Monitor on Psychology - September 2011 - (Page 27)

out loud as they tried to complete a task, such as finding a word related to but more generic than “newspaper” or “farmer,” such as “publication” or “worker,” respectively. The participants would explain how they identified the features of those words, how the features fit into larger categories and how the categories led them to new words. Based on these statements, Selz concluded that their minds were doing more than simply associating words and images they’d heard in conjunction before. To Selz, the participants were operating under what he called a “schema,” or an organizing mental principle, that guided their thoughts. Under this schema, the mind automatically orders relationships between ideas and can anticipate the connections among novel stimuli, serving as a basis for problem-solving. The existence of such an organized mental life would later become a cornerstone of the cognitive revolution. finding no favor But even as his work progressed, Selz rankled many of his peers. For example, he might have found allies in the burgeoning Gestalt psychology movement, which held that consciousness arose from the brain as a self-organizing property. Instead, Selz harshly criticized Gestalt psychologists for taking a top-down approach to understanding problem-solving and idea formation. Gestaltists argued that a medley of perceptions can selforganize to form a solution, but that the perceptions themselves are meaningless without the solution. Selz instead argued for a bottom-up approach that recognized that these perceptions are like building blocks that the mind gradually In 1943, the Nazis detained Otto Selz and put him on a train to Auschwitz. He died during transport, either from exhaustion or sickness. learns to put together to form solutions. Building on that theory, Selz emphasized that the mind behaves like a biological system, adapting to meet the needs of its environment, not just following rote self-organizing principles as the Gestaltists would have it. As he wrote in his 1924 book, “The Laws of Cognitive Activity, Productive and Reproductive: A Condensed Version,” “perhaps our era is witnessing the beginning of a ‘biology of the inner.’ Psychology thus enters the ranks of the biological sciences.” These rifts resulted in several academic enemies for Selz, among them the prominent German psychologists Narziss Ach and George Elias Mueller. Without allies among top-tier researchers, Selz had limited exposure to international psychologists, and his influence was mostly limited to his research program at the Mannheim Business School, where he began teaching in 1923. He eventually resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t receive widespread credit for his ideas and instead focused on finding practical applications for his work, such as using it to better prepare students to learn and teachers to educate. He wrote to his friend and colleague Julius Bahle, “It is quite immaterial whether my work remains linked to my name; all that matters is that my lifework itself should survive.” But the rise of the Nazi party threatened both Selz’s life and his work. In 1933, his position at the Mannheim Business School was terminated because he was Jewish. The Nazis forbade German researchers from citing work by Jewish colleagues. In 1938, in the days following Kristallnacht, Nazi authorities sent Selz to the Dachau concentration camp for five weeks. He was released under the condition that he leave the country. 27 septeMber 2011 • Monitor on psychology Courtesy of Logaritmo/Wikimedia Commons

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - September 2011

Monitor on Psychology - September 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
From the CEO
Supreme Court hears psychologists on prison and video game cases
Antipsychotics are overprescribed in nursing homes
New MCAT likely to recognize the mind-body connection
A $2 million boost for military and families
In Brief
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE
On Your Behalf
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
TIME CAPSULE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Speaking of Education
SCIENCE WATCH
An uncertain future for American workers
Advocating for psychotherapy
PRACTICE PROFILE
ETHICALLY SPEAKING
Seared in our memories
Helping kids cope in an uncertain world
APA and Nickelodeon team up
Muslims in America, post 9/11
Bin Laden’s death
‘They expect us to be there’
Answering the call of public policy
Candidates answer final questions
APA News
Division Spotlight
New leaders
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION
Disaster relief training
Honoring teaching excellence
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - September 2011

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