Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev - Objective Psychology

Dear readers,

today we bring to you a letter wich you can see a comemorative postmark from S. Petersburg of the 150 th aniversary of Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev.

Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev (Bechterev) (Влади́мир Миха́йлович Бе́хтерев; January 20, 1857 – December 24, 1927) was a Russian Neurologist and the Father of Objective Psychology. He is best known for noting the role of the hippocampus in memory, his study of reflexes, and Bekhterev’s Disease. Moreover, he is known for his competition with Ivan Pavlov regarding the study of conditioned reflexes (retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Bekhterev).

Postmark in the back of the Murmansk-38 dated February 01, 2007

Objective Psychology is based on the principle that all behavior can be explained by objectively studying reflexes. Therefore behavior is studied through observable traits. This idea contrasted the more subjective views of psychology such as structuralism, which allowed for the use of tools such as introspection to study inner thoughts about personal experiences.

Objective Psychology would later become the basis of Reflexology, Gestalt Psychology, and especially Behaviorism, an area which would later revolutionize the field of psychology and the manner in which the science of psychology is conducted.The rise of Soviet sociolinguistics from the ashes of völkerepsychologie. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. Without Bekhterev’s beliefs about how to best conduct research, it is possible that these important approaches to psychology may have never been established. (retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Bekhterev).