Gustav Fechner
German physicist and philosopher who founded psychophysics
German physicist at Leipzig who sought an exact mathematical relation between physical stimuli and sensations. His Elemente der Psychophysik (1860) set out psychophysics and a logarithmic law of sensation.
Why this person matters
Fechner gave psychology a way to measure sensation, and psychophysical methods fed into the laboratory work that followed. The law that bears both his and Ernst Weber's names has been revised by later critics, and it came from a physicist and philosopher rather than from a psychologist.
Main contributions
Founding psychophysics
In Elemente der Psychophysik (1860) he sought an exact mathematical relationship between the physical and the mental. The book brought him recognition in the academic community.
The Weber-Fechner law
He proposed that sensation grows as the logarithm of stimulus intensity, so that an arithmetic rise in sensation needs a geometric rise in the stimulus (S = K ln I). The law carries Weber's name as well as his.
A view of a living universe
Alongside his laboratory work he held a panpsychist outlook, seeing life and inner experience throughout nature, in plants, the earth and the stars.
Context and limits
The logarithmic law holds only within certain limits. Critics argued that stimuli are composite but sensations are not, and William James wrote that a sensation presents itself as an indivisible unit. In 1961 S. S. Stevens argued for a power law in a paper titled "To Honor Fechner and Repeal His Law". The sources read do not describe Weber's own contribution in detail.
In your introductory course
Sensation and perception.Appears in sensation and perception chapters through the Weber-Fechner law and psychophysics, and in history chapters as an early link between physics and psychology.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 5.1. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1834
He became professor of physics at the University of Leipzig.
- 1839
He injured his eyes by looking at the Sun while studying afterimages, and after much suffering resigned his professorship.
- 1860
He published Elemente der Psychophysik.
Sources
- New World Encyclopedia, Gustav Theodor FechnerReference work. Reference article inspected.
- Wikipedia, Gustav FechnerReference work. Reference article inspected.