The Psychology Of Thinking, Animal Psychology, And

THEPSYCHOLOGYOFTHINKING,ANIMALPSYCHOLOGY,ANDTHEYOUNGKARLPOPPERMICHELTERHARKInthe1920s,KarlPopperwrotetwolargemanuscriptsonpsychologythatheneverpub-lished.Inhisautobiography,UnendedQuest,heattemptstoreducetheimportanceofhisworkinpsychologyasmuchaspossible,andinhisphilosophicalworkheisanantipsy-chologist.However,inthisarticle,itisarguedthatPopper’searlypsychologyhasbeenpiv-otallyimportantforthedevelopmentofhisphilosophy.Inparticular,itisshownthatPopper’sviewsonpsychologyunderwentaradicalshift,onethatpavedthewayforhischaracteristicdeductivestanceinphilosophy.Popper’sviewsshiftedfromaninductiveandassociationisticpsychologytowardanoninductivepsychologyofproblemsolving.TracingthehistoricalbackgroundofPopper’searlyworkrevealshowheintegratedvariouspartsofthepsychologyofKarlGroosintohisanalysisofthechildishphenomenonofdogmaticthinkingandhowheshortlyafterappropriatedvariouselementsoftheanimalpsychologyofHansVolkeltandHerbertJenningsinhisbiologicalapproachto(dogmatic)thinking.InthemonumentalworksofOttoSelz,however,Popperfinallyfoundtherootsofanonin-ductiveandbiologicalapproachtothegrowthofindividualandscientificknowledge.©2004WileyPeriodicals,Inc.AlthoughSirKarlPopperisconsideredoneofthemostinfluentialphilosophersofthetwentiethcentury,littleisknownabouthisearlyyears.Inhisautobiography,UnendedQuest(1974),hetellsusthathestartedhiscareerstudyingandteachingpedagogyatthePedagogicInstituteinVienna.HealsoattendedlecturesofKarlBühler,formerlyrelatedtotheso-calledWürzburgSchoolofDenkpsychologie,atthePsychologyInstituteinVienna.HelearnedmorefromBühlerthanfromanyotherteacherandin1928hewrotehisPhDdissertationinthepsy-chologyofthinking(Denkpsychologie)underBühler’ssupervision.SoonhefoundthatsomeofhisresultsinpsychologyhadbeenanticipatedbyBühlerandbyapsychologistlooselyre-latedtotheWürzburgSchool,OttoSelz.Byhisownaccount,thisdiscoverywasoneofthereasonswhyheabandonedpsychol-ogyandturnedtophilosophy.Theshiftwouldbequiteradical,forinhisfirstmajorwork,TheLogicofScientificDiscovery(1934/1959),thepsychologyofscientificdiscoverywouldberigorouslydispelledfromtheareaofthephilosophyofscience.Yetinhisworkfromthe1960sonward,KarlPopperincreasinglybegantoorganizehiswide-ranginginterestsinphilosophyofscience,epistemology,andmetaphysicsaroundtheideathatweacquireknowledgebyaprocessoftrial-and-errorelimination.Thismethod,Poppercontended,isessentiallyathree-stagemodel,whichhetooktoapplytoanimallearningaswellastotheupperreachesofsci-entificresearch:formingaproblemorexpectation,tryingoutanumberofsolutionsoftheproblem,andeliminatingordiscardingfalsesolutionsaserroneous.AkeyfeatureofPopper’stheoryoftrial-and-erroreliminationisitsinsistenceonproblemsorexpectationstakingprecedenceoverobservations.Theplaceaccordedtosenseperceptionsintheempiricisttra-ditionisreversed,forratherthanbeingtheoriginofknowledge,theirroleislimitedtotheJournaloftheHistoryoftheBehavioralSciences,Vol.40(4),375–392Fall2004PublishedonlineinWileyInterscience().DOI10.1002/jhbs.20024©2004WileyPeriodicals,Inc.MICHELTERHARKisaprofessorinthehistoryofphilosophyanditsrelationtothedevelopmentofthebehavioralandcognitivesciencesattheUniversityofGroningenintheNetherlands.Hehaspub-lishedvariousarticlesonthehistoryofWittgenstein’sphilosophyofpsychologywithspecialemphasisonGestaltpsychologyandWilliamJames(BeyondtheInnerandtheOuter,KluwerAcademicPublishers,1990).HehasalsopublishedarticlesonKarlPopper’srootsinpsychologyandhasjustfin-ishedabookonPopperandpsychology:Popper,OttoSelzandtheRiseofEvolutionaryEpistemology(CambridgeUniversityPress,2004).375secondandespeciallythethirdstage.Observationsarealwaysprecededbyexpectations,pointsofview,questions,orproblems,which,asa“searchlight,”illuminateacertainarea,therebyenablingtheorganismorthescientisttoknowwhattoobserveinthefirstplace(Popper,1945,p.260).1The“buckettheory”ofknowledgeofthefamousBritishphilosophersLocke,Berkeley,andHume(andofahostofexperimentalistsinthepioneeringeraofpsy-chology),Popperconcludes,isamyth.Evidentlyrelishinghispositionastheopponent,hetriumphantlyclaimed:“Mytheoryofknowledgeisthusquiterevolutionary:itoverturnseverythingmypredecessorshavesaiduptonow.Weareactive,weareconstantlytestingthingsout,constantlyworkingwiththemethodoftrialanderror”(Popper,1999,p.53).ButwasPopper’stheoryreallyasrevolutionaryasheclaimedittobe?Largelydrawingonhisstillunpublishedmanuscriptsinpsychologyandpedagogyfromthe1920s,IarguethatPopperborrowedthekeyelementsofhis“revolutionary”epistemologyfromtwodifferentyetrelatedfieldsofscientificinquiry:theanimalpsychologyandtheoryofemergentevolutionofC.LloydMorganandHerbertJenningsontheonehandandthepsychologyofthinkingofhissupervisorinpsychology,KarlBühler,andthelargelyignoredbutpivotallyimportantOttoSelz.AsregardstheinfluenceofthelatteronPopper,Ipublishedthefirstin-depthstudymorethantenyearsago(terHark,1993).AnimportantimpetusforthisarticlehasbeenthepioneeringlittlebookonPopper’spsychologyoflearningbyWilliamBerksonandJohnWettersten(1984).Selzisbrieflydiscussedintheirbook,butheisnotpresentedasafigur