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this page you will find Munsterberg's major contributions to psychology.
He was an influence to a variety of issues during this time period in which he
made several contributions with his writings.
 | Experimental Psychology- Munsterberg did not have a problem
breaking away from Wundt and structuralism. He found other various
topics of great interest that contradicted the principles that Wundt
believed. When he first broke away, he proposed an action theory based
on musculoskeletal innervation (Landy, 1992). Also he believed that
behavior is influenced both from the environment in which people interact on
a daily basis and from physiology (Landy, 1992). He was influenced by
Darwin on this concept as well as other evolutionary processes.
Through his work in experimental psychology, he had no tolerance for the
consciousness. |
| Differential Psychology-Similar to other psychologists, Munsterberg
was greatly interested in individual differences in experimentation.
Even from the beginning of his education in Germany, he was more influenced
by the differences among people than similarities. Throughout the
testing movement, Munsterberg had ample opportunity to look at differences
in behaviors when comparing the results from the tests. With his
deviation from Wundt, he was a functionalist and he wanted to see how these
differences in behaviors among individuals related to outcomes. A few
examples of relationships to test scores include variables such as job success, truthfulness in court proceedings, and between alcohol consumption
and job satisfaction ( Landy, 1992). These influences that emerged
from observing and interpreting individual differences later led to applied
psychology. |
| Educational Psychology- Munsterberg first viewed education as not
having a function in psychology. He eventually changed his position on
this topic when he began to believe that teachers should not be able to
apply psychology in classrooms, but instead that type of work should be left to
psychologists who are properly trained to handle such matters (Landy,
1992). After looking at the American school system, Munsterberg
criticized it compared to how Germany's school system was. He was
against the liberal wave that was occurring at the time and sternly opposed
the teaching of sex education at schools (Landy, 1992). He wrote many
essays on these matters in which he also addressed his concern for the deficiency
in American scholarship. |
| Forensic Psychology- One of Munsterberg's most recognized
ideas surrounded the courtroom in regards to eyewitness testimony. He
was most interested in bystanders and witness accuracy, lie detection, and
jury persuasion (Landy, 1992). He also wrote various magazine articles
that related to crime prevention, using hypnosis to question suspects, and
administering mental tests to detect guilty persons (Schultz & Schultz,
2004). |
Interesting fact: Munsterberg's
early studies in group dynamics concluded that women were unfit to serve on a
jury in court cases. In an experiment, he presented males and females with a piece of
cardboard that had many dots on it. They were each individually suppose to
estimate the number of dots on the card. Then he asked each group to
discuss among each other how many dots were on the cardboard. Since
females were less influenced by the other members of the group, in which they
stuck to their original opinion, Munsterberg concluded that women should not
serve jury duty (Landy, 1992). This study coincided with the views that
society had about women, but it was ironic that Munsterberg tried to get Harvard
to accept Calkins to the doctorate program to promote the learning of women when
he publicized these findings from his study that only made women seem inferior
once again.
| Industrial/Organizational Psychology- Munsterberg has been
considered one of the founding fathers of I/O Psychology. The span of
his research in this area included vocational guidance, advertising, personnel
management, mental testing, employee motivation, and the effects of fatigue
on job performance (Schultz & Schultz, 2004). He was the first to
develop the concept of validation and the two different types of test
development which are content-oriented and construct-oriented (Landy,
1992). Many of his theories in business related to matching the best
man for the right job, which in turn would increase productivity, efficiency, and job satisfaction. By using mental tests and job
simulations to assess knowledge, skills, and abilities, individuals could be
rightly matched to a job (Schultz & Schultz, 2004). |
| One of his most recognized studies is regarding a trolley car. His main
purpose in conducting the experiment was to reduce the number of
accidents that were occurring. He later realized that there were many
aspects that contributed to the accidents such as the ability to foresee danger which included daring spirits, and those who are
unacquainted with
local conditions (Goldman, 1918). |
| Another study concerned tests for ship service captains. There was
a problem concerning the reactions of the captains aboard ships to
dangerous situations. There were three types of hazardous reactions
that were occurring: people either became paralyzed and did not react to
the situation, acted immediately without proper acknowledgment of what
needed to be clearly done, or thought through the situation briefly and
then proceeded to respond accordingly (Goldman, 1918). In the
simulated situations in the lab, Munsterberg attempted to figure out the
factors that were involved in this job surrounding the need for quick decision
making. |
| The third most talked about study by Munsterberg involved tests for a
telephone service. He was trying to assess what characteristics were
needed by a phone operator to properly carry out the job. The three
elements of the job that he specifically looked at were attention, memory,
and intelligence (Goldman, 1918). |
| Psychotherapy- Munsterberg was known for treating patients in
his laboratory instead of in a normal clinical setting. A major
underlying influence of his views on psychotherapy related to the fit
between a person and the environment. He believed that mental illness
was a behavioral mismatch between these two factors. His approach to
treating patients could be characterized as therapist-centered, directive,
and motivational, denying any recognition of the unconsciousness that Freud
and Jung had proposed (Landy, 1992). Some of the patients that he
treated most had problems involving alcoholism, drug abuse, hallucinations,
obsessive thoughts, phobias, and sexual disorders (Schultz & Schultz,
2004). Much of his work surrounding psychotherapy eventually gave rise
to clinical psychology. |
Some books written by Munsterberg
On the Witness Stand- This book was written in 1914 and dealt with the
issues surrounding forensic psychology. More specifically, it was more
geared towards eye witness testimony.
Psychology General and Applied- This book was written in 1914.
Psychology and Industrial Efficiency- This book was written in 1913
and focused on many principle in industry that greatly influence industrial
organizational psychology.
Psychology and Life- This book was written in 1899
Business Psychology- This book was written in 1915.
Psychotherapy-This book was written in 1909.
Altogether Munsterberg had over a dozen
books published in his career.
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