Abraham S. Luchins (March 8, 1914 – December 27, 2005) was an American Gestalt psychologist and a pioneer of

group psychotherapy Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, i ...

. He was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York and died in New York.

Biography

Luchins was a student and staff member of

Max Wertheimer Max Wertheimer (; April 15, 1880 – October 12, 1943) was a psychologist who was one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology, along with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler. He is known for his book ''Productive Thinking'' and for conceiving the ...

, the main originator of

Gestalt psychology Gestalt psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology and a theory of perception that emphasises the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components. It emerged in the early twent ...

. After Max Wertheimer fled to the US and started lecturing at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

, Luchins worked as his assistant and became one of his closest collaborators from 1936 till 1942. In the 1970s he and his wife Edith Hirsch published a series of transcripts and reports on Wertheimer's advanced seminars and workshops. He researched the role of a ''mental set'' (

Einstellung effect () is the development of a mechanized state of mind. Often called a problem solving set, refers to a person's predisposition to solve a given problem in a specific manner even though better or more appropriate methods of solving the problem exis ...

) in the use of the various water jar refill problems. The goal was to learn to what extent the successful use of a problem solving strategy has a negative effect when the task cannot be solved by the previous strategy. Other fields of research were group psychotherapy and research methods and strategies. Luchins lectured at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

(New York),

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

(Montreal), the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. From 1962 on he was professor of psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York and professor emeritus from 1984. In 1993 he became an honorary member of the international ''Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA)'' - ''Gesellschaft für Gestalttheorie und ihre Anwendungen (GTA)''.see
GTA Roll of Honor
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Main publications

;Books: *1942: ''Mechanization in problem solving''. In: ''Psychological Monographs 34'', APA: Washington. *1959: ''A Functional Approach To Training In Clinical Psychology''. Thomas: Springfield. *1959 (with Edith H. Luchins): ''Rigidity of Behavior - A Variational Approach to the Effect of Einstellung.'' University of Oregon Books: Eugene, Oregon. *1964: ''Group Therapy - A Guide''. Random House: New York (Portuguese edition 1970, Spanish edition 1984). *1965 (with E.H. Luchins): ''Logical Foundations of Mathematics for Behavioral Scientists''. Holt, Rinehart: New York. *1969 (with E.H. Luchins): ''The Search for Factors that Extremize the Autokinetic Effect''. Faculty-Student Association: State University of New York at Albany. *1970 (with E.H. Luchins): ''Wertheimer's Seminars Revisited: Problem Solving And Thinking'', Vols. I, II and III, S.U.N.Y., Albany. *1991-1993 (with E.H. Luchins): ''Max Wertheimer's Life and Background: Source Materials'', Volumes I and II. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. ;Articles: *A.S. Luchins & E.H. Luchins (1979): Introduction to the Einstein-Wertheimer Correspondence, ''Methodology and Science'', Special Einstein Issue, 12, 165–202. *A.S. Luchins & E.H. Luchins (1982): An Introduction to the Origins of Wertheimer's Gestalt Psychology, ''Gestalt Theory, 4''(3-4), 145–171. *A.S. Luchins & E.H. Luchins (1985): Max Wertheimer: His life and work during 1912–1919. ''Gestalt Theory, 7'', 3-28. *A.S. Luchins & E.H. Luchins (1986a): Max Wertheimer: 1919–1929. ''Gestalt Theory, 8'', 4-30. *A.S. Luchins & E.H. Luchins (1986b): Wertheimer in Frankfurt: 1929–1933. ''Gestalt Theory, 8'', 205–224. *A.S. Luchins & E.H. Luchins (1987): Max Wertheimer in America: 1933–1943. ''Gestalt Theory, 9'', 70-101. *A.S. Luchins & E.H. Luchins (1988): The Einstein-Wertheimer Correspondence on Geometric Proofs, ''The Mathematical Intelligencer, 12''(2), pp. 35–43. ;About ASL: * Obituary by

Gerhard Stemberger Gerhard Stemberger (born June 29, 1947 in Innsbruck, Austria) is a sociologist and Gestalt psychology, Gestalt psychologist in Vienna, Austria, and one of the main representatives of Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy. After a career in sociologica ...

: Abraham S. Luchins (1914–2005). ''The American Psychologist, 62''(2), 143.

References

External links

The Role of the Social Field in Psychotherapy
By Abraham S. Luchins (1948).

by Abraham S. Luchins (1993)

; by Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins (1999)

by Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins

- compiled and commented by Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins

by Abraham S. Luchins and Edith H. Luchins {{DEFAULTSORT:Luchins, Abraham S. 20th-century American psychologists Gestalt psychologists American psychology writers American male non-fiction writers American textbook writers 1914 births 2005 deaths The New School faculty Yeshiva University faculty Academic staff of McGill University University of Oregon faculty University of Miami faculty University at Albany, SUNY faculty 20th-century American male writers