Edgar John Rubin (September 6, 1886 – May 3, 1951) was a Danish

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

/ phenomenologist, remembered for his work on figure-ground perception as seen in such

optical illusion In visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide varie ...

s like the

Rubin vase The Rubin vase (sometimes known as Rubin's vase, the Rubin face or the figure–ground vase) is a famous example of ambiguous or bi-stable (i.e., reversing) two-dimensional forms developed around 1915 by the Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin. ...

. Born to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents, Rubin was born and raised in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. Enrolling at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

in 1904, he majored in psychology and finished his

magister artium A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

examination in philosophy in 1910.

Gestalt psychology

Having specialized in figure–ground organization, Rubin spent the following two years as a research associate for

Georg Elias Müller Georg Elias Müller (20 July 185023 December 1934) was a significant early German experimental psychologist who is credited with the theory of retroactive interference. Biography Early life Georg Elias Müller was born in Grimma, Saxony on 20 ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, examining the recognition of visual figures at different angles and sizes. His theories became influential within

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 ...

, yet Rubin is typically not included among the early influentials. Nor did he consider himself a Gestalt psychologist, being "sceptical of their attempts to construct wide-ranging theories". Nevertheless, his terminology was retained and featured in Kurt Koffka's ''Principles of Gestalt Psychology''. In 1922, Rubin became Professor of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen, a position he held until his death in 1951.

External links

Edgar Rubin in Litteraturpriser.dk''Figure and ground at 100''.

Jörgen L. Pind Jörgen is a village in the municipality of Tieschen in the ''Bezirk'' of Südoststeiermark in the Federal State of Styria in Austria. Its population was 159 in 2016. Jörgen is known for its fine white wines. Next to the more common white wi ...

''Principles of Gestalt Psychology (vol.7)''
Koffka, Kurt. p. 183. 1886 births 1951 deaths Danish Jews Danish psychologists 20th-century psychologists Jewish Danish scientists Phenomenologists University of Copenhagen alumni Scientists from Copenhagen {{Psychologist-stub Jewish psychologists