What ever happened to Karl Bühler?

Karl Bühler is relatively unknown in English-speaking countries, mainly because most works have not been translated into English. Bühler's work on imageless thought sparked off the famous controversy over the methods of the Würzburg School. Among his most important contributions were the application of Gestalt to the study of perception, the proposal to integrate behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, and psychoanalysis, and the theoretical basis for the Linguistic Circle of Prague. As psychology became more interested in language and thought, Bühler's influence grew. His reputation will spread in the US and UK as more of his works are translated into English. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imagery.

Comments upon Robert R. Holt's paper (see record 1965-00378-001) on imagery. The author agrees with Holt, who demands "the return of the ostracized," and believes that research on the use of visual images in remembering, learning, and thinking should be resumed. The author also calls attention to a three-volume book entitled "Zur Analyse der Ged?chtnist?tigkeit und des Vorstellungsverlaufs" by Georg Elias Müller. The book summarizes knowledge on the psychology of learning, with emphasis on the use of visual aids in learning, and closes with a discussion of the findings of the Würzburg school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Adolf-Würth-Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Würzburg: Its history, present, and future.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 14(1) of History of Psychology (see record 2011-03824-004). The captions for the images included in the article inadvertently omitted. The images with their captions are presented in the erratum.] The Adolf-Würth-Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Würzburg is the successor of the former Institute for the History of Modern Psychology in Passau, founded in the early 1980s by Professor Werner Traxel. In 2009, the Institute moved to Würzburg and was reopened there. With an exemplary sponsorship by Prof. Dr. H.C. Mult. Reinhold Würth and the Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG it was possible to realize good spatial conditions for the archive, offering new perspectives for research in the field of history of psychology. This article describes the development of the Adolf-Würth-Center for the History of Psychology and its predecessor, the historical collections, and the service offered by the Adolf-Würth-Center as well as its tasks and goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sources.

Reports an error in "The Adolf-Würth-Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Würzburg: Its history, present, and future" by Armin Stock (History of Psychology, 2010[Aug], Vol 13[3], 335-339). The captions for the images included in the article were inadvertently omitted. The images with their captions are presented in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2010-16755-005.) The Adolf-Würth-Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Würzburg is the successor of the former Institute for the History of Modern Psychology in Passau, founded in the early 1980s by Professor Werner Traxel. In 2009, the Institute moved to Würzburg and was reopened there. With an exemplary sponsorship by Prof. Dr. H.C. Mult. Reinhold Würth and the Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG it was possible to realize good spatial conditions for the archive, offering new perspectives for research in the field of history of psychology. This article describes the development of the Adolf-Würth-Center for the History of Psychology and its predecessor, the historical collections, and the service offered by the Adolf-Würth-Center as well as its tasks and goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Franz Brentano--Much alive, though dead.

Discusses Franz Brentano's (1838-1917) works on various topics in psychology as well as concepts about the mind. For Brentano, experience revealed, not an inert context of sensations and their combination, but mental acts: sensations exist, but they are not per se mental. What is mental is the activity of seeing a color, smelling an odor, hearing a sound, etc. Brentano separated this active experiencing consciousness, for conceptual purposes largely (his overview tended in a holistic direction), into three aspects: (a) ideas or ideating, by which is meant largely sensing or imagining; (b) judging or judgment, which is not meant in an ethical or logical sense, but is perhaps closer to perception and attention; (c) feeling which develops out of a fundamental loving-hating axis as a point of departure. The author describes Brentano and the Würzberg School as one of the most influential systems of modern psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflections on the main schools of the world psychology in the Czech interwar psychology.

The author deals with the reasons for the different level of acceptance of the three important psychological perspectives (Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis) in the Czech interwar psychology. Gestalt psychology was probably the most accepted approach, which was at least partly caused by its founding in the neighboring Germany. It was an academic perspective that was convenient for the professional ambitions of its representatives as well as for their endeavor to establish psychology as a serious scientific discipline. On the contrary, the acceptance of behaviorism was rather negative or indifferent. Czech psychologists perceived it as a predominantly foreign, extraneous school of thinking. They preferred the studies on consciousness and the method of introspection over empirical research. Psychoanalysis also has never taken deeper roots in Czechoslovakia. Some Czech intellectuals accepted the existence of unconsciousness but they criticized Freudian sexual symbolism (Peroutka, ?apek). Negative attitudes of the politicians Masaryk and Bene? also contributed to the cool reception of this school. With sporadic exceptions, the psychoanalytic thinking was developed only in a small Jewish-German-Czech circle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychological Thought from Pythagoras to Freud: An Informal Introduction.

Reviews the book, Psychological Thought from Pythagoras to Freud: An Informal Introduction by Gardner Murphy (1968). Those individuals who look on Gardner Murphy as one of the (alas) few really literate psychologists of the twentieth century will have their admiration of him reinforced by this volume of essays. They were originally presented as a series of lectures at the Menninger School of Psychiatry in 1966-67. One of them, on "The Mathematical View of Life and Mind: Pythagoras", has already been published in the American Psychologist while another, "Evolution: Charles Darwin", has appeared in the Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic. Whether the topic is the place (and misplace) of quantification in psychology, materialist and functionalist views of psychology, the role of divine grace in the evolution of the concept of the will, nationalistic differences in the handling of common psychological problems, psychology's post evolutionary theory concerns, the stream of William James' thought, Gestalt psychology or Freudian psychoanalysis, Murphy remains erudite, informative and, occasionally, provocative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Community psychology, diversity, and the many forms of culture.

Comments on the original article, "Many forms of culture," by A. B. Cohen (see record 2009-04471-003). Cohen argued that psychology must broaden its conceptualization of culture to consider its many forms, such as religion, socioeconomic status, and region. The current author could not agree more with Cohen’s proposed conceptualization of culture and its potential impact on psychological theory, research, and practice. However, the current author asserts that Cohen's conceptualization is one that the field of community psychology has been incorporating into its theory, research, and practice for the past 15 years. Evidence for this can be found in the field’s journals and texts as well as its conferences and course offerings. It is striking, says the current author, that this rich tradition of scholarship and social action—much of it illustrating what Cohen’s proposed conceptualization purports to achieve but also advancing his vision further than even he proposes—was ignored in his analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rudolf Arnheim's contribution to Gestalt psychology.

Gestalt psychology was the foundation of Rudolf Arnheim's approach to art. Reviewing Arnheim's long and productive career, it becomes useful to assess his relationship to the evolving theory. By paying special attention to the issues of (1) perceptual abstraction and visual thinking, (2) perceptual dynamics and expression, and (3) perceptual "goodness" and beauty, it can be seen the degree to which Arnheim actually altered the basis of the general theory of Gestalt psychology, affirming the centrality of art in its purview. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in East Germany.

Discusses the nature of current psychology research in East Germany, including the work of Fischel (neurophysiology, animal behavior and genetics), W. Traxel ("An Empirical System of the Qualities of Feeling"), Vorweg and Vorweg (stereotyped attitudes), Zukowski ("Observations of Sea-Elephants in Captivity,"), Dathe (use of objects as tools by brown bears), and Grimm (bird population in Berlin). It is suggested that psychology in East Germany is a strange mixture of Gestalt principles and environmentalism, Marxist principles worked into the ontogenesis of behavior (as in a paper by G. Clauss), and is far removed from its innovator, Wilhelm Wundt. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive psychology, happiness, and virtue: The troublesome conceptual issues.

This article subjects the recently prominent theory of positive psychology to critical conceptual scrutiny, with emphasis on its general take on happiness, virtue, and positive emotion. It is argued that positive psychology suffers from internal divisions (such as divergent views of its proponents on what happiness is), ambiguities (e.g., regarding the possibility of nonvirtuous happiness), ambivalence (concerning self-realism vs. anti-self-realism), and at least one serious misconception (the assumption that any view that makes overall evaluative judgments thereby prescribes). Nevertheless, many of the charges commonly urged against positive psychology, in particular by Aristotelian theorists, do not stick, and we may be well advised to give it the benefit of our doubt. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice.

Reviews the book, The handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice by Kirk J. Schneider, James F. T. Bugental, and J. Fraser Pierson (see record 2001-01409-000). Over 30 years ago Abraham Maslow (1971) envisioned a 3rd force psychology that would bring about “a change of basic thinking along the total front of man’s endeavors, a potential change in every social institution, in every one of the ‘fields’ of intellectual endeavor, and in every one of the professions.” Schneider, Bugental, and Pierson must have been guided by a similar vision as they edited the Handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice. The breadth of the handbook is impressive with chapters addressing everything from psychotherapy, pedagogy, medicine, and spirituality to ecology, literature, social action and the workplace. The editors have successfully recruited authors from a variety of disciplines—including psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, education, and politics—who are well respected both inside and outside humanistic circles and who are exceptionally qualified to address their topics. Fortunately, despite this far-reaching breadth, the editors have not spread the handbook too thin. In fact, in areas where it seems especially needed (e.g., methodology) there is a much welcome depth and detail that is far from typical of other handbooks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Textbook of psychology (fourth edition).

Reviews the book, Textbook of psychology (fourth edition) by Donald O. Hebb and Don Donderi (see record 1987-97530-000). Before his death in August 1985, Hebb presided over a new revision of his classic introductory psychology text. The third edition of Hebb's book was published by W. B. Saunders in 1972, and more than one attempt had since been made to get a fourth edition published. With the help of D. C. Donderi, this new edition is now in print. This edition is largely an expansion and updating of the 1972 edition. The same topics are treated in the same order as before, but with frequent editing and with more recent material now included. For readers unfamiliar with Hebb's textbooks, they define psychology as the study of behaviour, and behaviour is seen as the product of brain activity. Brain activity in turn is understood by reference to Hebb's concept of the cell assembly. This Hebb and Donderi text is one of the few introductory psychology textbooks that employs a personal perspective on Psychology, and unifies the teaching of that topic by continued reference to one major theoretical concept. There is nowhere in their text any discussion of existing data or theory which might be thought to be incompatible with cell assembly theory. Nor is there any discussion of possible limits to the generalization or the operationalization of the cell assembly idea. Their text does tell students that theories do not last, and that enduring truths are not to be expected in science. Yet students are left with the strong impression that it is very unlikely the basic premises of cell assembly thinking will ever in the future be changed more than slightly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gestalt perspectives on cognitive science and on experimental psychology.

At the 1st author's request, the 2nd author was interviewed on Gestalt psychology's origins and utility for modern experimental psychology. Wertheimer's connections with Gestalt psychologists Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang K?hler and his study of Gestalt problems and methods, give him a special perspective on these issues. Several points for modern psychology emerge from the Gestalt perspective. Phenomena should be studied within their full context; there is a need to acknowledge the domain specificity of principles in experimental psychology; it is wise to study phenomena that either exist in the real world or have close real-world analogues; psychology must recognize interchanges between organisms and surroundings as determinants of behavior; and a data-driven perspective must complement, and sometimes replace, theory driven searches for broadly applicable, nondomain-specific principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promotion of Academic Careers in School Psychology: A Conceptual Framework of Impact Points, Recommended Strategies, and Hopeful Outcomes.

School psychology is facing a major shortage of faculty in graduate training and education programs. To deal with this shortage and the issues that surround it, we propose a conceptual framework that incorporates a number of impact points that graduate training programs can use to educate and sustain individuals in academic careers. The impact points include: selection of students, program-related training variables, post-program transition variables, and sustainability of academic careers. Each of these impact points is discussed within the context of the role that current faculty and practitioners in the profession can play in graduate education and training of academic scholars. Among the variety of potential solutions to the shortage, we introduce the concept of the "virtual university" to promote future education and sustainability of faculty within our graduate training programs. A case scenario from graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is presented as a context for the impact points raised in the article. We argue that those of us in the profession think systemically and lead the way into a new era of collaborative work across our graduate programs and among our colleagues in clinical, counseling, and related areas of applied and professional psychology graduate training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hugo Münsterberg's attack on the application of scientific psychology.

No individual in the early history of American psychology is more identified with the promotion of applied psychology than Hugo Münsterberg, whose books and articles on applied topics such as industrial psychology, forensic psychology, psychotherapy, and educational psychology made him one of the most visible psychologists of his day. But there is an earlier chapter to Münsterberg's life that tells a very different story of a Münsterberg opposed to application. The story begins in 1898 when he wrote an article for an American magazine in which he told teachers that the findings of experimental psychology had no relevance for education, setting off a firestorm of controversy among his colleagues in psychology and education. This article describes Münsterberg's early denigration of applied psychology and his subsequent transformation as applied psychologist. Reasons for that transformation are discussed as well as issues involving the stigma associated with applied psychology and the popularization of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gestalt psychology today.

The background of gestalt psychology is traced and relationships of gestalt psychology to physics are indicated. The notion of insight is reformulated. Certain trends in American psychology are not fully approved: "I doubt whether it is advisable to regard caution and a critical spirit as the virtues of a scientist, as though little else counted… . Too many young psychologists, it seems to me, either work only against something done by others or merely vary slightly what others have done before." Human experience in the phenomenological sense requires study. A gestalt view of motivation is presented "in terms of… forces which operate between certain perceptual processes and processes in another part of the brain, where a need may be physiologically represented." With de?mphasis on differences in Behaviorist and Gestalt schools and more emphasis on positive contributions of each, constructive work can be accomplished together. "It would be an extraordinary experience—and one good for psychology." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on Hitt's analysis.

W. D. Hitt's (see record 1969-16600-001) analysis of a 1963 symposium, while ostensibly directed at the behaviorism–phenomenology controversy, aimlessly gathers remnants of the Würzburg controversy, the nomothetic–idiographic debates of the 1950s, clinical–statistical arguments about prediction, and C. P. Snow's 2 cultures. It also fails to characterize phenomenology accurately by describing it as American. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contextual basis of behavior.

Summarizes highlights of 15 yr. of research, emphasizing the roles and mechanisms of context, particularly as these are understood in behaviorally relevant terms. Context is examined as empirical phenomenon, experimental paradigm, and systematic concept. Various influences on the context problem (i.e., relationalism, the organizational character of Gestalt psychology, and the functional and quantitative approach of American behaviorism) are regarded as part of an adaptation level theory. A case is made for adaptation level as a general theory of perception. This involves adapting the paradigm of the anchor experiment to selected perceptual settings. The interrelations of system function are examined through experiments of pooling and response latency. Results indicate that the norm for latency, consistent with adaptation level theory, is a mean derived through pooling. Context effects in reinforcement and the relation of context to the question of relevance are also discussed. (52 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)