The contribution of German-speaking scientists to the development of cognitive psychology

Abstract

The present article spotlights the scientific work of German-speaking scientists who created new paradigms in cognitive psychology. The roots of experimental psychology are being traced in the scientific work of Weber, who formulated the first quantitative law in psychology's history, in the studies of Fechner, who created the area of psychophysics, and in the experiments of Ebbinghaus, who systematically studied learning and memory. At the beginning of the 20^th century the Wurzburg school set out the experimental study of higher mental processes (like thinking). About the same time the Berlin school attempted to show that it is more beneficial to concentrate on wholes ( Gestalten) than on parts and so rebelled against Wundt's experimental program that featured a search for the elements of consciousness. Sander, a main representative of the school of Leipzig, enriched cognitive science with the concept of genetic realization. In the post-war years Iva Kohler experimented with perception using distorting lenses. In the topic of problem solving, the research in Germany has shifted its attention from simple to complex problems due to the ideas developed by  Dörner. 
  The holistic paradigm, which emerged in Germany in the first decades of the 20th century, influenced the development of contemporary cognitive psychology (e.g. the work of Neisser).