Otto Selz

Who was Otto Selz?

Otto Selz was a German psychologist from Munich, Bavaria, who formulated the first non-associationist theory of thinking, in 1913. Influenced by the German phenomenological tradition, Selz used the method of introspection, but unlike his predecessors, his theory developed without the use of images and associations. Wilhelm Wundt used the method of introspection in the 1880s, but thought that higher-level mental processes could not be studied in the scientific laboratory.

Selz's ideas anticipated some major concepts in modern cognitive psychology, including the following:

⁕The unit of thought is the directed association.

⁕Understanding a problem involves forming a structure.

⁕Solving a problem involves testing for conditions.

Selz was an associate professor of legal philosophy at the University of Bonn, 1921-1923. From 1923 to 1933, Selz was a full professor of philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy of the Mannheim Business School. He also served as the Rector of the Graduate School of Mannheim, 1929-1930. Selz's career was shortened by Nazi policies in Europe, which banned him from his profession in Germany because he was Jewish. In 1938, he was imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp, but was released after five weeks. In 1939, Selz emigrated to the Netherlands, teaching and researching in Amsterdam until 1943. On July 24, 1943, he was arrested and detained in Westerbork concentration camp. A month later on August 24, he was transported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Three days later, on August 27, 1943, Selz died in the vicinity of Auschwitz.