Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) was born in Baden, germany, the son of a lutheran pastor. he received a degree in medicine from the university of heidelberg in 1855, graduating at the top of his class. over...

Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) was born in Baden, germany, the son of a lutheran pastor. he received a degree in medicine from the university of heidelberg in 1855, graduating at the top of his class. over time, his interests turned toward research in physiology, particularly sensory processes. This led him to an interest in psychology, and in 1875 he founded what is regarded as the fi rst laboratory of experimental psychology at the university of leipzig. Wundt hoped that eventually the study of sensory processes would lead to an understanding of higher mental processes, and he wrote papers on all aspects of psychology, from physiological processes to social behaviour. a prolific writer as well as researcher, he published almost 500 articles and books, totalling almost 60,000 printed pages. as a teacher and researcher, he influenced many early psychologists, but the approach he took to the study of behaviour, called structuralism, has been supplanted by other approaches within psychology. despite this, Wundt is often regarded as the founder of modern psychology.