Titchener, Edward Bradford

Titchener, Edward Bradford

(tĭch`ənər), 1867–1927, American psychologist, b. Chichester, England, grad. Oxford, 1890. He studied in Leipzig (Ph.D. 1892) under Wundt (whose Principles of Physiological Psychology he translated), and in 1892 he became head of the new psychological laboratory at Cornell, where he was research professor from 1910. His works include Experimental Psychology (2 vol., 1901–5), Lectures on the Elementary Psychology of Feeling and Attention (1908), and Systematic Psychology (1929).

Titchener, Edward Bradford

 

Born Jan. 11, 1867, in Chichester, Great Britain; died Aug. 3, 1927, in Ithaca, USA. American psychologist, identified with the school of introspective psychology.

Titchener received his training in psychology at W. Wundt’s laboratory in Leipzig. In 1892 he became a professor at Cornell University, where he established an important center for experimental psychology. In 1904, Titchener founded the Society of Experimental Psychologists. In 1921 he became the editor of the American Journal of Psychology. Following Wundt, he adhered to extreme sensationalism in his treatment of consciousness, as reflected in the concept of “analytical introspection.” Titchener made a sharp distinction between introspection proper, which takes place under special psychological conditions, and “naive” everyday self-observation. In his dispute with the Würzburg school of cognitive psychology, Titchener denied the existence behind “meanings” of a special kind of reality irreducible to elements perceived by the senses. This interpretation of consciousness recalls the views of E. Mach. Titchener wrote a number of works dealing with experimental research in the psychology of sensations, attention, and thought.

WORKS

Experimental Psychology, vols. 1–2. New York-London, 1901–06.
Lectures on the Elementary Psychology of Feeling and Attention. New York, 1908.
Systematic Psychology. New York, 1929.
In Russian translation:
Ocherkipsikhologii. St. Petersburg, 1898.
Uchebnik psikhologii, parts 1–2. Moscow, 1914.

REFERENCES

Fraisse, P., and J. Piaget, eds. Eksperimental’naia psikhologiia, fascs. 1–2. Moscow, 1966.
Boring, E. G. A History of Experimental Psychology, 2nd ed. New York, 1950.

A. A. PUZYREI

Titchener, Edward Bradford

(1867–1927) psychologist; born in Chichester, England. Before coming to the United States in 1892, he studied at Oxford (England) and Leipzig (Germany), where he was influenced by Wilhelm Wundt. He taught at Cornell University (1892–1927) and became the nation's leading exponent of experimental psychology, founding the Society of Experimental Psychologists in 1904. His major works include the four-volume Experimental Psychology (1901–05) and The Psychology of Feeling and Attention (1908).