Edward Titchner and Munsterberg

1
Edward Titchner and Munsterberg
2
1880 American psychology

• Very philosophical not a truly separate science
  
• Most important psychologists was William James
  who saw himself as more a philosopher
• This changed when two of Wundts students came to
  the U. S.
• Edward Titchner
• Hugo Munsterberg

3
History, Titchner, and Munsterberg

• Titchner regarded as a major foundation of
  psychology
• Most people have never heard of Munsterberg or
  know little about him
• Why?
• Titchner was British Munsterberg was German
• Titchner a more flashier person
• The most read history of psychology promoted
  Titchners importance
• Many of Munsterbergs ideas and papers angered
  certain groups in society

4
American psychology and Titchner

• Titchner credited with bringing the true
  scientific perspective to American psychology
• He brought his interpretation of Wundts
  psychology to the U.S.
• He appeared to be a follower of Wundt and it was
  assumed their psychology was the same it wasnt
• Founder of structuralism

5
American psychology and Titchner

• Early part of the 20th century, Titchner was the
  most important psychologist in the U.S.
• Highly authoritarian - ruled his students
  education, research, and private lives
• His program had a large drop out rate due to his
  absolute control and demand for absolute loyalty
• But also because of his emphasis on independent
  learning

6
Titchners psychology - Structuralism

• Psychology should be studied like other sciences
  and all science study begins with experience
• The subject of psychology is our experience and
  is dependent upon the experiencing person

7
Questions to be answered by psychology

• What are the basic elements of experience?
• How do these basic elements combine into mental
  processes?
• Why do these processes occur the way they do?
  Look for and identify causal relationships

8
Psychological method of study

• Introspection highly trained inner observation
  of mental activity
• Exclude all possible topics that cannot be
  studied using introspection
• Study of psychology according to Titchner was
  very rigid and narrow

9
Basis of Structuralism

• Everything that occurs in consciousness can be
  reduced to sensation, images and feelings
• Sensations humans could experience thousands of
  different sensations (32,820 visual sensations.
• Images psychologically the same as sensations
• Feelings emotional reactions that accompany
  certain mental experiences

10
Example What is attention?

• Common belief attention is something that
  allows us to perceive certain things more
  clearly, to focus our attention.
• Titchner rejected this idea because his system
  of introspection didnt give description of
  attention
• Attention does bring sensations or ideas to the
  foreground and dims others, but it is not a part
  of consciousness

11
Problems with Titchners structuralism

• His rigidity of what was to be studied and how it
  was to be studied excluded much of what other
  psychologists wanted to study.
• Problems with introspection reporting changes
  in consciousness while changes are occurring
  interferes with consciousness
• He tried to answer this issue through replication

12
Other problems

• Rejected most of what other psychologist felt was
  an important part of psychology
• Mental testing
• Educational psychology
• Individual differences
• Mental health
• His personality
• Overbearing
• Arrogant
• While he graduated many students, most abandoned
  introspection after recognizing problems with it
• Example

13
Titchner and Munsterberg

• Very unusual that two individuals who studied
  under the same person would have such different
  theoretical perspective
• Wundt had the all the power to accept or reject
  dissertations
• Titchner no problem because it was in line with
  Wundts positions
• Munsterberg had his 1st rejected didnt agree
  with Wundt

14
Munsterberg as the antithesis of Titchner

• Advocated a broad science of psychology that
  studied many aspects of human behavior
• Munsterberg much more flexible and personable
• Interested in mental health, forensic psychology,
  and industrial psychology
• Did not see himself as a clinical psychologist

15
Contributions

• Psychotherapy (1909) defined the role of
  psychiatry and psychotherapy
• directly challenged the ideas of Freud
• Opposed a general approach to mental illness
• On the Witness Stand (1908) application of
  psychology to the courts
• Problems with eye witness testimony and
  questioning techniques
• Women should be excluded from juries because they
  are incapable of rational discussion
• Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913)

16
Munsterbergs original success

• Part intelligence part being in the right place
• Came to Harvard when William James wanted to get
  out of experimental work
• U.S. wanted practical contributions from science

17
Munsterbergs decline in importance

• He was German and attempted to promote Germany
  and Germans as good just prior to WWI when most
  Americans pro-British
• Reported that women were incapable of rational
  discussion when the womens suffrage movement was
  gaining strength.
• Trashed the legal system and their handling of
  witnesses
• He became very unpopular for not being
  politically correct