Hugo Münsterberg
| Hugo Münsterberg | |
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Hugo Münsterberg
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| Born |
June 1, 1863 Danzig, Prussia |
| Died | December 16, 1916 (aged 53) Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Citizenship | American |
| Nationality | German, American |
| Fields | Psychology |
| Doctoral advisor | Wilhelm Wundt |
| Notable students | Morris Raphael Cohen, Mary Whiton Calkins, Richard M. Elliott |
| Known for | Applied psychology |
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Hugo Münsterberg (June 1, 1863 – December 16, 1916) was a German-American psychologist. He was one of the pioneers in applied psychology, extending his research and theories to Industrial/Organizational (I/O), legal, medical, clinical, educational and business settings. Münsterberg encountered immense turmoil with the outbreak of the First World War. Torn between his loyalty to America and his homeland, he often defended Germany's actions, attracting highly contrasting reactions. He was also college mentor to a young William Moulton Marston, creator of Wonder Woman.
Hugo Münsterberg was born into a merchant family in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland), then a port city in West Prussia. His father Moritz (1825–1880), was a successful lumber merchant and his mother, Minna Anna Bernhardi (1838–1875), a recognized artist and musician, was Moritz's second wife. Moritz had two sons with his first wife, Otto (1854–1915) and Emil (1855–1915), and two with Anna, Hugo (1863–1916) and Oscar (1865–1920). The four sons remained close, and all of them became successful in their careers. A neo-Renaissance villa in Detmold, Germany, that Oscar lived in from 1886-1896 has recently been renovated and opened as a cultural center.
The family had a great love of the arts, and Münsterberg was encouraged to explore music, literature, and art. Both his mother and his father died before he was 20 years old. When he was 12, his mother died. This marked a major change in the young boy's life, transforming him from a carefree child to a much more serious young man. Then in 1880 his father also died.
Münsterberg had many interests in his early years and displayed interests in many fields including art, literature, poetry, foreign languages, music, and acting. Münsterberg’s first years of school were spent at the Gymnasium of Danzig from which he graduated in 1882 with Oliver and Dennis. He entered the University of Leipzig in 1883 where he heard a lecture by Wilhelm Wundt and became interested in psychology. Münsterberg eventually became Wundt's research assistant. He received his Ph.D. in physiological psychology in 1885 under Wundt's supervision at the age of 22. Possibly following Wundt's advice Münsterberg decided to study medicine and in 1887 received his medical degree at the University of Heidelberg. He also passed an examination that enabled him to lecture as a privatdocent at University of Freiburg. While at Freiburg he started a psychology laboratory and began publishing papers on a number of topics including attentional processes, memory, learning, and perception. In the same year he married a distant cousin, Selma Oppler of Strassburg, on August 7.
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