1. Kurt Koffka was born and educated in Berlin, Germany; he died in Northampton, Massachusetts, from coronary thrombosis.
37 Facts About Kurt Koffka
1. 2.
Kurt Koffka was influenced by his maternal uncle, a biologist, to pursue science.
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Kurt Koffka had many interests including visual perception, brain damage, sound localization, developmental psychology, and experimental psychology.
4.
Kurt Koffka worked alongside Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Kohler to develop Gestalt psychology.
5.
Kurt Koffka, born March 18,1886, in Berlin, Germany, was raised by Luis Levy and Emil Koffka.
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Kurt Koffka's mother listed herself as Protestant despite having Jewish heritage.
7.
Kurt Koffka's father was a lawyer, and his younger brother, Friedrich Koffka, went on to become a judge.
8.
In spite of the prevalence of law in his family, Kurt Koffka decided to pursue science as he was motivated by his maternal uncle, who was a biologist.
9.
Kurt Koffka married Mira Klein, a participant in his experimental research, in 1909, but they later divorced.
10.
Kurt Koffka remarried Mira until their second divorce in 1928 when he remarried Elisabeth whom he remained married to until his death.
11.
Kurt Koffka was forced to alter his lifestyle after developing a heart condition called Coronary thrombosis.
12.
Kurt Koffka died on November 22,1941, in Northampton, Massachusetts, and left many of his projects unfinished.
13.
In 1903, Kurt Koffka traveled to Scotland to study at the University of Edinburgh for a year.
14.
Kurt Koffka's time at the University of Edinburgh was crucial as he developed a greater understanding of the English language which was a valuable tool for spreading his message in the future.
15.
Kurt Koffka chose to pursue psychology as he believed the subject matter of psychology was best suited towards his interests.
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Kurt Koffka completed his dissertation called Experimental-Untersuchungen zur Lehre von Rhythmus [Experimental studies on the teaching of rhythm] securing him his Doctor of Philosophy in 1908.
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Kurt Koffka worked with Carl Stumpf during the pursuit of his doctorate.
18.
In 1910, Kurt Koffka became an assistant to Friedrich Schumann at the Psychological Institute in Frankfurt on Main to study the perception of motion, alongside Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Kohler.
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Kurt Koffka considered this period in his life significant to his scientific development.
20.
Kurt Koffka later became a professor at the University of Giessen.
21.
Eighteen articles and six experimental works were completed over the twelve years that Kurt Koffka spent at Giessen.
22.
Kurt Koffka studied the localization of sounds to be of aid to the army and navy.
23.
In 1924, Kurt Koffka moved to the United States of America and retained a research professor position at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, beginning in 1927.
24.
Kurt Koffka believed that most of early learning is what he referred to as, "sensorimotor learning," which is a type of learning which occurs after a consequence.
25.
Kurt Koffka believed that a lot of learning occurs by imitation, though he argued that it is not necessary to understand how imitation works, but rather to acknowledge that it is a natural occurrence.
26.
Kurt Koffka gained his initial interest in Gestalt psychology after participating in Wertheimer's phi phenomenon study.
27.
In 1910, Kurt Koffka worked alongside Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Kohler at the Psychological Institute in Frankfurt.
28.
Kurt Koffka needed to provide empirical evidence for the new theory.
29.
In 1922, Kurt Koffka published an article called "Perception: An Introduction to the Gestalt-Theorie" in the Psychological Bulletin to introduce Gestalt psychology to the American academics.
30.
In 1940, Kurf Kurt Koffka traveled to Philadelphia and attended a conference at Bryn Mawr which brought together many different well-known figures from different fields of study to approach art from different perspectives.
31.
Kurt Koffka attempted to make a multidisciplinary theory of art known as the Aesthetic of Gestalt.
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Kurt Koffka's presentation at the conference advanced the scientific theory of art, but it is a neglected theory that has mostly been forgotten after its publication.
33.
In 1922, Kurt Koffka published an article called "Perception: An Introduction to the Gestalt-Theorie" in the Psychological Bulletin to introduce Gestalt psychology to the American academics.
34.
Thirdly, Kurt Koffka stated that children must utilize their motor and sensory systems as they are dependent on each other to create a coherent whole which is utilized to facilitate appropriate behaviour.
35.
Lastly, Kurt Koffka thought children must learn to rely on their cognition when acting as opposed to their impulses.
36.
Kurt Koffka published this book in 1935 and it changed the basic ideas within research involving perception.
37.
Kurt Koffka rejected the idea that researchers should only focus on illusions within people's perception, because he thought it was always necessary to understand why people perceive objects the way that they do.