Hans-Lukas Teuber (August 7, 1916 – January 4, 1977) was a professor of psychology and head of the psychology department at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. He was one of the founders of neuropsychology and studied perception. He coined the term

double dissociation In neuropsychology, dissociation involves identifying the neural substrate of a particular brain function through identification of case studies, neuroimaging, or neuropsychological testing. Dissociation types Single dissociation When dissectin ...

. He also introduced the "Corollary Discharge" hypothesis. He gave the classic definition of

agnosia Agnosia is the inability to process sensory information. Often there is a loss of ability to recognize objects, persons, sounds, shapes, or smells while the specific sense is not defective nor is there any significant memory loss. It is usually ...

as "a normal percept stripped of its meaning". He was the recipient of the Karl Spencer Lashley Award in 1966.

Biography

He was born in Berlin on August 7, 1916. He studied at the French College in Berlin and at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

in Switzerland (1935-1939). He immigrated to the United States in 1941 and in August of the same year married Marianne Liepe. In 1947, he earned his PhD in social psychology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, under the mentorship of

Gordon Allport Gordon Willard Allport (November 11, 1897 – October 9, 1967) was an American psychologist. Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of the personality, and is often referred to as one of the founding figures of personali ...

. His thesis studied the efficacy of psychiatric treatments on delinquent adolescents. After graduating, his early work was in San Diego with neurologist Morris Bender. While living in

Dobbs Ferry Dobbs Ferry is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 according to the 2010 United States Census. In 2019, its population rose to an estimated 11,027. The village of Dobbs Ferry is located in, and is a p ...

, New York from 1946 to 1961, he headed the Psychophysiology Lab at the New York University-Bellevue Medical Center. His work focused on assessing brain injuries from World War II veterans, with a focus on the effects of

frontal lobe The frontal lobe is the largest of the four major lobes of the brain in mammals, and is located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere (in front of the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe). It is parted from the parietal lobe by a groove be ...

injury. From this research, he introduced the "corollary discharge" hypothesis, which says that the frontal lobe is involved in the anticipation of movement. In 1960, Teuber moved to Massachusetts to start a Department of Psychology at MIT after previous attempts had failed. Today, it is known as the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. He hired

Jerry Fodor Jerry Alan Fodor (; April 22, 1935 – November 29, 2017) was an American philosopher and the author of many crucial works in the fields of philosophy of mind and cognitive science. His writings in these fields laid the groundwork for the modul ...

, Thomas Bever, and Merrill Garrett. At MIT, he was one of the researchers who studied the case of H.M. He died in a sailing accident in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teuber, Hans-Lukas German psychologists Physiological psychology 1916 births 1977 deaths Harvard University alumni Deaths by drowning Accidental deaths in the United States Virgin Islands 20th-century psychologists Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Members of the National Academy of Medicine