I have confirmed in Zusne's _Biographical Dictonary of Psychology_ that
the year of Pfungst's birth was 1874. The Wikipedia entry had 1847. I
have now corrected it (as well as the death date, which Wikipedia also
had wrong (1933 instead of 1932).
Zusne has some information on him (about a half-page). Pfungst never
earned an advanced academic degree, though he eventually received an
honorary MD from Frankfurt. He was a volunteer assistant of Stumpf's in
Berlin. He later lectured at Frankfurt and in Berlin in comparative
biology and psychology (which was his primary research area). He was
also part of the "Cortex" research group on sensory physiology in
Berlin, and a collaborator of Kurt Goldstein's in Frankfurt. He
published only "about fifteen titles."
Surprisingly (to me, anyway), the APA/Oxford Encyclopedia of Psychology
does not seem to have an entry on Pfungst.
There is an obit (Henneberg, 1933), but it is in German.
Best,
Chris
=============
Truhon, Stephen wrote:
Ken Steele pointed out the digits should be reversed (1874). BTW, is there any
other information on Pfungst? He is mentioned in terms of Clever Hans and that
is all.
Stephen A. Truhon, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN 37044
931-221-1452 or 931-221-6333
________________________________
From: Christopher D. Green [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 7:53 AM
To: Society for the History of Psychology; Cheiron
Cc: Truhon, Stephen
Subject: [Fwd: [tips] Oskar Pfungst]
Dear Fellow Historians of Psych,
Can anyone shed any light on this matter (below)? Was Pfungst really 60 years
old when he did the Clever Hans investigation? If so, was he a senior
laboratory assistant to Stumpf, and not a graduate student of him at the time,
as is often reported?
Thanks,
Chris Green
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [tips] Oskar Pfungst
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:25:12 -0500
From: Truhon, Stephen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
<[email protected]><mailto:[email protected]>
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
<[email protected]><mailto:[email protected]>
In preparing for my History and Systems class, I read through the material on
Clever Hans. In 1904 the Berlin board of education set up a committe to examine
the claims of the owner, von Osten. Carl Stumpf was a member of the committee
and he asked Oskar Pfungst, a graduate student and assistant, to do the
investigation. In 1907 he reported his results. My question is that Pfungst is
listed as being born in 1847 and dying in 1933. Would a 60-year-old be a
graduate student or are the dates wrong?
Stephen A. Truhon, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN 37044
931-221-1452 or 931-221-6333
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