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Gestalt psychology in German culture, 1890—1967 Holism and the quest for objectivity M itchell G. Ash University of Iowa C a m b r id g e UNIVERSITY PRESS Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia Cambridge University Press 1995 First published 1995 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ash, Mitchell G. Gestalt psychology in German culture, 1890—1967 : holism and the quest for objectivity / Mitchell G. Ash. p. cm. —(Cambridge studies in the history of psychology) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-521-47540-6 (hbk.) 1. Gestalt psychology —History. 2. Psychology —Germany - History. I. Title. II. Series BF203.A84 1995 150.19'82'0943 - dc20 94-36273 CIP A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-521-47540-6 Hardback n 4S3 k Contents I ist of illustrations Preface page vii ix Introduction 1 Part I The social and intellectual settings I The academic environment and the establishment of experimental psychology Carl Stumpf and the training of scientists in Berlin I The philosophers’ protest ■I Making a science of mind: Styles of reasoning in sensory physiology and experimental psychology 5 Challenging positivism: Revised philosophies of mindand science (> The Gestalt debate: From Goethe to Ehrenfels and beyond Part II 51 68 84 The emergence o f Gestalt theory, 1910—1920 1 Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler 8 Faying the conceptual and research foundations 9 Reconstructing perception and behavior 10 Insights and confirmations in animals: Kohler on Tenerife II The step to natural philosophy: Die PhysischenGestalten I W e r t h e i m e r in times of war and revolution: Science for the military and toward a new logic Part III It lI I5 17 28 42 103 118 135 148 168 187 The Berlin school in Weimar Germany Establishing the Berlin school Research styles and results Theory's growth and limits: Development, open systems, self and society 203 219 247 16 17 18 Variations in theory and practice: Kurt Lewin, Adhemar Gelb, and Kurt Goldstein The encounter with Weimar culture The reception among German-speaking psychologists Part IV 263 284 307 Under Nazism and after: Survival and adaptation 19 Persecution, emigration, and Kohler’s resistance in Berlin 20 Two students adapt: Wolfgang Metzger and Kurt Gottschaldt 21 Research, theory, and system: Continuity and change 22 The postwar years 325 342 362 382 Conclusion 405 Appendix 1: Tables Appendix 2: Dissertations List of unpublished sources Notes Index 413 419 427 431 501 Illustrations Figures I ■ .1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 II M 15 In 17 Subjective grouping and contour (Schumann 1900) Muller-Lyer figure, as employed by Benussi (1904) Setups for Wertheimer’s motion experiments (1912) Setups for Kofifka and Kenkel’s motion experiments (1913) “Genuine achievements” (a) and “imitations o f chance” (b) (Kohler 1917) Figure and ground (Rubin 1915/1921) Uniform magnetic field distributed by an electric current in a straight conductor (Maxwell 1873, as cited in Kohler 1920) Maximum—minimum distribution: String on soap film (from l rnst Mach, The Science o f Mechanics, as cited in Kdhler 1920) Diagram o f the Wertheimer-Hombostel “Directional Listener” (Patented 1915) Solving the external angles of a polygon (Wertheimer 1920) ( icstalt “law s” —self-organizing tendencies in vision (Wertheimer 1923) I cvc