典藏於國立台灣大學的古典心理儀器

The Historical Psychological Instruments at National Taiwan University

國立台灣大學擁有世界上數一數二的早期知覺心理學實驗儀器收藏。當年由台北帝國大學心理講座創辦人兼首位教授飯沼博士引入的150件儀器中，55件迄今仍現存。透過追溯其產品說明書、Zimmermann目錄、早期期刊、全球資訊網、以及對其物理製造原理的理解，本文將介紹其中26件最為重要的儀器。依其使用於測量對象的不同，實驗儀器被分為：視覺、聽覺、觸覺、時間、作業表現以及記錄器等類別。德國於1875年至1914年間，掌握了成熟的心理學儀器製造技術。位於萊比錫、柏林，以及哥廷根的數家儀器製造廠商，也將產品提供到了其他國家，尤其是日本和美國。逐漸，這些國家也開始自主生產心理實驗儀器，例如台大現存的時間知覺器（本文標為D1）就不是德國進口，而是由日本的山越製作所於1945年製作。心理學源起於哲學，作為一門獨立的學科始於其專屬研究儀器的測量精確化。實驗儀器的發展促進知覺研究的客觀化，使近代心理學轉變為接近物理學或生理學的實驗科學。學習古典心理學實驗儀器的目標有三：（一）貢獻於科學實驗儀器的歷史；（二）教導學生理解早期研究人員在有實驗設計後如何花費時間去設計和製造合適的實驗儀器；（三）激發學生理解科學點子、可取得的實驗儀器，以及可執行的實驗間三者存在的密切關係。

National Taiwan University, formerly Taihoku Teikoku Daigaku (or Taihoku Imperial University), has one of the largest collections of historical instruments in the field of se nsory psychology. A total of one hundred-and-fifty instruments were acquired by Prof. Iinuma, founder and first professor of the Department of Psychology, from Germany between 1930 ~ 1932. Fifty-five instruments have survived. Here we describe 26 of the more important instruments by tracing them to the manufacturer's manuals (e.g., the “Zimmermann lists”), early publications, the World Wide Web, and our own understanding of the mechanical principles that were used in making them. Instruments are grouped according to their use for measurement in the domains of vision, hearing, to uch, time control, performance, and recording. The art of building equipment for experimental research in sensory psychology was well established in Germany during the years 1875 ~ 1914, when companies in Leipzig, Berlin, and Göttingen produced apparatuses not just for German laboratories, but also for laboratories in Czechoslowakia, Serbia, the Netherlands, and even in Japan and the United States. In time, some of these countries started producing their own instruments. For example, the Large Time Sense Apparatus at National Taiwan University (labeled D1 in this manuscript) was not imported from E. Zimmermann Co., but was built by Yamakoshi Seisakusho in Japan in 1945. The impact of these companies onto the history of psychology cannot be overestimated. Psychology was originally part of the Philosophy Department, but became independent thanks to the development of fine-mechanical instruments, which enabled accurate measurement and quantification of empirical results. This so-called “new” psychology became an experimental science akin to physics and physiology, when apparatuses typically made from steel and brass, became available for the objective investigation of the senses. The goal of studying those old instruments nowadays is threefold: (1) to contribute to the history of scientific instrumentation; (2) to raise awareness in today's students of how early researchers, after conceiving an idea for an experiment, often waited for a long time for an appropriate apparatus to be built; (3) to inspire students to think about the intimate relationship between scientific ideas, available apparatus, and experiments performed. The loss of workshops in today's psychological institutes is deplorable, as computers cannot fully compensate for the flexibility of a fully equipped laborat ory.