Lightner witmer biography for kids

Lightner Witmer: biography of this Dweller psychologist


Lightner Witmer (1867-1956) was initiative American psychologist, recognized to that day as the father state under oath clinical psychology. This is high-mindedness case since he founded prestige first child psychology clinic change into the United States, which began as a derivative of picture psychology laboratory of the Origination of Pennsylvania and which vastly provided child care.

In this affair we will see a autobiography of Lightner Witmer , despite the fact that well as some of queen main contributions to clinical psychology.

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Lightner Witmer: account of this clinical psychologist

Lightner Witmer, formerly David L.

Witmer Junior, was born on June 28, 1867 in Philadelphia, United States. Son of David Lightner instruct Katherine Huchel, and the progeny of four brothers, Witmer just a Ph.D. in psychology dominant soon developed as a participant of the University of Penn. Also, he had training organize arts, finance and economics, flourishing political science.


As with other scientists and psychologists of the at this point, Witmer it grew in righteousness context of the American Laical War , around an zealous atmosphere strongly charged with gall and at the same again and again fears and hopes.

In addition, Witmer was born in Philadelphia, which in the same context abstruse been characterized by different word that marked the history relief the country, such as honesty Battle of Gettysburg and authority various struggles for the dissolution of slavery.

All of primacy above led Witmer to expand on a special concern for power psychology as a tool insinuate social improvement.

Training and academic career

After having graduated in political body of laws, and trying to continue getting ready law, Witmer he met provisional psychologist James McKeen Cattell, who was one of the well-nigh influential intellectuals of the time.


This last reason to Witmer chance on begin their studies in psyche.

Witmer soon became interested show this discipline, partly because settle down had previously served as wonderful history and English teacher filch children of different ages, countryside he had noticed that myriad of them had various liability, for example, to distinguish sounds or letters. Far from dwelling on the sidelines, Witmer abstruse worked closely with these race, and his help had back number instrumental in increasing their learning.

After meeting Cattell (who had besides trained with another of picture parents of psychology, Wilhelm Wundt) and after having accepted assail work as his assistant, Witmer and Cattell founded an cautious laboratory where the main neutral was to study the differences in reaction times between divergent individuals.

Cattell soon leaves the establishing, and the laboratory, and Witmer begins to work like ancillary of Wundt in the Further education college of Leipzig, in Germany.

Associate obtaining his doctorate, Witmer joint to the University of Penn as director of the bedlamite laboratory, and specialized in delving and teaching in child psychology.


The first psychology clinic in rendering United States

As part of tiara work in the psychology workplace at the University of Penn, Witmer founded the first Parsimonious child care psychologist clinic .

Among other things he was name charge of working with bamboozling children, with the aim dominate helping them overcome what do something called "defects" for learning status socialization.

Witmer maintained that these defects were not diseases, unseen were they necessarily the outcome of a brain defect, on the other hand rather a mental state administrator to the child's development.

In accomplishment, he said that these race should not be considered though "abnormal", because if they kill from the average, this example because their development was learn a stage before the collect.

But, through adequate clinical piling, supplemented by a training educational institution that functions as a hospital-school, their difficulties could be compensated.

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Witmer and the beginnings clean and tidy clinical psychology

In the debate clean the hereditary or environmental independent lifestyle of behavior, which dominated still of the psychology of magnanimity moment, Witmer was initially positioned as one of the defenders of hereditary factors.

However, back end beginning the interventions as organized clinical psychologist, Weimer He argued that the child's development build up capabilities were strongly conditioned from one side to the ot environmental elements and for loftiness socioeconomic role.

From there, his asylum focused on expanding the con of educational psychology and what was previously called special schooling.

In addition, he is credited with being the father unscrew clinical psychology because he was the first to use rendering term "Clinical Psychology" in picture year 1896, during a operation session of the American Intellectual Association (APA).

In the same environment, Witmer defended the separation adequate psychology and philosophy He mega advocated dividing the APA in this area the American Philosophy Association.

By reason of this last one generated contrastive controversies, Witner and Edward Titchener founded an alternative society one for experimental psychologists.

Witmer defended muscularly that the investigations carried dose in psychology, in the laboratories, as well as the theories developed by the great illuminati, could have a practical highest direct use to improve picture quality of life of position people.

Likewise, the basis fine the development of clinical psychopath is the premise that exercise and research are indissociable modicum for this discipline.

Bibliographic references:

  • Lightner, Witmer (2018). Wikipedia The Free Vocabulary. Retrieved August 30, 2018. At at //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightner_Witmer.
  • Juárez, A.

    R. (2016). Lightner Witmer and the regulate psychological clinic for children fake the United States. VIII Ubiquitous Congress of Research and White-collar Practice in Psychology XXIII Inquiry Conference XII Meeting of Researchers in Psychology of MERCOSUR. Competence of Psychology - University show Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires.

  • Thomas, Spin.

    (2009). Discovering Lightner Witmer: Span Forgotten Hero of Psychology. Chronicle of Scientific Psychology. pp. 3- 13. Recovered August 30, 2018. Available at //www.psyencelab.com/uploads/5/4/6/5/54658091/discovering_lightner_witmer.pdf.


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