1890-1947

Father of Modern Social Psychology

“Nothing is as practical as a good theory”

“B = (P * S)”: Behavior is function of Person and
Situation
Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory
 Molar Approach to Motivation
 Multiple motives
 Behavior = several forces that exert influence
 Behavior = f (P + E)
 Why is his Approach Cognitive?
 HeavilyInfluenced by Gestalt School
 Psychological needs cognitive in nature
 Valence
The life space: the psychological field of the individual
a. encompasses all past, present, and future events that
may affect one
b. each event may determine behavior in a given
situation
c. degree of development is a function of amount and
type of experience accumulated
Personality : differentiation
 S= sensory information
 M= Motor Output
 I-P = Inner Personal Region
S-M
 Tension I-P
 Psychological Needs
 Physiological Needs

 Locomotion
 Homeostaticin nature: Boundaries permeable and
non-permeable
Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory
 The Psychological Environment
 Psychological Facts-Knowledge
 Valence

 Problems Food at the

Restaurant
 Definitions S-M

 Facts Change I-P

 Post Hoc
Cook
 Lacked Controls
Leftovers in the
Fridge
 Consists of all influences acting on him or her at a given time. These influences, called
psychological facts, consist of an awareness of internal events
(such as hunger, pain, and fatigue), external events (restaurants, restrooms, other people, stop
signs, and angry dogs), and recollections of prior experiences
(knowing that a particular person is pleasant or unpleasant, or knowing that one’s mother tends to
say yes to certain requests and no to others).
The only requirement for something to be a psychological fact is that it exist in a person’s
awareness
at the moment. A previous experience is a psychological fact only if one recalls it in the present.
Lewin summarized his belief concerning psychological facts in his principle of contemporaneity,
which states that only those facts that are currently present in the life space can influence a
person’s thinking and behavior. Unlike Freud and others,
Lewin believed that experiences from infancy or childhood can influence adult behavior only if
those experiences are reflected in a person’s current
awareness.
Not only does a person’s life space reflect rea
Valence
 Lewin’s Contribution

a. Life space: temporal and reality/irreality dimensions, can include uncons. proc.

b. Channel factors gatekeepers

c. Tension systems:
Zeigarnic Effect
Psychological Conflict

d. Group dynamics, Leadership climate “democratic groups”

 Lewin’s Attention to Every Day Events

1. How landscape appears to soldier, as he/she approaches front

 Life Space.
2. How to get Americans to change diets  channel factors, gate
keepers.
3. Waiter’s memory for un-paid bill  tension systems, Zeigarnik
Effect.
4. Workers’ appreciation of attention, WPA leaders leadership
styles  Democratic vs. Authoritarian Climates.
 Life Space

Objective Space: Life Space:

Toy blocked by barrier Toy blocked by barrier
Child seeks toy, can’t reach it Child seeks father, who can reach toy
Father is some distance behind child Father is envisioned obtaining toy

Life Space is not simply “subjective reality”. Elements can be unconscious.

Life Space is the way elements are psychologically arrayed, in explaining behavior.
 Goals and Tension Systems
Goals: People are goal-oriented; to understand a person’s behavior—
including perceptions and judgment—must know his/her goal.

Goals and values: Who likes a rich, lush field? Who doesn’t?
Goals interact with situations in defining “Life Space”

Tension-systems: Tension arises when goals are blocked, are in conflict,

or are uncompleted.
a. Are goals always conscious?
b. Is tension always conscious?
c. Is tension fundamentally a good or bad thing?
 Psychological Conflicts
Approach / Approach Approach / Avoidance Avoidance / Avoidance

Ask for Raise / Get Turned Down Approach / Avoidance

See New Movie / See New Play Approach / Approach
DMV for 5 Hrs. / Denied Vote Avoidance / Avoidance

What emotions do these create? Frustration, anxiety, tension

Why these emotions arise? Mutually-opposed goals

How resolve these emotions? “Leave the Field”

Cognitive Dissonance
 Zeigarnik Effect
Bluma Zeigarnik, 1927

Lewin at beer garden—waiter’s memory—why?

Bluma Zeigarnik
1901-1988
People compelled to satisfy valued goals.

Interrupted / blocked goals create tension.

Tension keeps uncompleted goals salient.

Memory: Interrupted tasks better remembered.

Relevance to trauma, emotions?

Preference: Interrupted tasks preferred over completed tasks.

Relevance to mental life vs. Behaviorism?