Max Wertheimer

Max Wertheimer was a Czech psychologist who was born in Prague. He lived from April 15, 1880 to October 12, 1943. During his childhood, Wertheimer seemed to be destined to become a musician. He composed symphonic and chamber music and was adept at playing the violin. His father served as the director of a local school in addition to being a teacher. In 1900 he studied law at Charles University, but soon switched to philosophy and psychology and got his doctoral degree from the University of Wurzburg. Wertheimer had many innovative and new ideas that contributed to the field of psychology. While on vacation in 1910, he observed how flashing lights at a train station created an illusion of movement. Ever since, he became fascinated with the psychological study of perception. Later on, Wertheimer attended the University of Frankfurt’s Psychological Institute where he began to work with Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka, two men who he would eventually collaborate with to provide great contributions to the psychological community. After working as a professor at the University for a couple of years, he immigrated to the United States in 1933. Wertheimer then began to teach in New York at the New School for Social Research. His work led to the New School becoming one of the leading schools of psychology during the early twentieth century. He worked there for a decade before unfortunately suffering from a fatal coronary embolism in 1943. A memorial service was held in his honor at the school with many people in attendance, including Albert Einstein. Max Wertheimer is one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology. Gestalt psychology focuses on a holistic approach to concepts. It was the practice of looking at the bigger picture rather than breaking down mental processes into their smallest components as in structuralism. Gestalt thinkers believe that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It all started when Wertheimer viewed a stroboscope in a toy store,