Edwin Rausch

Edwin Rausch (born February 1, 1906 in Baumholder ; † May 4, 1994 in Oberursel (Taunus) ) was one of the most important exponents of the Gestalt theory and the second generation of Gestalt psychology .

After studying mathematics at the University of Bonn , Rausch came to Frankfurt am Main to see the founder of Gestalt psychology , Max Wertheimer , to study psychology. However, in view of the impending rise to power of the National Socialists in 1933, Wertheimer left Germany, so that he could no longer supervise Rausch's dissertation "On Summativity and Non-Summativity" himself - Wolfgang Metzger did so in his place. This fundamental work, published in 1937, is about a systematic analysis of the concepts "part" and "whole".

After his return from military service and as a prisoner of war, Rausch resumed his assistantship at the Psychological Institute at the University of Frankfurt in 1945 . In 1954 he was appointed full professor and remained active in teaching and research at Frankfurt University until his retirement in the 1970s.

The focus of his research and publication activities throughout his life was fundamental research on perceptual psychology . From this, some of the concepts developed by Rausch continue to have an impact not only in perception research, but also in various fields of applied psychology: for example, his work on phenomenal constancy and variability play a role in areas as diverse as in the research of Hellmuth Metz- Göckel on the structure and dynamics of jokes , in the architectural questions of "visual statics" as well as in psychotherapy (explicitly in Gestalt theory psychotherapy ) in the understanding of cognitive and emotional restructuring processes. Rausch's discovery of the formation of a "twofold overall field" when viewing images, which opens up new approaches to the phenomena of dissociation , was also made fruitful for psychotherapeutic questions .

From among his students, in the interests of continuing the gestalt psychological research tradition, the sports psychologist Kurt Kohl , the personality psychologist Manfred Sader , the sports psychologist and internationally known researcher in the field of lucid dream Paul Tholey as well as Hellmuth Metz-Göckel, Kurt Müller , Wolfgang Schönpflug have emerged , Josefa Zoltobrocki and Friedrich Hoeth made a name for themselves.

In 1978 Edwin Rausch became an honorary member of the International Society for Gestalt Theory and Its Applications (GTA).

Selected publications

About summativity and non-summativity. Psychological Research, 21 (1937); Reprint: Darmstadt 1967
Variability and constancy as phenomenological categories. Psychological Research, 23 (1949)
On the holistic problem in the psychology of thinking. Studium Generale 5 (1952)
Structure and metrics of figural-optical perception. Frankfurt, Verlag Waldemar Kramer: 1952. ISBN 3-782-91023-0
Image and perception. Psychological studies based on graphics by Volker Bußmann. Frankfurt, Waldemar Kramer Verlag: 1982. ISBN 3-782-91080-X

Web links

Literature by and about Edwin Rausch in the catalog of the German National Library
Neal Hermse 2012–2013: Part-Whole relationships in Gestalt psychology. The work of Edwin Rausch . Master's thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven [full text PDF, 914 kB]

Individual evidence

↑ cf. Barry Smith (ed., 1988): Foundations of Gestalt Theory , Vienna: Philosophia Verlag, there p. 229, Barry Smith: Schools and Influence within the Gestalt Tradition; Mitchell G. Ash (1995): Gestalt psychology in German culture, 1890-1967 , Cambridge University Press, pp. 370ff; D. Brett King & Michael Wertheimer (2005): Max Wertheimer & Gestalt Theory. New Brunswick & London: Transaction Publishers, p.193.
^ Ash 1995, op cit, p. 370f
↑ cf. Christoph Piesbergen, Kurt Müller & Wolfgang Tunner (1997): Visuelle Statik - Empirical studies on the problem of load and support
↑ see Rausch 1982 "Image and Perception"; on clinical application: G. Stemberger (2009), field processes in psychotherapy. The multi-field approach in the diagnostic and therapeutic process. Phenomenal 1 (1), 12-19.
↑ cf. "Edwin Rausch" in: LJ Pongratz, W. Traxel, EG Wehner (ed., 1972): Psychology in Self- Representations , Volume 2, 211-255; Friedrich Hoeth (1981): Edwin Rausch - a personality in psychological research, Gestalt Theory - An International Multidisciplinary Journal, 3 (1/2), 3 - 4.

↑ see: Honorary Members of the GTA , accessed on October 21, 2013

personal data
SURNAME	Intoxication, Edwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German psychologist
DATE OF BIRTH	February 1, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH	Baumholder
DATE OF DEATH	May 4, 1994
Place of death	Oberursel (Taunus)

[1] . Barry Smith (ed., 1988): Foundations of Gestalt Theory , Vienna: Philosophia Verlag, there p. 229, Barry Smith: Schools and Influence within the Gestalt Tradition; Mitchell G. Ash (1995): Gestalt psychology in German culture, 1890-1967 , Cambridge University Press, pp. 370ff; D. Brett King & Michael Wertheimer (2005): Max Wertheimer & Gestalt Theory. New Brunswick & London: Transaction Publishers, p.193.

[2] Ash 1995, op cit, p. 370f

[3] . Christoph Piesbergen, Kurt Müller & Wolfgang Tunner (1997): Visuelle Statik - Empirical studies on the problem of load and support

[4] see Rausch 1982 "Image and Perception"; on clinical application: G. Stemberger (2009), field processes in psychotherapy. The multi-field approach in the diagnostic and therapeutic process. Phenomenal 1 (1), 12-19.

[5] . "Edwin Rausch" in: LJ Pongratz, W. Traxel, EG Wehner (ed., 1972): Psychology in Self- Representations , Volume 2, 211-255; Friedrich Hoeth (1981): Edwin Rausch - a personality in psychological research, Gestalt Theory - An International Multidisciplinary Journal, 3 (1/2), 3 - 4.

[6] see: Honorary Members of the GTA , accessed on October 21, 2013