Kurt Lewin (1890 - 1947)
Field Theory of Learning
Biography
Kurt Lewin was born Sept. 9, 1890 in Prussia (now part of Poland). His family moved to Berlin in 1905. He began his university studies at the University of Frieberg were he entered the study of medicine. He transferred to the University of Munich to study biology. Lewin earned his PhD at the University of Berlin in the experimental study of associative learning, and like the other Gestalt founders, came to the US in the 1930's as a result of Hitler's regime. He worked at Stanford and Cornell before settling down in Iowa. He worked at the State University of Iowa from 1935 until 1944 and then went to MIT where he founded the Research Center for Group Dynamics. He died in February, 1947
Theory
Lewin, as a neo-gestaltist, transferred the Gestalt model to everyday situations. He was greatly influenced by Einstein and applied the idea of Einsteinian field physics to psychology. He proposed that human behavior is a function of both the person and the environment in which the behavior takes place, including the social parameters. He postulated that needs organize perception of the field and acting within the field. He understood a dynamic interaction of elements in the field. He believed behavior was purposeful and visualized the individual as existing in a field of forces which included +valence forces which attract people, and -valence forces which repel people. The blending of these fields produced and approach/avoidance dynamic. According to Lewin's theory, learning is essential to coping with these opposing force fields. Changes in valences and values are important to the learner's ability to deal with ongoing situations. Lewin also believed that a holistic investigation of human behavior and learning must include the environment in which the learning is taking place, including the psychological environment of the learner and others with whom he interacts.
Lewin’s field theory lead to field research on human behavior. Lewin believed that it was possible to study social and psychological phenomena experimentally; as a result he conducted experiments in natural settings where he manipulated complex situational variables and observed the effects. This approach has been used widely in education as "action research" and has had a large impact on modern research.
In the 1930's Lewin developed an approach called Topological Psychology in an effort to develop something practical. This was a system using visual diagrams and geometry to illustrate relations among factors influencing behavior and learning. The boundaries and regions assigned to different components in a dynamic were the main tool to identify tension systems that drive behavior. An example would be a person trying to resolve the tension produced by the dilemma of something he NEEDS to do versus something he WANTS to do. The tension pattern is released when the person resolves the dilemma.
Lewin was heavily influenced by the 3 Early Gestaltists (Wertheimer, Kohler, Koffka) as well as Freud and Einstein. In turn, his innovative work had profound influence on Tolman and several of Lewin's students (Festinger, Bluma Zeigarnik, Maria Ovsiankina, Kate Lissner, and Vera Mahler). His theories helped psychologists and educators understand the behavior of groups, experiential learning, and contributed greatly to action research.
Learning Theory Bibliography
Sahakian, 1976
Wulf, 1996
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