Lightner Witmer

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Lightner Witmer (born June 28, 1867 in Philadelphia , † July 19, 1956 in Bryn Mawr , Pennsylvania ) was an American psychologist and one of the pioneers of school psychology . In 1896 he founded the first "psychological clinic" in the USA. He coined the term “ clinical psychology ”.

Family and education

His birth name was David L. Witmer Jr., but at the age of 50 he changed his name to Lightner . His parents were David Lightner, a pharmacist who graduated from Philadelphia College in 1862 and his mother, Katherine, née. Huchel. The family was of Catholic faith. Lightner Witmer was the oldest of four children, followed by Albert Ferree, Lilly Evelyn, and Paul DeLancey. By 1905, all of his siblings had also earned doctorates, Feree in physiology from the University of Pennsylvania (he later also worked at Lightner's clinic), his sister in bacteriology from Berlin, and DeLancey in pharmacy like his father. It was probably not easy for parents to give all children an academic education.

In 1880 Lightner Witmer and his brother Ferree attended the renowned Prep School “Episcopal Academy of Philadelphia”, one of the best schools in America at the time, which he left at the age of 17 and with top grades. In 1884 he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania to study art, but then switched to economics and finance. He received his BA at the age of 1888. He almost went on to study politics. In the fall of 1888 he received an offer as a teacher from the Rugby Academy, a middle school for boys, where he taught history and English. In the following year, 1889, he decided to attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania with the intention of studying law part-time while continuing to teach.

At the University of Pennsylvania with Cattell

In 1888 , George Stuart Fullerton succeeded in bringing James McKeen Cattell to Philadelphia, and he became the first professor of psychology in the USA at the University of Pennsylvania . At that time, Cattell was known as one of the best trained psychologists in the world, and he was the first foreigner to write his doctoral thesis under Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt in Leipzig. Witmer was asked by George Fullerton if he would like to become Cattell's assistant and Witmer finally accepted the generous offer. He decided to quit his teaching position at the Rugby Academy to attend graduate school as a full-time student.

Cattell set up a psychological testing laboratory at PENN and developed a series of tests. Wittmer's main task in the laboratory was to collect data on the different individual reaction times. In doing so, he acquired so much knowledge in the field of psychological experiments that he even published a book about it. Witmer intended to do his PhD under Cattell's supervision. However, in 1891 this suddenly followed an appointment to Columbia University in New York and left his laboratory and students behind. At that time there was no other psychologist besides Catell who could have taught Witmer and his three fellow students at Penn University. But at least Cattell campaigned for Witmer to get a job as Wundt's assistant in Leipzig. So he traveled to Germany in 1891.

In Germany

In Leipzig Witmer also attended lectures given by Oswald Külpe and Ludwig von Strümpell . There are no records or correspondence from Witmer regarding his stay. What is known is that Witmer wanted to continue the record of reaction times he began under Cattell, and Wundt insisted that they should work together to examine the aesthetic value of various visible forms and other branches of psychology, such as educational psychology and developmental psychology. Of course, Witmer accepted Wundt's suggestions. Witmer examined the aesthetic value of the different pictorial forms. He used 14 objects and asked the participants to rate which shapes were most appealing. Witmer's dissertation, " On the Experimental Aesthetics of Simple Spatial Relationships of Form ," was published in Wundt's journal "Philosophical Studies". Witmer also wrote an extensive summary of his research results in English. This summary was published in the American journal Psychological Review . Witmer passed with "magna cum laude" but did not receive his doctoral degree until March 29, 1893 from Wundt. He also got the title “ Magister ”.

Witmer was one of the many American psychologists who studied under Wundt during their formative years. That experience wasn't a happy one. Witmer himself later described that he was "disgusted" by Wundt's insistence that students repeat experiments until the results that Wundt expected came out.

Return to the University of Pennsylvania

In the fall of 1892 Witmer returned to the University of Pennsylvania as a lecturer in experimental psychology. At the same time he became director of The Laboratory of Psychology, following in the footsteps of his teacher James McKeen Cattell. He became interested in child psychology and taught a number of different courses.

The first psychological clinic

Witmer opened the first mental health clinic at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896 with the intention of observing children who showed either learning disabilities or behavioral problems. Its main participants attended public schools in the Philadelphia area and were brought to the clinic by either their parents or teachers. Witmer's Psychological Clinic was welcomed by many for using psychology as a tool to help the children who had school problems. Here Witmer regularly had to deal with language problems, sleep disorders, behavior disorders, hyperactivity, refusal to attend school, etc. Each child was completely examined for mind and body upon arrival, which often ruled out psychological symptoms. His method of helping children with mental health problems involved bringing the information down to a level the children could understand. He focused on specific problems and worked with the child in that area, often improving several areas at once.

During the 1920s, the clinic was seeing nearly 600 cases a month.

The clinic is considered a model for the later Child Guidance Clinics .

His magazines

In 1897 Witmer founded the journal " Clinical Psychology " and the first edition attracted a lot of attention because the journal treated the studies of children individually. In his article, Witmer introduced his idea that all types of children (smart or mentally challenged) could reach their full potential with help. For the definition of intellectual disability he used two different terms "physiological retardation" for children who did not acquire normal development according to their age, and "pedagogical retardation" for children who did not reach their full capacities by adolescence.

With a $ 10,000 grant from a wealthy patron, Witmer published the first issue of his journal The Psychological Clinic . This journal is considered to be the first scientific journal in psychology. With Witmer's article "Clinical Psychology" she introduced the new term in the first issue of the journal. The article described his work over the past ten years. He also explained why the term "psychologist" was used and why psychology must belong in both research and practice. In this issue he also criticized some colleagues and their departments for rejecting the ideas he had proposed for the American Psychological Association.

In one of the issues of 1908 he criticized William James for his unscientific behavior and called him "The spoiled child of American psychology". No doubt Witmer defended his own ideas and beliefs, although he did not care about other psychological views. Witmer's behavior and other disagreements caused the loss of friendship among many of his colleagues, who decided not to attend Witmer's meetings. The last issue of The Psychological Clinic came out in 1935 when Witmer's professional career was already on the decline.

Lightner Witmer succumbed to heart failure and died in a hospital in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania on July 19, 1956.

Memberships

In 1897 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society .

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Publications

  • "The Association Value of Three-Place Consonant Syllables." Journal of Genetic Psychology 47 (1935): 337-360.
  • "Are We Educating the Rising Generation?" Education Review. 37 (1909): 456-467.
  • "Children with mental Defects Distinguished from Mentally Defective Children." Psychological Clinic. 7 (1913): 173-181.
  • "Clinical Psychology." Psychological Clinic. 1 (1907): 1-9.
  • The Psychological Clinic, Vol. I 1907-1908 published in: The Psychological Clinic Press, Philadelphia
  • "Courses in Psychology for Normal Schools." Education Review 13 (1897): 45-57, 146-162.
  • "The Exceptional Child and the Training of Teachers for Exceptional Children." School & Society. 2 (1915): 217-229.
  • "Experimental Psychology and the Psych-physical Laboratory." University Extension (1894): 230-238.
  • "Intelligence — A Definition." Psychological Clinic 14 (1922): 65-67.
  • "Performance and Success: An Outline of Psychology for Diagnostic Testing and Teaching." Psychological Clinic 12 (1919): 145-170.
  • "The Problem of Educability." Psychological Clinic 12 (1919): 174-178.
  • "The raining of Very Bright Children." Psychological Clinic 13 (1919): 88-96.
  • "What Is Intelligence, and Who Has It?" Scientific Monthly 15 (1922): 57-67.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: Lightner Witmer. American Philosophical Society, accessed December 11, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Witmer, Lightner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American psychologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1867
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, USA
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1956
Place of death Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania