Compare and Contrast Wilhelm Wundt’s and Edward Titchener’s Systems of Psychology.
Compare and contrast Wilhelm Wundt’s (1832-1920) and Edward Titchener’s (1867-1927) systems of Psychology.History of Psychology
Michael Ronan
Q. Compare and contrast Wilhelm Wundt’s (1832-1920) and Edward Titchener’s (1867-1927) systems of Psychology.
Wilhelm Wundt was born in Mannheim, Germany on the 16th of August 1832. He grew up surrounded by a very intellectual family. Wundt was very distant from both his parents and a very lonely child in his early years in general. When his father suffered a stroke his assistant thought Wundt until the age of 13. At the age of 13 he entered into a Gymnasium. He failed his first year but graduated at the age of 19. (Nutty 2011) After graduating he went on to study medicine. After medicine he went on to study physiology under teachers such as Hermann Von Helmholtz. He was awarded a doctorate in 1855 and from 1857-1864 he lectured physiology at Heidelberg. In 1864 he was made professor of Heidelberg. In 1879 the University of Leipzig recognised Wundt’s laboratory and this is known worldwide as the beginning of psychology as a science. “In 1920, he wrote Erlebtes and Erkanntes, his autobiography. A short time later, on August 31, 1920, he died.” (Nutty 2011)
Edward Titchener was born in Chichester, England on the 11th of January 1867. He studied philosophy and classics at Oxford and then became a research assistant in philosophy. Titchener studied under Wundt for two years and received his degree in 1892. He then returned to Oxford to lecture in biology. He went to teach psychology and direct the laboratory at the new Cornell University until his death in 1927. (Nutty 2011)
“Titchener identified with Wundt’s personal and professional style and with the elementary dimensions of his psychology. Titchener did not admire Wundt’s larger philosophical vision especially his emphasis on social, cultural, and linguistic studies. Rather, Titchener identified with the hard-core scientific work in Wundt’s laboratory.”
Michael Ronan
Q. Compare and contrast Wilhelm Wundt’s (1832-1920) and Edward Titchener’s (1867-1927) systems of Psychology.
Wilhelm Wundt was born in Mannheim, Germany on the 16th of August 1832. He grew up surrounded by a very intellectual family. Wundt was very distant from both his parents and a very lonely child in his early years in general. When his father suffered a stroke his assistant thought Wundt until the age of 13. At the age of 13 he entered into a Gymnasium. He failed his first year but graduated at the age of 19. (Nutty 2011) After graduating he went on to study medicine. After medicine he went on to study physiology under teachers such as Hermann Von Helmholtz. He was awarded a doctorate in 1855 and from 1857-1864 he lectured physiology at Heidelberg. In 1864 he was made professor of Heidelberg. In 1879 the University of Leipzig recognised Wundt’s laboratory and this is known worldwide as the beginning of psychology as a science. “In 1920, he wrote Erlebtes and Erkanntes, his autobiography. A short time later, on August 31, 1920, he died.” (Nutty 2011)
Edward Titchener was born in Chichester, England on the 11th of January 1867. He studied philosophy and classics at Oxford and then became a research assistant in philosophy. Titchener studied under Wundt for two years and received his degree in 1892. He then returned to Oxford to lecture in biology. He went to teach psychology and direct the laboratory at the new Cornell University until his death in 1927. (Nutty 2011)
“Titchener identified with Wundt’s personal and professional style and with the elementary dimensions of his psychology. Titchener did not admire Wundt’s larger philosophical vision especially his emphasis on social, cultural, and linguistic studies. Rather, Titchener identified with the hard-core scientific work in Wundt’s laboratory.”
Bibliography: * Nutty, F. (2011) ‘The New Psychology’, History of Psychology, Waterford Institute of Technology, unpublished. * D.Brett King, Wayne Viney, William Douglas Woody (2009). A History of Psychology Ideas and Context. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson. P.232-254. * New World Encyclopaedia (2008), Edward B. Titchener [online], available: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Edward_Titchener [accessed 1 December 2011]. * Thomas, Nigel J.T. (2010), Mental Imagery, The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, [online], available: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-imagery/edward-titchener.html [accessed 1 December 2011]