Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt: from Philosophy to Science - Essay Example

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt: From Philosophy to Science YOUR FULL THE OF YOUR SCHOOL OR Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt: From Philosophy to Science Introduction and Brief Biography Within the history, theory, and philosophy of psychology, there have been many significant contributions made by numerous individuals. One such person, Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt, made such an impact upon the discipline that he is referred to by some as the "father of experimental psychology" and the "founder of modern psychology" (Indiana University, 2007, p. 1). Born in Germany in 1832, he is thought to have formed many of his philosophical ideas while he was in his twenties; particularly during a time when he was convalescing from a serious illness (Brown, Collinson, & Wilkinson, 1996, p. 852). Regardless of where those early thoughts were initiated, they likely came into clarity during his time in Heidelberg at the Physiological Institute where he worked on "sense perception and related problems" and came to the conclusion that there was a need for a more scientific approach to psychology which was "rooted in physiology" (Brown, et al, P. 852). In 1879, he founded the Institute for Experimental Psychology in Leipzig, where he concentrated on experimental psychology (Kling & Riggs, 1971, p. 1) and developed a methodology that sought to develop more accurate data for testing mental activities. He is primarily responsible for moving the subject of psychology out of the realm of philosophy and into the venue of experimental or modern scientific method. He accomplished this by focusing on the physiological aspects of experimentation and how they related to the mind. The purpose of this paper is, having providing a brief biography and contextual frame of reference, to discuss the contemporaneous environment surrounding the development of some of Wundt's theories, to review the contribution of those theories to the subject and practice of Psychology in general, and to provide a personal statement of opinion on some of Wundt's theories. Environmental Influences Of all the possible environmental contributors to Wundt's theoretical development, there are two that will be mentioned here. The first is the philosophical environment of the day in regards to psychological study, and the second is the laboratory environment at Leipzig. Wundt did not develop his ideas in a vacuum. He was heavily influenced by John Stuart Mill's "System of Logic," from which he often quoted (Schmidgen, 2003, p. 469). No doubt as part of his training, he would have studied both logic and philosophy, and Brown, et al., maintain that he was drawn toward idealism while opposing sensationalism (1996, p. 852). It is interesting to consider the difficulty of bridging from a philosophical approach to the scientific method when studying psychology. In Wundt's day, the mind was perceived in terms of the soul and introspection was the primary means of investigating those aspects of human understanding. Wundt did not accept the notion that self observation was effective; in applying his scientific approach, he believed that psychological study required a trained observer, and that observer needed to be performing those observations in a controlled environment while investigating a properly limited question. Thus, by taking the study of the mind out of the philosophical and into the practical, Wundt introduced a radical new perspective. The second environmental influence of note is his time spent in the laboratory at Leipzig where he actually performed many of his experiments. In one such experiment, he would use a pendulum or analog clock and have his subjects report "the time that coincided with some other event such as the ringing of a bell" (Carlson, Hogendoorn, & Verstraten, 2006, p. 1406). In this way, he was able to use empirical data to quantify the difference between those with fast responses and those with slow ones. Based upon those observations, he could draw conclusions about the way the mind processed sensory input. Consider the impact of this laboratory environment in contrast with that of the philosophical one. Rather than merely dealing with words, ideas, and concepts, Wundt was able to obtain and analyze actual data. His ideas about the theory and physiological aspects of the mind would receive immediate scientific feedback in the form of observations that were converted into data. Rather than debate the unknown introspective element of self observation, he could actually postulate the idea of fast verses slow mental responses, and chart the empirical evidence through observing his subjects as they reacted to bells and clocks. It was upon this platform of scientific observation that he could build his theories of sensory processing and the relationship between psychological and physiological processes. This physiological root was the very connection he had been looking for since his days in Heidelberg. Thus, within the context of these two environments, one completely mental or philosophical and the other scientific and observable, Wundt was able to form conclusions and offer theories on how the mind worked. Wundt's Theories and Contributions to Psychology What is likely Wundt's greatest single contribution to the field of psychology is that he sought to make psychology a true science by using experimental methodology. Prior to Wundt's work, psychology was considered to be a branch of philosophy where the study of the mind tended to focus on non-quantifiable aspects such as introspection and self observation. Wundt's use of the laboratory experience eventually changed that perception of psychology and was "regarded as a revolutionary innovation" that took the methods which had been "so successful in gaining understanding and control of the external world [and applied them to] the inner world of human experience" (Klein, 1970, p. 8). Thus the introduction of experimental methodology changed the face of psychology forever. Studying the mind was no longer limited to articulated opinions or self-valuations; the relationships between actual visual perceptions and the physiological response could be structure, measured, observed, and recorded. He is also known for making a distinction between "experimental psychology" that was able to be conducted in a laboratory under strict, observable scientific controls and what he called "Volkerpsychologie" or social psychology that "could not be investigated experimentally but must be explored via comparative-historical methods" (Greenwood, 2003, p. 70). Two of his major life works demonstrate this dichotomy as the first one is about visual perception or physiological psychology and how the mind correlates with the body, and the other is the text previously referred to on social or anthropological psychology. Another one of Wundt's ideas was that psychology should focus on average or typical performances rather than on individual variations, and he "aimed to study primarily the generalized, normal adult mind" (Routh, 1996, p. 245). This differed from other thinkers of his day, who felt that the abnormal mind made for more interesting and enlightening study. Although he fell out of favor with mainstream psychological thought in the 1970's, modern researchers are finding that his contributions are more lasting. For example, his studies on reaction time experiments demonstrated that there were two types of subjects; those with fast reactions who respond before the stimulus is fully perceived, and those with slower reactions who wait for a more complete stimulus perception before giving a response-and in a 1994 study, Jokeit & Makeig concluded that their results on different event-related patterns confirmed the "long-standing speculations of Wundt" (p. 6339). Thus Wundt's work was of sufficient durability, and his theories based on such a correct formulation, that a hundred years after his experiments scientists are still finding his reasoning to be sound. My Opinion of Wundt's Theories After researching and studying the life and ideas of Wilhelm Wundt, I think that his theories and contribution to the study of psychology are good things. I understand why psychology was originally considered an arm of philosophy. For the students and thinkers of that era, it was no doubt difficult to separate the function of the mind from the operations of the brain. Given the educational, philosophical, and scientific environment surrounding Wundt, his ideas were truly revolutionary and he deserves to be called the founder of modern psychology; if for no other reason than his intuition that there is a physiological element in the study of psychology. I think it is interesting that his early focus was upon the physiological aspects of the discipline but that his later work looked more into the social and historical elements. Perhaps it was this direction that caused him to believe that it was better to focus on the average performance of normal adults rather than the specific variations associated with individuals. If he wanted to understand the fundamental human psychological condition, while moving from a physiological point of experimental observation to a social/historical one, it would make sense to focus on generalized data rather than abnormal variants. Finally, I believe that his longevity is a testimony to his value to the field of psychology. The fact that his observations and speculations are still being confirmed over one hundred years later demonstrates the value of that work. Applying the scientific method to the discipline of psychology turns out to be brilliant. References Brown, S., Collinson, D., & Wilkinson, R. (Eds.) (1996). Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Philosophers. London: Routledge. Carlson, T.A., Hogendoorn, H., & Verstraten, F.A. (2006). The speed of visual attention: What time is it The Journal of Vision, 6, 1406-1411. Greenwood, J.D. (2003). Wundt, Volkerpsychologie, and experimental social psychology. History of Psychology, 6 (1), 70-88. Indiana University. (2007, 21 March). Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) German Philosopher and Psychologist. Retrieved April 5, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.indiana.edu/ intell/wundt.shtml Jokeit, H., & Makei, S. (1994). Different event-related patterns of y-band power in brain waves of fast- and slow-reacting subjects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, 91, 6339-6343. Klein, D.B. (1970). A History of Scientific Psychology: Its Origins and Philosophical Backgrounds. New York: Basic Books. Kling, J.W., & Riggs, L. A. (1971). Experimental Psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Routh, D.K. (1996). Lightner Witmer and the First 100 Years of Clinical Psychology. American Psychologist 51 (3), 244-247. Schmidgen, H. (2003). Wundt as chemist A fresh look at his practice and theory of experimentation. American Journal of Psychology, 116 (3), 469-476. Read More