Wilhelm Max Wundt.docx

Wilhelm Max Wundt.docx

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WilhelmMaxWundt

ABriefDiscussionoftheLifeofWilhelmWundttheFatherofModernPsychology

JieLanDeng

100091790

LeonardGeorge

3/32016

Introduction

WilhelmMaxWundt（1832-1920）isgenerallyconsideredas“Thefounderofempiricalpsychology”ashehasmadeagreatcontributiononthedevelopmentofexperimentalpsychologyandhewasthefirstwhoestablishedthefirstexperimentalpsychologylaboratory.（Shanteau,Mellersv&Schum,1999）.Wundtmadeagreatcontributiononthedevelopmentofexperimentalpsychologyandtheestablishmentofexperimentalpsychologyopenedadoorforotherpsychologisttothinkaboutpsychologyasasciencesubjectratherthantheory（Shanteau,Mellersv&Schum,1999）.Asheplaysasignificantroleinmodernpsychology,so,inthisshortpaper,IwillbrieflypresentthebasisinformationaboutWundt’slifeandhiscontributiononthedevelopmentofexperimentalpsychology.

LifeandtimeofWilhelmWundt

In1832,WilhelmWundtwasborninasmallcommunitynamedNeckarauwherewaslocatedinBadeninGermany（Mandler,2011）.HisfatherMaximillianwasapastorofachurchinacommercialtownWieblingen（Rieber&Robinson,2012）andhismotherMariaFriederikeArnold WundtwasaneducatedwomanwhohadacquiredFrenchwhenshewasachild.WundtwasraisedasanonlykidastwoofhissiblingsdiedearlyandanothersiblingwassenttolivewiththeirrelativeinHeidelbergandtakenschoolthere（Rieber&Robinson,2012）.

WhenWundtwasabout4-yearsold,HisparenttookhimleftNeckarauandsettledinaruralvillageinHeidelsheimwherehespenthisentirechildhoodthere（Rieber&Robinson,2012）.HeenteredthetownschoolinHildesheimduringhisfirsttwoyearseducation,butafterthat,whenhewas8yearsold,hisfatheraskedhisvicartoguideyoungWundt（Rieber&Robinson,2012）.Wundt’semotionalattachmentandrelationshipwithhisfatherwasnothappyasheindicatedthatherememberedhisfatherhadhurthiminfrontofhisschoolteacher（Sydney&Duane2015）

In1845,WundtengagedtheBruchsalGymnasiumandhelivedwithhisfather’syoungLutheranvicarFriedrichMüllerandtheybecameroommateandprivatetutorandtheysharedthesameroomwitheachother（Robert,2013）.WundtadmiredMüllerandhewasveryattachedtohim,whenthevicarmovedtoanothersmalltown,Wundtwasemotionallyfrustratedabouthiswasleaving,so,Wundt’sfamilydecidedtoletWundtfollowedthevicarandlivedwithhimuntilhewasattheageof13（Sydney&Duane2015）.Wundthadacompanionfriendwhenhewasachild,theboywasolderthanWundtwithmentalproblemandcouldnotspeakwell（Rieber&Robinson,2012）（Guy,2011）.

EventhoughWundt’sfamilywasanacademicfamilybutYoungWundtwasnotonthelineofhisfamily’sacademiclife,hewasinterestedinhisfantasydaydreamingratherthanleaningschoolsubjects,hedidnotlikeschoolworksandhisstudyscoreinhisGymnasium（highentrancestandardschool）wasverypoorbecauseofhishabitofdaydreaming,andhewasquietandlonelyashewasisolatedwithhispeersandmadefunbyhisteachers（Sydney&Duane2015）.However,it’sbelievedthatWundt’sexperienceandhabitofinattentionandfantasydaydreamingduringhisearlychildhoodthatbroughthimtheideasaboutintrospectionandhowthemindworks（Robert,2013）.DuringWundt’schildhoodperiod,hewasconsideredasmisbehavedkid,andhewasraisedinaharshenvironmentashewasalways“locked,terrified,indarkcloset”ifhedidnotbehaveproperly（Guy,2011）.

WhenWundtwas13yearsold,hewassentbyhisfamilytolivewithhisbrotherLudwigwhohadlivedwiththeirauntinHeidelbergandhespenthisadulthoodinHeidelberg（Robert,2013）.

WhenWundtwas16yearsold,hejoinedtheHeidelbergGymnasiumduringthe Revolution of 1848andgainedthepoliticalinterestandhebecameanactiveparticipantinpolitics（Mandler,2011）.Hewenttohisfather’slibraryandreadalotofpoliticalbooksandromanticbooks,duringthisperiod,Wundt’sinterestonreadingbookshadincreased（Mandler,2011）.

WundtlearnedmedicineatTübingen,Heidelberg,andBerlinfrom1851to1856,duringtheyearsofstudyingmedicine,heliterallyincreasedhisinterestmoreinthephysiologythaninamedicine（Rieber&Robinson,2012）.WundtspenthisoneyearofcollegelifeandstudiedmedicineinTübingenin1851（Rieber&Robinson,2012）,evenherealizedthathedidnotfascinatedaboutmedicinebuthestillspent3yearstofinishhismedicaleducationattheUniversityofHeidelbergIn1855,andhegotthehighestmarkonthemedicalstateboardexaminationwhenhewasgraduatedfromtheUniversityofHeidelberg（Morton,2009）.After1855,WundtdecidedtocontinuehismedicalstudyandhestudiedatUniversityofBerlinin1856andstudiedwithJ.MüllerasandDuBois-ReymondatBerlin（Morton,2009）.

The“Heidelbergperiod（1852–1874）”（Araujo,2014）playsacriticalroleinWundt’earlieracademiccareer.Duringthatperiod,hecompletedmedicalstudyfrom1852to1855attheUniversityofHeidelberg,laterhegotthejobasanassistantforthephysiologist HermannVonHelmholtzattheUniversityofHeidelberg（Araujo,2014）whenHelmholtzestablishedthephysiologicaldepartment,whichablehimtoexplorethefieldofphysiologicalpsychology（Morton,2009）.In1857,andhewashiredasaninstructorintheinstituteofphysiologyatUniversityofHeidelberg（Araujo,2014）.WundtworkedasalabassistantforHermannHelmholtz,henotonlystudiedandworkedhardonhisanotherdutyasalecturerbutalsopublishedresearchpapersandtextbooksonhistheoriesofsenseperceptionduring1858to1862,andthebookcontributiontothetheoryofsenseperceptionwaspublishedin1862（Morton,2009）.Thebookcontributionisviewedto“marktheliterarybirthofthenewscience（Sydney&Duane,2015）.Atthatperiod,Wundtwasabletosetprogramsforscientificpsychology,whichfocusedontheuseofexperimentalandresearchwaysusedphysicalsciencestoapplyittopsychologicalstudies1862（Morton,2009）.In1863,hefinishedhislecturebookslecturesonthemindsofmenandanimals,“InitWundtdiscussedmanyissues,suchasreactiontimeandpsychophysicsthatweretooccupytheattentionofexperimentalpsychologistsforyearstocome”（Sydney&Duane,2015）.In1864,WundtwashiredasanassistantprofessorandtaughtphysiologicalpsychologybuthequittedtheassistantjobinHelmholtz’slaboratoryinordertofocusonhispsychologicalexperimentandhisestablishedlaboratoryinhisownhouse（Morton,2009）.Heinvestigatedexperimentalandresearchmethodsusedinpsychologicalexperimentsinhislab,andheusedapparatustodoresearchlabs（Morton,2009）.Wundtpersistedtoproducecontributiononphysicalsciencetohisstudentbuthewouldincludepsychologicalquestionsandknowledgesintohislectures（Morton,2009）.

In1874,Wundtpublishedhisanothercontributionwhichwasthebookprinciplesofphysiologicalpsychology（Sydney&Duane,2015）whichbecameastandardlecturebookandmadeafundamentalchangeonthestudyofpsychology,whichmadethepsychologyasan“independentlaboratorysciencewithitsownissuesandmethodsofexperimentation”（Sydney&Duane,2015）.Thefurtherededitionsoftheprinciplesofphysiologicalpsychologyservedasadatasystemforlaboratorypsychologist（Sydney&Duane,2015）.

WundtstayedatthesamepositionuntilHelmholtzquitHeidelbergUniversityin1871,WundtwasconsideredasthesuccessorofHelmholtz（Morton,2009）.ThepromotionofpositionabledWundttosolvehisfinancialproblemandabledhimtomarriedhislovedwife（Morton,2009）.HehadtoworkharderthanbeforesincehewantedtoleaveHeidelberg（Morton,2009）.LaterhehadbeenchosenasthechiefofinductivephilosophyattheUniversityofZurichandthenwenttoLeipzig（Morton,2009）.Wundtstayed17yearsattheUniversityofHeidelbergasassistantandlecturer,spentoneyeartobethechiefphilosophyprofessorintheuniversityofZurich,andlater42yearsattheUniversityofLeipzigwhereheestablishedthefirstempiricalpsychologylaboratoryandindicatespsychologyisscience（Guy,2011）.

The45yearsWundtstayedinLeipzigplayedacriticalroleinhisacademiclife（Sydney&Duane,2015）.In1875,WundtwasofferedaprofessorpositionattheUniversityofLeipzig,hehadbeenofferedaroomlocatedintheKonviktbuildingfordepositinghisutilitiesandteachingpresentationandlateritbecamehisownlaboratory（Morton,2009）.In1879,WundtinitiatedthefirstpsychologicallaboratoryintheworldinthekonviktbuildinginLeipzigandattractedmanystudentstofollowandstudywithhim（Sydney&Duane,2015）.MostofthestudentswerecamefromUnitedStatesandsomestudenthadbuilttheirownexperimentallaboratorywhentheyreturnedbacktotheirhometowns（Sydney&Duane,2015）.Therefore,Wundt’sestablishmentofexperimentalpsychologylaboratorybroughtasignificantimpactsontheprogressofthefieldofmodernpsychology（Sydney&Duane,2015）.Itopenedthegateforotherpsychologiststouselabstoexplorethefieldofpsychology.BesideUS,someWundt’sstudentsfromItaly,JapanandRussiaalsousetheideaandconceptofWundttoestablishexperimentalpsychologylaboratoryinRussia（in1912）andinJapan（in1920）（Sydney&Duane,2015）.

WundtbecameaveryfamousandattractedprofessorintheUniversityofLeipzig,atatime,thereweremorethan600studentswereenrolledinhislectures,inwhichhehasmanyfamousstudentwhowerealsohadgreatachievementonthefieldofpsychologysuchasE.BTitchener（Sydney&Duane,2015）（1867-1927）whowasBritishpsychologistandhetookWilhelmWundt‘scoursefor