Wundt technique

In experimental psychology, much attention was paid to the problem of studying the volume of human visual perception. In the course of research, a person’s ability to perceive the number of objects in a short time interval, that is, his iconic (visual) memory, was studied .

A great contribution to the study of the problem was made by the German psychologist W.Wundt, the author of numerous fundamental works on physiological psychology, the founder of the Leipzig Psychological Laboratory. To measure the volume of perception and study of visual sensations, he proposed using a special device — the tachistoscope. With the help of this device, a projection of the image for a certain period of time was created. The device, invented by W. Wundt, had a falling shutter, on which the “window” was made. When an element was dropped, an image card was displayed for a moment in the window, which the viewer (subject) should remember. The time interval is short — from 10 to 100 ms.

Wilhelm Wundt suggested that human attention has certain limitations (“focus of consciousness”). Subsequently, J. Sperling continued the research of W. Wundt.

Currently, an improved technique is used to develop the attention function, to activate the memory function.