Karl Duncker
Encyclopedia
Karl Duncker was a Gestalt psychologist
. He attended Friedrich-Wilhelms-University from 1923 to 1923, spent 1925-1926 at Clark University in Worcester, MA as a visiting professor, where he received a masters in arts degree.
Until 1935 he was a student and assistant of the founders of Gestalt psychology
in Berlin: Max Wertheimer
, Wolfgang Köhler
and Kurt Koffka
.
In 1935, exiled by the Nazis, he got an assistantship in Cambridge with Frederic Charles Bartlett and later emigrated to the USA where he was again an assistant of Wolfgang Köhler
’s at Swarthmore College
. He committed suicide in 1940 at 37 years of age. He had been suffering from depression for some time and had received professional treatment.
His younger brother Wolfgang Duncker, a communist in exile in Moscow was arrested in 1938 during the Great Purges and died in the Gulag
. Their parents were the well-known socialist and later communist propagandists Hermann and Käte Duncker.
for describing the difficulties in visual perception
and in problem solving
that arise from the fact that one element of a whole situation already has a (fixed) function which has to be changed for making the correct perception or for finding the solution to the problem.
In his "candle problem
" the situation was defined by the objects: a box of candles, a box of thumb-tacks and a book of matches. The task was to fix the candles on the wall without any additional elements. The difficulty of this problem arises from the functional fixedness of the candle box. It is a container in the problem situation but must be used as a shelf in the solution situation.
Other examples for this type of mental restructuring
are:
Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology or gestaltism is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies...
. He attended Friedrich-Wilhelms-University from 1923 to 1923, spent 1925-1926 at Clark University in Worcester, MA as a visiting professor, where he received a masters in arts degree.
Until 1935 he was a student and assistant of the founders of Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology or gestaltism is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies...
in Berlin: Max Wertheimer
Max Wertheimer
- External links :* * * * *...
, Wolfgang Köhler
Wolfgang Köhler
Wolfgang Köhler was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer, and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology.-Early life:...
and Kurt Koffka
Kurt Koffka
Kurt Koffka was a German psychologist. He was born and educated in Berlin and earned his PhD there in 1909 as a student of Carl Stumpf...
.
In 1935, exiled by the Nazis, he got an assistantship in Cambridge with Frederic Charles Bartlett and later emigrated to the USA where he was again an assistant of Wolfgang Köhler
Wolfgang Köhler
Wolfgang Köhler was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer, and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology.-Early life:...
’s at Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
. He committed suicide in 1940 at 37 years of age. He had been suffering from depression for some time and had received professional treatment.
His younger brother Wolfgang Duncker, a communist in exile in Moscow was arrested in 1938 during the Great Purges and died in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. Their parents were the well-known socialist and later communist propagandists Hermann and Käte Duncker.
Achievements
Duncker coined the term functional fixednessFunctional fixedness
Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used. The concept of functional fixedness originated in Gestalt Psychology, a movement in psychology that emphasizes holistic processing...
for describing the difficulties in visual perception
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
and in problem solving
Problem solving
Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...
that arise from the fact that one element of a whole situation already has a (fixed) function which has to be changed for making the correct perception or for finding the solution to the problem.
The Candle Problem
The candle problem or candle task, also known as Duncker's candle problem, is a cognitive performance test, measuring the influence of functional fixedness on a participant's problem solving capabilities. The test was created by Gestalt psychologist Karl Duncker and published posthumously in 1945...
" the situation was defined by the objects: a box of candles, a box of thumb-tacks and a book of matches. The task was to fix the candles on the wall without any additional elements. The difficulty of this problem arises from the functional fixedness of the candle box. It is a container in the problem situation but must be used as a shelf in the solution situation.
Other examples for this type of mental restructuring
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
are:
- an electromagnet must be used as part of a pendulum
- a branch of a tree must be used as a tool
- a brick must be used a paper weight
- another meaning of a word must be found that is different from the meaning within the context of the sentence
Publications
(also online at The International Society for Gestalt Theory and Its Applications)See also
- Schnall, S. (2007). Life as the Problem: Karl Duncker's Context. In "Thinking in Psychological Science: Ideas and Their Makers" (editor: Jaan Valsiner), Transaction Publishers, 2007.
- Insights into Life: The Drama of Karl Duncker: collection of papers by Simone Schnall; Herbert A. Simon; Jeanette A. Lawrence & Agnes E. Dodds; Kurt Fischer & Jeffrey Stewart