| Childhood/Family Life
Wolfgang Köhler (1887-1967), a German
educated American Psychologist,
co-founded a school of psychology known as Gestalt during a time when
psychology
in the United States was dominated by behaviorism (Schultz &
Schultz,
2004). Little information seems to exist about Köhler’s
childhood
and family life. However, soon after Köhler’s birth in
Reval,
Estonia in 1887, his family moved to Wolfenbuttell, Germany, as his
parents
were of German decent (“Wolfgang Köhler,” n.d.; Zawidzki,
2004).
Academics were central to the family; his father was a schoolmaster,
his
sisters were educators and nurses, and his older brother (Wilhelm) was
a prominent scholar (“Kohler: In the beginning,” n.d.). Besides
an
interest in science, Kohler enjoyed classical music, the piano, and the
outdoors (“Kohler: In the beginning,” n.d.). He attended such
universities
as Tubingen (1905-1906), Bonn (1906-1907), and Berlin
(1907-1909).
While at Berlin he earned his Ph.D. under Karl Stumpf (“Wolfgang
Köhler,”
n.d.; Zawidzki, 2004). At the latter he studied physics and
psychology
under the tutelage of Max Planck and Karl Stumpf respectively
(“Wolfgang
Köhler,” n.d.). His dissertation was on psycho-acoustics
(“Wolfgang
Köhler,” n.d.). Obviously, physics was an inspiration to
Köhler,
as can be seen in how he transferred many its ideas to psychological
aspects
(Schultz & Schultz, 2004).
Adult Life
Kohler married while in his mid-twenties and
fathered four children
with his wife. Few details exist on their marriage but later
events
suggest that all was not well. While in his thirties, Kohler
divorced
his first wife and married a student. However, no further
information
could be found on the length of his first marriage or details of his
second
marriage. Possibly connected with these stressful events was a
noticeable
hand tremor that manifested around the same time as his divorce and
second
marriage (Schultz & Schultz, 2004).
After earning his doctorate, Köhler worked at
the Psychological
institute in Frankfurt (1910-1913) with Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka,
and this is where the they spawned Gestalt psychology (“Wolfgang
Köhler,”
n.d.; Zawidzki, 2004). The trio used a loose translation of the
German
word “Gestalt,” meaning “whole,” to frame their ideas (“Wolfgang
Köhler,”
n.d.). He soon pursued these perceptual ideas through his
research
with chimpanzees as director of the Canary Island Anthropoid Station in
1913. He was involved in this research until he returned to
Germany
in 1920 (Cook, 2001; “Wolfgang Köhler,” n.d.). More
information
regarding his ideas on perceptual phenomena as well as animal research
will follow. He was a professor at the University of Berlin from
1920 to 1935, taking the place of Carl Stumpf, his original mentor
(Zawidzki,
2004). Kohler fled to the United States in 1935 due to harassment
from publicly criticizing the Nazi movement. He vehemently spoke
out against the Nazis and their persecution of Jews. Köhler
then took a position at Swarthmore College, where he stayed until
1955.
He became an American citizen in 1946 (“Wolfgang Köhler,” n.d.;
Zawidzki,
2004). In 1956 he went to Dartmouth College as a research
professor,
and became president of the American Psychological Association in 1959
(“Wolfgang Köhler,” n.d.; Zawidzki, 2004).
Professional Accomplishments
Kohler contributed substantial literary work to
the field of psychology.
He wrote and lectured extensively on his animal research and on the
understanding
of human perception (Schultz & Schultz, 2004; “Wolfgang
Köhler,”
n.d.). The following is a list of Köhler’s professional
accomplishments
and published works:
- Intelligenzenprufungen an Menschenaffen, 1921
(revised edition of
Intelligenzenprufungen an
Anthropoiden)-
The Mentality of Apes (researched the role of insight in learning with
apes from a
Gestalt perspective)
- Die Physischen Gestalten in Ruhe und im
Stationaren Zustand, 1920
(this title translates into English as “The
Physical Gestalten
at Rest and in Steady State,” and is partly translated in a Source Book
of Gestalt
Psychology by W.D.
Ellis, [1938]. Interestingly, it had an introduction for
philosophers
and biologists, and
one for physicists,
but none for psychologists.)
- Co-founded the Psychologische Forschung (a
Gestalt psychology journal
in the 1920s, published in German)
- Intelligence in Apes, 1925 (covers his
experimental studies with apes
in regards to their learning, their behavior,
and imitation in
problem
solving)
- Gestalt Psychology, 1929 (written for Americans,
it addressed the
reductionistic ideologies of structuralism and
behaviorism)
- The Place of Value in a World of Fact, 1938
(this was an adaptation
from one of the many William James
lectures that Kohler
had done at Harvard University, and where his term “isomorphism”
debuted)
- Dynamics in Psychology, 1940 (rev. 1965)
(addresses perception and
memory specifically, as well as research
and theory in
psychology)
- ‘On the nature of associations’, in Proceedings
of the American Philosophical
Society 84. 1941 (covers neural
trace memories as
the basis of associations of contrast, contiguity, but mainly
similarity)
- ‘Figural after-effects: an investigation of
visual processes’, in
Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society 88. 1944
(focused
on how extended visual exposure to a stimuli impacts visual accuracy
afterward)
- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences,
1947
- Received APA’s Distinguished Scientific
Contribution Award, 1956
- Elected president of the American Psychological
Association, 1959
- Gestalt psychology today, 1959 (background of
Gestalt psychology,
its use of phenomenal and physical
concepts, and
comparison
to Behaviorism)
- The Task of Gestalt Psychology, 1969 (a review
of the achievements
and oppositions that Gestalt Psychology
faced to that point)
- Awarded the Warren Medal (a Society of
Experimental Psychologists
achievement medal)
- Awarded the Wundt Medal (a German Society for
Psychology achievement
medal)
This list (“Kohler: In the beginning,” n.d.;
Schultz & Schultz,
2004; “Wolfgang Köhler,” n.d.; Zawidzki, 2004) demonstrates
Köhler’s
dedication to the popularization of Gestalt psychology and to
perceptual
issues in general. His writings, awards, and personal life seem
to
reflect his dignified and creative character as a physicist, a
philosopher,
and a psychologist.
Contributions to Psychology
Köhler’s main contribution to the field,
Gestalt psychology (“Wolfgang
Köhler,” n.d.; Zawidzki, 2004), has made a lasting impact.
Gestalt
psychology was a rebellion against Wundt and Titchener’s structuralism
theories of perception where experiences were reduced to individual
parts,
and against behaviorism’s reduction of experiences to simple
stimulus-response
reflexes (Schultz & Schultz, 2004; “Wolfgang Köhler,”
n.d.).
With roots in Husserl’s phenomenology and Kant’s philosophy, Gestalt
psychology
viewed the perceptual process as the joining of perceptual elements
together
to form a holistic interpretation of a stimulus, a synergistic
collaboration
where the parts were far less important than the whole (“Wolfgang
Köhler,”
n.d.). There was considerable excitement in the prospects of
leaving
behind the other German psychologies (structuralism, functionalism, and
psychoanalysis) for something new. A famous quote by Köhler
during that time period reflected the energy that he and his colleagues
experienced in the founding of Gestalt psychology as it was a
revolution
in perceptual theories. Kohler and his colleagues felt that there
was something lacking in the field of psychology; that something was
needed
that was more applicable than structuralism and functionalism.
Köhler
was the right person at the right time to help to bring this about.
One Gestalt idea is perceptual constancy; the
inclusiveness and perpetuation
of an objects parts in a perceptual experience (Schultz & Schultz,
2004). Other Gestalt ideas include the perceptual organization
principles
of proximity, continuity, similarity, closure, simplicity, and
figure/ground
(Schultz & Schultz, 2004). Proximity suggests that objects
seen
close together will be perceived as being part of a single
object.
Similarity suggests that objects that have the same appearance will be
perceived as a single object. Continuity suggests that perceived
patterns will be continued. Closure suggests that an automatic
process
will complete gaps in an object to perceive a solid object.
Pragnanz
suggests that parts will be perceptually joined to make a recognizable
form with observer input. Figure/ground suggests that perception
will separate an object from its background (Schultz & Schultz,
2004).
These principles are heuristics, or short cuts, that people employ
during
perception to increase speed and efficiency in recognition of an
object.
Many of these perceptual ideas have influenced the
areas of cognitive,
social, and clinical psychology. While Gestalt ideas can now be
found
in the counseling approaches of Gestalt Therapy, they bare only a
conceptual
relation to Kohler’s original work. Additionally, his perceptual
ideas have contributed to the understanding of learning, memory, and
the
nature of associations (“Kohler: In the beginning,” n.d.). The
premise
of Gestalt Therapy (created by Fritz Perls) is that mental health
problems
might be the result of a lack of integration of personality parts into
a whole by an individual (Rathus, 2000).
Köhler’s other significant contribution to
psychology came through
his animal research (Cook, 2001). He began his work on The
Mentality
of Apes after his time as director of the Canary Island Anthropoid
Station,
and it was later published in 1917 (“Wolfgang Köhler,”
n.d.).
While at this research station during WWI, he focused nearly all of his
time on a group of nine chimpanzees caged there for research
purposes.
One of which, named Sultan, exceeded in intelligence and was rumored to
be his favorite subject (Cook, 2001; “Wolfgang Köhler,” n.d.;
Zawidzki,
2004). Köhler primarily tested the chimps with problem
solving
tasks involving food as the motivation (Cook, 2001). In one
instance,
Sultan was observed joining together bamboo polls, using them as tools,
to retrieve fruit placed far outside of his cage (“Kohler: In the
beginning,”
n.d.). In another situation, an ape was observed solving a
problem
of reaching bananas attached to the cage ceiling by stacking and
climbing
up several crates (“Kohler: In the beginning,” n.d.). Kohler
proposed
that the apes used “insight,” not trial and error or chance to
accomplish
these tasks, an idea that he would later develop into a theory of
learning
(Cook, 2001). The amount of time he spent conducting animal
research
may not have been as appealing to Kohler as one might think. In
reference
to the considerable amount of time that he had spent studying
chimpanzees,
he related that he grew tired of being around them and that this
negatively
impacted his ability to focus on the research. Interestingly, the
majority of his important experiments were completed in the first six
months
he was on the island despite being there for roughly seven years (Cook,
2001).
Kohler also experimented with chickens but to a
lesser extent than with
the apes. He trained chickens to peck at a gray board when shown
with a black board, then observed them peck at a white board when shown
with a gray board. He reasoned that they were able to see the
relationship
between the stimuli, instead of simply learning a single task.
Kohler
called this process “transposition,” which can be seen in humans when
one
transfers the knowledge from one situation to another (Zawidzki,
2004).
His experiments were criticized as less than rigorous and poorly
controlled
(“Wolfgang Köhler,” n.d.). Nonetheless, the information he
generated
proved useful in understanding animal and human learning (Cook, 2001;
Schultz
& Schultz, 2004). Köhler wrote extensively on his
research,
much of which was published through the journal that he
co-founded.
He was a pioneer in understanding thought processes and the errors
within,
such as with judgments and associations. His numerous
contributions
won him recognition from several psychological associations. On
June
11, 1967, Wolfgang Köhler died in New Hampshire (“Wolfgang
Köhler,”
n.d.; Zawidzki, 2004).
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