Albert Edouard, Baron Michotte van den Berck (October 13, 1881, Brussels, Belgium

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 – June 2, 1965) was a Belgian experimental psychologist.

Certification

He enrolled at the University of Leuven at the age of sixteen, originally studying philosophy.
He obtained his license in 1899 in the study of Physiology

Physiology

Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...

 and the psychology of sleep, and in 1900, his doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 in philosophy with a thesis on Spencer

Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....

's ethics.

Early Work

His interest was drawn toward experimental research, and so enrolled in the department of natural sciences where he joined the laboratory for two years, the same which had once been used by Arthur Van Gehuchten

Arthur Van Gehuchten

Arthur Van Gehuchten was a Belgian anatomist, born at Antwerp. He was professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Leuven until the eruption of the War in Europe in 1914. He moved to England and taught biology at Cambridge University until his death. Van Gehuchten is especially...

.
It was during this time that he made his first scientific contributions: two publications on the histiology of the nerve cell.
After having a conversation with Désiré Mercier, founder of Leuven's laboratory of experimental psychology, was when he finally decided to dedicate himself to psychology.
He began working under Armand Thiéry, who had been the laboratory director since 1894.
Michotte wrote a publication on his research on tactual sense in 1905 based on his first experimental work.
Between 1905 and 1908, he spent one semester of each year in Germany, working first with Wilhelm Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a German physician, psychologist, physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the founding figures of modern psychology. He is widely regarded as the "father of experimental psychology"...

 at Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, then at Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

 with Oswald Külpe

Oswald Külpe

Oswald Külpe was one of the structural psychologists of the late 19th and early 20th century.-Biography:...

. During this time he was also giving a course at Leuven on experimental psychology the other half of the year. His early work, done before World War I, was focused on logical memory and voluntary choice. Much of that work was heavily influenced by Külpe, through the employment of "systematic experimental introspection".

Flees Belgium

After Leuven burned down in the beginning of World War I, Michotte fled the country, as many other Belgians of the time did. He went to the Netherlands where he stayed until 1918. There he worked with a friend at the Utrecht laboratory, studying the measurement of acoustic energy.

Post WWI

After the war he returned to Belgium and returned to his teaching post and research at Leuven. Through his involvement, the teaching and research of psychology at Leuven underwent a considerable expansion and several additional professors were appointed. Michotte organized an Institut de Psychologie in 1944, which was able to grant the degree of docteur en pyschologie. Throughout these years, even during World War II, Michotte was completely devoted to his work, and had little time for other activities or interests. He would often travel to various foreign universities to present papers. He also attended every International Congress of Psychology from 1905 until the 1950s. In 1952 he became professor emeritus, though continued to teach a course in perception in to 1956.

Old Age

He continued to frequent the laboratory, however in 1962 he suffered a small cardiac attack, which sent him to a clinic for several months. Yet even there he continued to write and direct experiments through the help of his colleagues. Although he remained active until a few weeks before his death, he was housebound for the last three years of his life. He died in his home in 1965.

Work

The main focus of Michotte's research was perception. This was the theme of his first research, and it was to this field, albeit with a new perspective, that almost all of his work after 1940 is devoted. He also had a reputation for creating new and creative techniques and instruments. His 1945 book, The Perception of Causality, published in French, became the pioneer work in event perception and met with international acclaim. However, he did not see the study of perception of causality as a simple isolated problem. Instead he thought of it as he did most of his research, as only one aspect of a broader field of study. Indeed as he says in his autobiography he did not see his work as a simple "hunt for facts", but rather as part of a larger problem.