According to Wade, Thompson and Morgan (2014), he travelled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

some time before 1891. Although little is known of Wohlgemuth's early life, once in London he became a British citizen in 1897 and by 1903 had established a business importing and exporting

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

casings. Despite running his business, in 1902 Wohlgemuth enrolled for a degree course in psychology at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, graduating with a third-class science degree in 1905. He then enrolled for a

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

in the Psychological Laboratory, supervised by William McDougall, completing his thesis in 1909 and being awarded a degree the following year. Wade et al. (2014) reported that Wohlgemuth remained at the Psychological Laboratory after 1909, although he never became a member of its staff. He also ran his business until the end of his life. Wohlgemuth married Clemence Morrelet in 1913 but "the union was neither fruitful nor happy" (p. 233). Wohlgemuth formed a close friendship with a fellow research student, Nellie Carey, but "On 6 June 1918 Adolf was shot in the back by his jealous wife". (p. 233) According to Valentine (2008), it proved impossible for the bullet to be removed. After Wohlgemuth had recovered from his wounds, Morrelet was tried in September 1918, was convicted for unlawful wounding, and was sentenced to six months imprisonment. Carey took Wohlgemuth's name; they had a daughter, Joan, in 1921 and a son, Bryan, in 1929. Wohlgemuth and Carey married in 1936, after the death of Morrelet. Wohlgemuth died on 2 March 1942.

Contributions to psychology

During studies for his DSc, Wohlgemuth was described as "a brilliant research student" (p. 233). His 1911 paper "On the after-effect of seen movement", based on his thesis, has been described as "the most comprehensive single article on the phenomenon f_the_motion_aftereffect.html" ;"title="motion_aftereffect.html" ;"title="f the motion aftereffect">f the motion aftereffect">motion_aftereffect.html" ;"title="f the motion aftereffect">f the motion aftereffect (p. 229). Wohlgemuth then worked on memory and imagery, corresponding with Bertrand Russell. In 1923 Wohlgemuth published ''A critical examination of psycho-analysis'' and it is claimed that he "is perhaps best known for his critical assessment of the scientific basis for psychoanalysis" (p. 232).

Selected works

*Wohlgemuth, A. (1911). On the after-effect of seen movement. ''

British Journal of Psychology The ''British Journal of Psychology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed psychology journal. It was established in 1904 and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Psychological Society. The editor-in-chief is Stefan R. Schweinberger ( ...

: Monograph Supplement'', 1, 1–117. *Wohlgemuth, A. (1913). On memory and the direction of associations. ''British Journal of Psychology'', 5, 447–465. *Wohlgemuth, A. (1915). Simultaneous and successive association. ''British Journal of Psychology'', 7, 434–452. *Wohlgemuth, A. (1916). On the feelings and their neural correlate, with an examination of the nature of pain. ''British Journal of Psychology'', 8, 423–476. *Wohlgemuth, A. (1919). Pleasure–unpleasure. An experimental investigation of the feeling-elements. ''British Journal of Psychology, Monograph Supplement'', 2, 1–252. *Wohlgemuth, A. (1923). ''A critical examination of psycho-analysis''. London:

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wohlgemuth, Gustav Adolf 1868 births 1942 deaths Scientists from London German emigrants to the United Kingdom British psychologists