Wolfgang Kohler (1887–1967) was a founder of gestalt theory. Born in Tallinn, estonia, he was educated in germany, attending the universities of Tübingen, Frankfurt and Berlin (where he received his...

Wolfgang Kohler (1887–1967) was a founder of gestalt theory. Born in Tallinn, estonia, he was educated in germany, attending the universities of Tübingen, Frankfurt and Berlin (where he received his doctorate). while at Frankfurt, he met Max wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, who also contributed to the development of gestalt theory. in 1913, Kohler went to Tenerife in the canary islands as director of a lab studying the apes residing on the island; in what became an act of serendipity, he was stranded there for the duration of world war i, unable to leave until 1919. during this period, his studies with the apes led him to a view of problem solving as an active process of insight, unlike the trial and error viewpoint advocated by Tolman. eventually, this work became an important infl uence on gestalt theory, which Kohler promoted as a professor at the university of Berlin (he was made chair in psychology in 1921). in 1934 he travelled to the uSa to deliver the annual william James Lectures at harvard; aware of hitler’s rise to power in germany, he accepted an appointment at Swarthmore university in Pennsylvania, where he remained almost until his death at the age of 80.