Hugo Münsterberg
German-American psychologist and early applied psychologist
German-born Harvard psychologist who applied psychology to testimony, industry and treatment, and wrote On the Witness Stand (1908) and Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913)
Why this person matters
Münsterberg argued that psychology should serve practical needs. His books are credited as starting points for forensic and industrial psychology. His public defence of Germany in the First World War and his views on women isolated him at Harvard.
Main contributions
Forensic psychology
On the Witness Stand (1908) collected essays on psychology and crime, covering unreliable eyewitness testimony and false confessions. He is credited as one of the first to consider jury research.
Industrial psychology
Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1913), with Vocation and Learning (1912), is credited as a starting point for industrial psychology. He applied psychology to industry and advertising, including early aptitude tests for tram drivers.
Psychotherapy and film
Psychotherapy (1909) described treatments used mainly for alcoholism, drug addiction, phobia and sexual dysfunction. The Photoplay: A Psychological Study (1916) is discussed in histories of film theory.
Context and limits
During the First World War he defended German policy, opposed American entry into the war and was suspected of spying, and many Harvard colleagues distanced themselves. He supported higher education for women but thought graduate study too demanding for them, and argued that women should not serve on juries, calling them 'incapable of rational deliberation'.
In your introductory course
Applied psychology, work and education.Appears in the applied chapters as an early source for eyewitness memory and personnel selection.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 13.1. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1885
Took his PhD under Wundt at Leipzig.
- 1892
Went to Harvard at William James's invitation to run the psychology laboratory.
- 1908
Published On the Witness Stand.
- 1913
Published Psychology and Industrial Efficiency.
Sources
- Deutsche Biographie, Münsterberg, HugoReference work. Institutional biography inspected.
- Wikipedia, Hugo MünsterbergReference work. Reference article inspected.