While we are abroad for PS 309 our
class is reading A Brief History of
Modern Psychology by Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr. That means that during the times
we aren’t adventuring around London and seeing the sites we have already
started learning more about the history of psychology. Although it went by
different names the study of psychology dates back to over 2,000 years ago. Many
different philosophers and scientists from the past would be considered
psychologist in modern times. In our textbook it has been suggested that a man
named Gustav Fechner could have created the field of psychology, as we know it
today. Gustav Fechner was a German philosopher, physicist, and experimental
psychologist. He spent most of his life in Poland where he was a professor and
focused on color and vision. Unfortunately he got an eye disorder and had to
retire. His later life consisted of studies on the mind in relation to the
body. Lastly, one of the major things that Fechner did in his lifetime was discover
a new field of psychology. To do this he awoke one morning with the realization
that it is entirely possible to measure physical and psychological worlds
separately. Thus began the field of psychophysics. This insight was on October
22, 1850 and that day is now known as Fechner day all over the world.
Gustav Fechner is known for his many contributions to the field of both science and psychology. Many of his contributions dealt with sensation and perception. This a field of psychology that is still widely credible today. One of most famous contributions was the Weber-Fechner Law, which states that sensation, which is the feeling or perception of an outside stimulus, can be expressed as a logarithmic function. While this law was considered useful, it was soon disproven. Another contribution by Fechner was the color effect. The color effect is an illusion in which rapidly moving patterns of black and white create the illusion of perceived colors. This method is still used to make some of the most famous optical illusions. Fechner also spent time studying syntheses. Synesthesia is a phenomenon in which a person perceives to sensations at the same time (i.e. music is seen as colors). The famous Francis Galton continued this study. Gustav Fechner was among the first people to hypothesize that when the Corpus Collosum was severed that the two hemispheres of the brain would operate separately. This was later proven true. Another interesting theory that he discovered is known as the Golden Section Hypothesis. In this hypothesis he found that a specific ratio of width and length of rectangles was more aesthetically appealing to humans. The golden ratio was 0.62.
Fechner Day is a day to celebrate the anniversary of Fechner's new insight. It is on October 22 every year. This is the day he realized that it is possible to measure physical and psychological worlds separately. This link is a website to the holiday! It gives you more information about the celebration, events, and venue each year.
The man, the myth, the legend: Gustav Fechner. Founder of Psychophysics.
Post By:
Benjamin Saad & Samantha Beckwith
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