Heinrich Klüver (; May 25, 1897 – February 8, 1979) was a German-American biological

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

born in Holstein. After having served in the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he studied at both the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

and the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

from 1920 to 1923. In the latter year, he arrived in the

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to attend

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He received his Ph.D. in

physiological Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

from Stanford University. In 1927 he married Cessa Feyerabend and settled in the United States permanently, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1934. Klüver was a member of the 'core group' of cybernetics pioneers that participated in the Macy Conferences of the 1940s and 1950s. He collaborated most often and fruitfully with Paul Bucy and made various contributions to

neuroanatomy Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defi ...

throughout his career among others the Klüver–Bucy syndrome. His expositions of and experiments with

mescaline Mescaline, also known as mescalin or mezcalin, and in chemical terms 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, is a natural product, naturally occurring psychedelic drug, psychedelic alkaloid, protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, found ...

were also groundbreaking at the time. He coined the term "cobweb figure" in the 1920s to describe one of the four form constant geometric visual hallucinations experienced in the early stage of a mescaline trip: "Colored threads running together in a revolving center, the whole similar to a cobweb". The other three are the chessboard design, tunnel, and spiral. Klüver wrote that "many 'atypical' visions are upon close inspection nothing but variations of these form-constants." Klüver was an elected member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, the United States

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

."Heinrich Kluver."
In
''APS Member History''.

. Accessed Oct. 4, 2022.

Selected publications

* ''An Experimental Study of the Eidetic Type''. Worcester, Mass.: Genetic Psychology Monographs, vol. 1, no. 2 (1926); New York: Arno Press (1975).
''Mescal: The 'Divine' Plant and it's Psychological Effects''.
London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. (1928). Introduction by Macdonald Critchley. * ''Mechanism of Hallucinations'' In: ''Studies in Personality'', by Q. McNemar and M. A. Merrill (1942). * ''Behavior Mechanisms in Monkeys''. Chicago: Phoenix Books (1966). Introduction by Karl Spencer Lashley. * ''Mescal, and Mechanism of Hallucinations''. Chicago: Phoenix Books (1966).

References

Sources

* Hunt, William A. (Mar. 1980)
"Heinrich Klüver: 1897-1979"
(

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

). '' American Journal of Psychology'', vol. 93, no. 1, pp. 159–161. . * Nahm, Frederick K. D., and Karl H. Pribram (1998)
"Heinrich Klüver" (Chapter 16).
In:

(1998)
''Biographical Memoirs: Volume 73''.
Washington, D.C.:

National Academies Press The US National Academies Press (NAP) was created to publish the reports issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (formerly known as the National Research Council (United States), National Research Council), the Na ...

pp. 288-305.
. ::An in-depth biography of Heinrich Klüver.

External links

''Guide to the Heinrich Klüver Papers, 1912-1978''
at the University of Chicago Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Kluver, Heinrich 1897 births 1979 deaths People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein University of Hamburg alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Stanford University alumni German emigrants to the United States German Army personnel of World War I German psychologists Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century American psychologists Members of the American Philosophical Society

Selected publications

See also

References

Sources

External links