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Library > Special & Area Studies Collections > General Manuscripts > Finding Aids |
Finding aid prepared by Dept. Staff
University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections
March 2005
Descriptive Summary |
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Creator: | Harkai Schiller, Pál, 1908-1949 | |
Title: | Paul Harkai Schiller Papers | |
Dates: | 1930-1949 | |
Abstract: | Manuscripts of works by Hungarian psychologist specializing in comparative psychology. | |
Extent: | 5.75 Linear feet. 12 Boxes. | |
Identification: | MS Group 81 | |
Language(s): | Materials are written in English, Hungarian and German. |
Paul Harkai Schiller was born November 4, 1908, in Budapest. He entered Petrus Pazmany University in 1926 and studied under the philosopher Akos Pauler and the psychologist Pal Ranschburg. He became Ranschburg's assistant in 1928 while Ranschburg was preparing a critique of objectivist and behaviorist psychology. His doctoral thesis, A Lélektani Kategóriák Rendszerének Kialakulása (1930), was an historical review of psychology. After two years of study in Germany under Wolfgang Köhler, he returned to Budapest and was appointed Lecturer in psychology at Pazmany University. He attained the rank of Professor in 1937 and headed the psychology department from 1937 until 1947. Schiller developed aptitude tests for the military, state railroads, and private industry to promote psychological studies in Hungary and established the Institute for Research on Public Opinion at Budapest's Radio Center. He was also interested in personality types and published articles on Hungarian smoking and drinking habits. Schiller's primary interest was not in applied science, however, but in theory and research. Much of his work was in the area of comparative psychology and included studies of detour behavior in rats and fish. It was during this period that he elaborated his "action theory" of behavior and published a monograph, The Task of Psychology, in 1940.
In 1939, Schiller married Claire (Klara) Imredy, a psychology student at Pazmany. This was his second marriage; he had a son, Peter, by his first wife. A daughter, Christina, was born in 1942. After World War II, he accepted a position at Bolyai University in Rumania. When the possibilities for free research dwindled under Communist rule, Schiller accepted an offer from Columbia University to work for six months as a research associate in Teachers College. He came to the United States in 1947. After his brief stay at Columbia, he was asked to join the Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology in Orange Park, Florida. There, he embarked on a comprehensive research program involving a variety animals including rats, minnows, chimpanzees, and the octopus. He also prepared an English revision of his book, Handeln und Erleben, entitled "An Analysis of Action."
On May 1, 1949, Schiller fell to his death after slipping on an iced portion of a trail at Mount Washington. His career as a psychologist lasted only nineteen years, but he was able to publish some seventy titles and supervise twenty doctoral dissertations. Schiller was an avid sportsman, an amateur aviator, and fluent in English, German, Italian, and French as well as his native Hungarian.
Research, bibliographic notes, correspondence, manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and publications. The Schiller Papers contain research notes and observations, as well as correspondence focusing on the last two years of his life, his work at Yerkes Laboratory, and research on public opinion in post World War II Hungary. The manuscripts, in German, Hungarian and English, include drafts and publication notes, letters from Pal Ranschburg, chimpanzee drawings, clippings, notes, and photos of family, colleagues and experiments. Also included are his publications, including "Lélektani Tanulmányok", his doctoral thesis, and publications by other Hungarian psychologists.
The collection is divided into six sections: (1) Notebooks, (2) Correspondence, (3) Manuscripts, (4) Miscellaneous, (5) Photographs, and (6) Publications.
The collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Paul Harkai Schiller Papers, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
The Schiller Papers are the gift of Christina Schiller Schlusemeyer and Peter H. Schiller.
Notebooks |
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The notebooks consist of laboratory research notes and bibliographic notes. There are also notebooks containing observations of his son, Peter, from ages one through four. |
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1 | Notebooks. | ||||||||||||
2 | Notebooks. |
Correspondence |
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The correspondence begins in 1939, but is largely confined to the last two years of his life. Most are letters received by Schiller; very few copies of his letters exist. Pre-1947 letters are mostly written in Hungarian and some in German. The remaining correspondence reflects his activities at Columbia and the Yerkes Laboratory as well as his collaboration with European colleagues and students. There is also correspondence related to public opinion research conducted in Hungary after World War II. |
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3 | Undated drafts of letters | ||||||||||||
3 | 1939 | ||||||||||||
3 | 1942 | ||||||||||||
3 | 1943 | ||||||||||||
3 | 1944 | ||||||||||||
3 | 1945 | ||||||||||||
3 | 1946 | ||||||||||||
3 | January-June, 1947 | ||||||||||||
3 | July-December, 1947 | ||||||||||||
3 | 1948 | ||||||||||||
3 | 1948, dates unspecified | ||||||||||||
3 | 1949 | ||||||||||||
3 | 1946-1949, dates uncertain or unknown | ||||||||||||
3 | Aufgabe der Psychologie. 1947-1948 | ||||||||||||
3 | Hartmann, George W., re.: Schiller's coming to the United States. 1946 | ||||||||||||
3 | Octopus study. 1947-1948 | ||||||||||||
3 | Public opinion research. 1947-1948 |
Manuscripts |
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The manuscript section includes drafts of publications, notes, and, occasionally, correspondence for over thirty titles. Included are the drafts for "An Analysis of Action". The manuscripts are written in Hungarian, German, and English and reflect the full range of his interests. There are also unidentified fragments of manuscripts. Of special note are two letters and an untitled manuscript in the hand of Pal Ranschburg written in 1944. |
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4 | "Az állati értelemröl". | ||||||||||||
4 | "Allatlélektan". 1940-1941 | ||||||||||||
4 | "An Analysis of Action" Final draft. | ||||||||||||
4 | "An Analysis of Action" Part I [rough draft]. | ||||||||||||
4 | "An Analysis of Action" [drafts Parts III-V]. | ||||||||||||
4 | "An Analysis of Action" [Chapter 20]. | ||||||||||||
4 | "Analysis of Action--An Outline of Psychology", Parts I-IV. | ||||||||||||
4 | "Analysis of Action--An Outline of Psychology", Parts V--VI. | ||||||||||||
4 | "Analysis of Detour Behavior". | ||||||||||||
4 | "Aufgabe der Psychologie". | ||||||||||||
5 | "Barátság". | ||||||||||||
5 | "Congruent and Incongruent Detour Behavior in Cats". | ||||||||||||
5 | "Delayed Detour Response in the Octopus". 1949 | ||||||||||||
5 | "Delayed Response in the Minnow". | ||||||||||||
5 | "Detour Experiment in Rats" APA paper, Detroit. | ||||||||||||
5 | "Factors in Motivation". | ||||||||||||
5 | "Die Gestalttheorie auf neuen Bahnen". | ||||||||||||
5 | "Az ember, mint társas lény". | ||||||||||||
5 | "Emlékezetvizsgálatok fehér patkányon és fürge cselén" Molnar/Schiller. | ||||||||||||
5 | "Fish" [different manuscript titles and fragments]. | ||||||||||||
5 | "Gyakorlati emberismeret". 1942 | ||||||||||||
5 | Hungarian public opinion [various titles]. | ||||||||||||
5 | "Innate Constituents of Complex Responses in Primates" [drafts returned from reviewers]. | ||||||||||||
5 | "Innate Constituents of Complex Responses in Primates" [drafts returned from reviewers]. | ||||||||||||
5 | "Innate Constituents of Complex Responses in Primates"; final revisions/changes. | ||||||||||||
5 | "Innate Motor Action as a Basis of Learning". | ||||||||||||
5 | "The Intelligent Octopus". | ||||||||||||
5 | "Learning, Insight, and Instinct". | ||||||||||||
6 | "A lélektan alapfogalmainak meguilágitása". | ||||||||||||
6 | "Manipulative Correction of Visual Figures", Bakay/Schiller (Final draft). | ||||||||||||
6 | "Paul Ranschburg, 1870-1945". | ||||||||||||
6 | "A Psychophysical Interpretation of Instinct Action". | ||||||||||||
6 | "A Psychophysical Theory of Action". | ||||||||||||
6 | "Sinn und Form", Institut für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Vienna. Oct. 18, 1946 | ||||||||||||
6 | "Sinnesphysiologie". | ||||||||||||
6 | "Test, lélek, szellem". 1940 | ||||||||||||
6 | "A Test of Cooperation and Leadership: Social Work in the Gymnasium". 1941 | ||||||||||||
6 | "Warum raucht der Mensch?" Schiller/Varga. | ||||||||||||
6 | [Unidentified manuscript fragment]. | ||||||||||||
6 | [Fragments and notes found loose]. | ||||||||||||
6 | "Ertelmes eszközhasználat fehér patkányoknal" by Köszönöm Dr. Kardos Lasjosnak. |
Miscellaneous |
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Includes drawings done by chimpanzees at the Yerkes Primate Laboratory, newsletters and clippings related to public opinion research in Hungary, several folders related to his pattern completion experiments (including the actual pattern pieces), other experiment notes, and personal documents such as diplomas and passports. Miscellany also includes five folders under the heading "Csiny es csel" ("Pranks and tricks") which document, through letters, notes, and manuscripts, his professional interest in comic behavior as well as his own sense of humor. |
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6 | Ranschburg, Pal--single note to (Schiller?), date illegible, and note, dated June 2, 1944, with manuscript in Ranschburg's hand found in envelope. (pages 27-28 of mss missing)]. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Ambiguous figures. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Bars. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Blank pages. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Double field--Color. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Figure completion | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--For reproduction. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Non-completion of outlines. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--[Found after "Non-Completion of outlines" but not identified as such]. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Prior marks. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Single large figure. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Single small figure. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--Structuring of multiple figures. | ||||||||||||
6 | Chimpanzee drawings--[unidentified]. | ||||||||||||
7 | Completion Experiments--Correspondence, test sheets, notes | ||||||||||||
7 | Completion experiments--Figures reproduced. | ||||||||||||
7 | Completion experiments--pattern pieces. | ||||||||||||
7 | [Course materials--Comparative Psychology 341]. | ||||||||||||
7 | [Course materials--Grades, exams, 1947]. | ||||||||||||
7 | [Course materials--Seminar in Gestalt Psychology, 1948]. | ||||||||||||
7 | Course Materials: "Csinys csel" [5 folders]. | ||||||||||||
8 | [Genealogical table]. | ||||||||||||
8 | Gyermeki cselekvés--Notes. | ||||||||||||
8 | Gyermekpszichologia, 1937-1948 [lectures?]. | ||||||||||||
8 | dézetek [citations]. | ||||||||||||
8 | Leacute;lektan: Bevezetes. | ||||||||||||
8 | [Letters to editors re: Soviet aggression in Eastern Europe]. | ||||||||||||
8 | [Miscellaneous documents]. | ||||||||||||
8 | [Necrology]. | ||||||||||||
8 | Octopus--[experiment notes]. | ||||||||||||
8 | Octopus [grant] reports. | ||||||||||||
8 | Octopus: Patterns? | ||||||||||||
8 | Personal: [Public Opinion--Hungary--Newsletters, clippings]. | ||||||||||||
8 | Personal: [Public Opinion--Hungary--Newsletters, clippings]. | ||||||||||||
8 | Personal: [Public Opinion--Newsletters from other countries]. | ||||||||||||
8 | Personal: Report on After-effects, Yerkes Lab, 1/28/48. | ||||||||||||
8 | Personal: [Reviews] | ||||||||||||
8 | Personal: Vitae, publications list other biographical data. | ||||||||||||
8 | Personal: Wartime Psychology in Central Europe. | ||||||||||||
9 | Miscellany: Folders containing materials on a variety of research subjects as well as publication manuscripts. |
Photographs |
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The photographs in the collection are primarily of family and scenes from trips and home life. Most are unidentified. There are also photographs of experiments (for example, the rat mazes used in delayed detour response experiments) and colleagues. |
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10 | Photographs |
Publications |
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The Schiller Papers contain reprints and copies of publications for sixty-four titles written, co-written, or edited by Schiller. These include many Hungarian publications including a set of Lélektani Tanulmányok, which Schiller founded and edited, and his doctoral thesis. There are also several publications by other Hungarian psychologists. |
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12 | "Az állati értelem" in Természettudomány. 1946 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Altalános lélektan". n.d. | ||||||||||||
12 | "Analysis of Detour Behavior I. Learning of Round about Pathways in Fish". 1948 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Analysis of Detour Behavior II. Congruent and InCongruent Detour Behavior in Cats". 1950 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Bencsik Béla életmüve". 1943 | ||||||||||||
12 | Borfogyasztási Szokások, Schiller/Varga. 1940 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A Configurational Theory of Puzzles and Jokes". 1938 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Contemporary Hungraina Psychology" Schiller/Hartmann. 1940 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A Cselekvés alaptérelei". 1939 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Delayed Detour Response in the Octopus". 1949 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Delayed Response in the Minnow". 1948 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Feher patkányok kerülöút használata" Bakay/Schiller. 1947 | ||||||||||||
12 | Dohányzási Szokások Budapesten Schiller/Varga. 1938 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Durch Beschattung aufleuchtende Figuren". 1933 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Elöadások az általános lélektanból". 1942 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Eine Erhebung über Nervosität". 1935 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Ertelempróbák szerkesztése" Zoltan/Schiller. 1938 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Ertelemvizsgálatok halakon". 1942 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Az érzéki észrevevés elmélete". 1934 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Az érzékszervek müködésének egymástól valókölcsönös függése". 1932 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Figural Preferences in the Drawings of a Chimpanzee". 1951 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A fürge cselle (phoxinus laevis) mozgáslátása". 1934 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Gegenseitige Beeinflussung der optischen und der akustischen Helligkeit". 1933 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A gyakorlati emberismeret jövöje". n.d. | ||||||||||||
12 | "A gyermeki értelemröl. (Jean Piaget munkássága)". 1940 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A Hungarian Survey on Sympathetic Attitudes". 1947 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Interrelation of Different Senses in Perception". 1935 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Intersensorielle Transposition bei Fischen". 1933 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A katonai jellemvizsgálatorkról". 1941 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A katonai képességvizsgálatok" in Magyar Katonai Szemle. 1940 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Kinematoskopisches Sehen der Fische". 1934 | ||||||||||||
12 | A Közelmult Lelki Tömegfertozései, Gleimann et al. 1945 | ||||||||||||
12 | Közvélemény. 1947 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Lélektan és embertan". 1943 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A Lélektan feladatáról". 1937 | ||||||||||||
12 | A Lélektan Irodalma. 1944 | ||||||||||||
12 | A Lélektani Kategóriák Rendszerének Kialakulása. 1930 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A mai lélektan" Hermann et al. 1946 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Manipulative Correction of Visually Presented Figures" Bakay/Schiller. 1948 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Pauler ákos a pszichológia feladatairól". 1934 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Psychology and Physiology". 1940 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A pszichológia új utjal". n.d. | ||||||||||||
12 | "Pszichológiai diagnosztika a gyermekkorban". 1934 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Paul Ranschburg: 1870-1945". 1947 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Das Ranschburgsche Phänomen und dessen Einflußauf das Erkennen von Kraftfahrzeugkennzeichen". 1932 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Results of Hungarian Public Opinion Research". 1947 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A sajtóhibák lélektana". 1935 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A sajtóhibak keletkezésének pszichologiaioknyomozása". 1931 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Sguardo sullo sviluppo della psicologia in Ungheria". 1936 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Die Stellung der synästhetischen Erscheinungen in der Seelenstruktur". 1931 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Stoboskopische Alternativversuche". 1933 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Die triebpsychologischen Wurzeln der sogenanntennervösen Zustände". 1935 | ||||||||||||
12 | "A tudattalanról". 1944 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Umwegversuche an Elritzen". 1941 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Untersusuchungen über Emlfindung und Emfinden". 1932 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Vergleichende Untersuchungen über Bewegungssehen". 1937 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Wirkung des Umfeldes auf motorsiche Leistungen". 1934 | ||||||||||||
12 | "Wissenschftliche und Angewandte Psychologie in Ungarn". n.d. | ||||||||||||
12 | "Der Witz und das Komische". 1937 | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications edited by Schiller: Lélektani tanulmányok, Vols. 1-9. 1937-1947 | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications edited by Schiller: A lelki élet: Vizsgálatának eredményei. 1942 | ||||||||||||
12 | Magazine publications: "Vom Orientierungssin der Tiere". n.d. | ||||||||||||
12 | Magazine publications: "Ungarische Forschungen über die Tierseele". n.d. | ||||||||||||
12 | Magazine publications: "Charakterforschungen in Ungarn". n.d. | ||||||||||||
12 | Magazine publications: Life containing photo spread on the "Clever Octopus". February 16, 1948 | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications (Other authors): "The Child's Theories Concerning Death," Maria Nagy. 1947 | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications (Other authors): "La Mesure du Comprotement Adapté chez les Chimpanzés," Yerkes/Spragg. 1937 | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications (Other authors): "A berlini alaklélektani iskoláról," Wolfgang Kóhler. 1930 | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications (Other authors): "Bevezetés a tuományos gondolkodásba," Kornis Gyula; Ts. n.d. | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications (Other authors): "Az idegrendszer teljesitmény szerinti beosztása, L. Müller. 1942 | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications (Other authors): "Grundsärze der Ernährungspsychologie und Schlußfolgerungen daraus für die Verteilung von Vollsoja," Weiss/Simoneit. 1948 | ||||||||||||
12 | Publications (Other authors): "Adalékok a Magyar gyáripar helyzeténekkonjunkturális alakulásához," Varga István. 1935 |
Chimpanzees -- Psychological testing -- Florida -- Orange Park.
Institute for Research on Public Opinion (Budapest, Hungary)
Psychologists -- Hungary.
Psychology, Comparative.
Psychology.
Public opinion -- Hungary.
Ranschburg, Pál, 1870-1945.
Yerkes Laboratory of Primate Biology.
For further information, please contact: Special Collections Access Services.