Hugo Munsterberg thrived on controversy.
Born in Danzig, Germany (now Gdansk, Poland) in 1863, Munsterberg was the son of a prominent lumber merchant and an artist mother who instilled her own love of the arts in her four children. Devastated by his mother's death when he was twelve years old, Munsterberg threw himself into his studies and graduated from Danzig's Gymnasium in 1882. After a year at the University of Geneva, he entered the University of Leipzig where he attended Wilhelm Wundt's lectures on the then-new science of psychology. Despite being set on a medical career, Munsterberg went on to earn his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1885 before continuing with his medical studies at the University of Heidelberg. Before completing his medical training in 1887, he worked as an unpaid lecturer in psychology at the University of Freiberg. Since the university had no psychological laboratory of its own, Munsterberg used his own house for lectures and constructed a laboratory that drew students from all over Germany. After returning to Leipzig, he was promoted to an assistant professorship and, more significantly, was able to attend the first Psychological Congress in Paris in 1889.
Which was where he met William James...
Already prominent for his contributions to psychology and philosophy, James was impressed with the promising young MD/Ph.D and quickly formed a working relationship with him. The paper that Munsterberg presented at the conference, Die Willenshandlung (Voluntary Action) was highly critical of certain aspects of Wundt's psychology and dovetailed with James' own ideas on the effect that the body has on the mind. Believing Munsterberg to be a kindred spirit, William James invited him to come to Harvard to run the psychological laboratory that James had established there. Having finished his magnum opus, The Principles of Psychology, James was trying to distance himself from his scientific work and return to more philosophical pursuits. Hugo Munsterberg seemed like an ideal substitute who would follow the tradition of experimental psychology that James had already established.
Arriving at Harvard with his growing family, Munsterberg first took a visiting professor position in 1892 and spent three years running the psychological laboratory there. His early days at Harvard weren't easy. Along with his initial difficulty with English, he also had serious qualms about replacing William James and establishing his own reputation as an experimental psychologist. Although Munsterberg would have preferred a prestigious position in a German university, his chances of such a post were limited due to his public criticism of Wundt's experimental school (his being Jewish didn't help either). Despite a leave of absence during which he returned to Freiberg, Munsterberg eventually accepted a permanent position at Harvard in 1897 after considerable persuading on James' part. He was elected president of the American Psychological Association a year later.
If James had hoped that Munsterberg would continue along the path that he had set for him, he was mistaken. Hugo Munsterberg had his own ideas about how a proper psychology department should be run and didn't hesitate to say so. Munsterberg's autocratic manner and elitist attitudes offended many of his colleagues and graduate students often referred to him as "the chief" behind his back. He was extremely sensitive about how he was viewed by the American academic community and once threatened to stop publishing in English when one of his essays was poorly received.
Munsterberg also had definite idea about how psychology should deal with real-world issues rather than the ivory tower views of James and his colleagues. This was almost heretical given that psychology was largely a theoretical discipline at the time and little more than a branch of philosophy. Although James hated the idea of psychology separating from philosophy, Munsterberg insisted that psychology become a completely scientific discipline that could be used to solve social problems. He often saw mental patients in his laboratory and did original research into using autosuggestion to treat emotional and psychiatric diseases. He openly clashed with Sigmund Freud over the role that the unconscious played in disease and Munsterberg once deliberately left the country to avoid meeting with Freud during one of his lecture tours. Munsterberg also made original contributions to forensic and industrial psychology. In his 1909 article, Psychology and the Market, he proposed that psychology could be used in vocational guidance, advertising, employee testing, and evaluating job performance. Munsterberg went on to research employee motivation and work performance as well as doing the first time and motion studies.
Hugo Munsterberg's most far-reaching contribution was likely in the field of forensic psychology (which he largely founded as an independent discipline). His 1908 work, On the Witness Stand, dealt with how psychological information could be used in court cases, especially with the presentation of evidence. He carried out the first scientific research investigating eyewitness testimony and how accurate it really was. He also explored how suggestion could influence witnesses during cross-examination, false confessions, how emotional stress could affect suspects, and subjective factors underlying memory and recall. It was his forensic work that exposed him to public ridicule given his eagerness to give media interviews on controversial cases.
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