I have been interested in particular by reading about the sensory theories (such as placement theory, etc.) I also am still a little bit confused as to the exact reason why Wundt has had so much emphasis as the start of Psychology when it seems like Fechner has done just as much. I know that it was the "marriage" between physiology and philosophy, but Fechner seems to have started more and possibly accomplished more (although it doesn't seem like anyone could have written more than Wundt!)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
post and reflection
Looking around for websites, and by searching under the name Wundt, I found a piece on many of the psychologists we have recently been talking about. Given it is a wikipedia article, but it still has some interesting concepts. (search Wikipedia: Mathematical Psychology, sorry couldn't make the link work)
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ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you. As we were reading and discussing Fechner, I felt that his idea of psychophysics was the separation from pre-scientific psychology (orgone, Mesmer) and the birth of psychology as we see it today. I realize that part of the reason why Wundt is considered the founder is because of his laboratory and meticulous research methods. However, I feel that compared to Wundt, Fechner's ideas were more groundbreaking and made the biggest impact in developing a psychological discipline. Simply put, would Wundt or others have begun to study psychology if Fechner had never developed psychophysics? This thought is also supported by the fact that Fechner is still highly regarded and, as I posted last week, we still celebrate Fechner Day in October. Wundt was highly influential, but Fechner is the founder in my view.