Lecturer's Précis - Wundt (1902)
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First published online 10:38 GMT 11th March 2002,
Copyright Derek J. Smith (Chartered Engineer). This
version [2.1 - link to graphics] 09:00 BST 8th July 2018
Wundt's
"Schematic Representation"
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) trained originally as a physician, but gradually specialised in physiological psychology. He wrote a major textbook on this subject in 1873/1874, and founded the first European experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1875. Here, from a 1910 translation of his textbook, is his attempt to provide what he called a "schematic representation" of the physiological layout of the nervous system:
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Wundt (1902): In his chapter entitled "The Physiological
Function of the Central Parts", Wundt reviewed Lichtheim's (1885) diagram, and criticised it for oversimplifying the problem
of functional localisation. In an attempt to demonstrate how complex the
cognitive system actually was, Wundt produced the diagram shown below. In it,
he shows visual information ascending to the left (heavy red arrows),
auditory information ascending to the right (heavy blue arrows), and a common
motor pathway descending centrally (heavy grey arrow). Higher conscious
processing takes place in an "Apperception Centre" (green, top
centre). Wundt defines apperception as "a psychological process in which,
on the objective side [certain contents become] clear in consciousness
and, on the subjective, certain feelings arise ....." (Wundt,
1910:316; italics original), and saw it as "the one elementary process
indispensable to any sort of 'manifestation of intelligence', and, indeed, to
the higher mental functions at large" (ibid, p318). He also used the
term "centre" with the explicit reservation that this should not be
taken as implying a neat physical localisation. The Motor Centre (green,
central) is responsible for initiating and maintaining physical behaviour,
but is assisted in this by four associated "Intermediate" centres
(yellow). Additional centrifugal information passes out to the Visual Centre
and Auditory Centre via the Descending Inhibitory Pathways (top left/top
right). Note that the diagram is actually a double omega, a left-and-central
visual omega, and a mirror-imaged right-and-central auditory omega. Note that
Wundt's preoccupation with language processing at this point in the
proceedings leads him to omit the haptic and chemical senses from the
diagram, which means, in turn, that the sensory-motor spinal reflexes are
also not shown. It is unclear
how much Wundt may have been influenced by the earlier work of Kussmaul
(1878), whose diagram is similar in
some respects. If this diagram fails to load
automatically, it may be accessed separately at |
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Redrawn from a black and white original in Wundt (1910:318; Figure 105). This version Copyright © 2002, Derek J. Smith. |
References:
Wundt,
W. (1910). Principles
of Physiological Psychology (Volume 1, 2nd Edition). London: Swan Sonnenschein. [This is the Titchener translation of Wundt's
work, first published in English in 1904, from a 1902 German 5th edition. This
explains why we refer to this extract from Wundt (1910) as his "1902 diagram".
The German first edition was dated 1874, but we have not yet been able to
establish where in the five German editions the figure in question first
appeared.]