Vittorio Benussi

Vittorio Benussi (January 17, 1878 – November 24, 1927) was an Italian psychologist.

Vittorio Benussi
Born(1878-01-17)17 January 1878
Trieste, Austria-Hungary
Died24 November 1927(1927-11-24) (aged 49)
Padua, Italy
Alma materUniversity of Graz
Era20th century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolGraz School
Austrian school of act psychology
Austrian realism[1]
Main interests
Psychology
Notable ideas
Lie detection

Work

Benussi was a member of the Austrian school of act psychology[2] (German: Aktpsychologie), a theory opposed to structuralism. Adherents of act psychology, which was founded by Franz Brentano, held that the most important aspect of the mind is what the mind does, rather than what is merely contained within the mind. As Edwin Boring notes, "When one sees a color, the color itself is not mental. It is the seeing, the act, that is mental."[3][4]:360

In his work, Benussi conducted numerous studies on optical illusions, visual and haptic perception, spatial perception, as well as the perception of time. He also developed one of the first lie detection tests.[2]

References
  1. Gestalt Theory: Official Journal of the Society for Gestalt Theory and Its Applications (GTA), 22, Steinkopff, 2000, p. 94: "Attention has varied between Continental Phenomenology (late Husserl, Merleau-Ponty) and Austrian Realism (Brentano, Meinong, Benussi, early Husserl)".
  2. Leonard Zusne (1984). Biographical Dictionary of Psychology. Greenwood Press. Retrieved 2015-06-28 – via Internet Archive.
  3. "Psychology History Timeline". psych.athabascau.ca. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  4. Boring, Edwin (1929). History of Experimental Psychology. Cosmo Publications.


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