Narziß Kaspar Ach (29 October 1871 – 25 July 1946) was a German

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...

and

university lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct res ...

in Königsberg, Prussia and Göttingen, Germany.

Biography

From 1890–1895 and in 1898/99 he studied medicine and philosophy at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

and received his doctorate in 1895. In 1895/96 he worked in the psychological laboratory of

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

alongside

Emil Kraepelin Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 15 February 1856 – 7 October 1926) was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's ''Encyclopedia of Psychology'' identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psych ...

. In 1897, Ach went on a trip to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

for further examination of

motion sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...

. Following the journey, he worked at the pharmacological institute of the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

. Ach was a member of the Würzburg School of "imageless thought", where he was a student of Oswald Külpe and received his PhD in 1899. Considered one of the most skillful experimental psychologists of his time, Ach was the first to conduct experiments in the area of volition. He developed the method of "systematic experimental

introspection Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies on the observation of one's mental state, while in a spiritual context it may refer to the examination of one's sou ...

" and demonstrated experimentally the "determining tendency," which indicates that the instructions for the execution of a task sets up in a person a predisposition to act or react in a certain way, without the individual's being necessarily aware of it. Ach was also instrumental to the understanding of

concept formation Concept learning, also known as category learning, concept attainment, and concept formation, is defined by Bruner, Goodnow, & Austin (1967) as "the search for and listing of attributes that can be used to distinguish exemplars from non exemplars ...

. Additionally, he was considered an accomplished apparatus builder and inventor. Later in his career he would go on to apply his determining tendency theory in the study of applied psychological issues such as driver safety. In 1933 Ach signed the '' Loyalty Oath of German Professors to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist State''. In 1938, Ach was elected as member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

Family

In 1911, Ach married his student Maria Elisabeth Mez (1891-1947), the daughter of botanist

Carl Christian Mez Carl Christian Mez (26 March 1866 – 8 January 1944) was a German botanist and university professor. He is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing a botanical name. Life and work Mez came from a family of industrialists in Frei ...

and granddaughter of poet

Wilhelm Jensen Wilhelm Hermann Jensen (15 February 183724 November 1911) was a German writer and poet. Biography Wilhelm Jensen was born at Heiligenhafen in the Duchy of Holstein (now Germany), the illegitimate son of Swenn Hans Jensen (1795–1855), the Ma ...

. They had six children together.

References

External links

* 1871 births 1946 deaths German psychologists Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina People from Haßberge (district) {{Germany-psychologist-stub