Berlin School of experimental psychology
The Berlin School of Experimental Psychology was founded by Carl Stumpf, a pupil of Franz Brentano and Hermann Lotze and a professor at the University of Berlin, in 1893. It adhered to the method of experimental phenomenology, which understood it as the science of phenomena.<ref name="Hipólito-2018">Template:Cite book</ref> It is also noted as the originator of Gestalt psychology.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Noted members include Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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.<ref name="Henley-2018">Template:Cite book</ref> It was a refinement of Brentano's neo-Aristotelian theory or the study of phenomena's qualitative properties.<ref name="Hipólito-2018" /> After the German revolution, the Berlin laboratory relocated to a wing of the former Imperial Palace.<ref name="Ash-1998">Template:Cite book</ref> This marked the expansion of the Berlin school after it was forced to reduce its operations during the war.<ref name="Ash-1998" /> 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.<ref name="Ash-1998" /> Stumpf was the chair of the institute for 26 years. He was succeeded by Wolfgang Köhler.<ref name="Henley-2018" />
Stumpf influenced his pupils<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> such as Wertheimer, Koffka, Köhler, and Kurt Lewin, and these contributed to the school's development.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Lewin, for instance, developed a set of models and ideas linked to change management theory and practice.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> These psychologists further refined Stumpf's work, which facilitated experimental investigation that culminated in the development of Gestalt psychology.<ref name="Hipólito-2018" /> These psychologists stressed the primacy of objects as units of experience, instead of sensations.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Only after Köhler took over the direction of the psychology institute in 1922 did the Berlin School effectively become a school for Gestalt psychology.
See also
- The Graz School founded by Alexius Meinong
- The School of Brentano
References
- Fredrik Sundqvist, "The Gestalt Phenomena and Archetypical Rationalism: The Crossroads Between Empiricism and Rationalism: Part I", Gestalt Theory 29(1), 2007.