History of Psychology

Many psychologists trace their heritage to Wundt. As we have seen, Wundt is often given credit for the very founding of psychology. But Wundt’s laboratory at Leipzig was not without German rivals, and Wundt was not without German critics. These competing approaches to the “new psychology” of the nineteenth century were also experimental but differed from the approach of Wundt in the topics they emphasized. In their psychophysics, Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner made precise measurements of sensation; these scholars actually preceded and influenced Wundt. Hermann Ebbinghaus studied memory under carefully controlled laboratory conditions; and Carl Stumpf and Oswald Külpe investigated mental acts including problem-solving and attention. In this chapter, we consider the work of these five scholars in detail. As you will see, the German pioneers of psychology extend far beyond Wundt himself.