Max Friedrich Meyer

Who was Max Friedrich Meyer?

Max Friedrich Meyer was a German-born American psychologist.

Meyer was born in Danzig as the son of a goldsmith. He relocated to the USA and became Professor of Experimental Psychology of the University of Missouri. His work largely concerned neurology and its relationship to behavior. He was also co-developer of the Lipps–Meyer law. He was dismissed from the University of Missouri due to his academic involvement with a scandalous questionnaire issued as a project by Meyer's student, Orval Hobart Mowrer. The university was subsequently censured by the American Association of University Professors-- an early case regarding academic freedom due a professor.

Meyer invented the tonality diamond, popularized by the theories of composer Harry Partch. He was the 1930 President of the Midwestern Psychological Association and the 1930 President of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. He was identified as one of the most important psychologists of the period 1600–1967.

He is the author of:

Contributions to a psychological theory of music