Early Auditory Studies: Activities in the Psychology Laboratories of American Universities

Abstract

The last quarter of the nineteenth century was a formative period for experimental psychology. American pioneers in the field joined their Continental colleagues in basing the “new” psychology on the methods, apparatus, and experiments of physics and physiology. Hermann von Helmholtz, claimed by both fields, was a pilot in their new endeavors. Auditory studies reflect this general pattern. Specialized equipment used in the psychology acoustics laboratory ranged from models of the anatomy of the ear, mechanical models to explain the functions of the ear, sound producers, receivers and measurers, to analyzers and synthesizers. Discussion of the role of the instruments in posing and answering subject-related questions of the psychologist leads to further questions on the development of the intellectual and physical institutions of psychological research.