ABSTRACT
Developments in Physiological, Comparative, and Cognitive Psychology Karl Lashley ( 1929) was an extremely influential individual during his time. Publication of Brain Mechanisms and Intelligence resulted in the attribution of his intellectual leadership by many individuals who themselves subsequently became major figures in this domain. The doctrine of strict localization of function was widely held at that time; therefore, Lashley's finding that the behavioral consequences of experimentally induced brain lesions in rats were a direct function of the amount, rather than the location, of the tissue removed provided the basis for an opposing doctrine that incorporated mass-action principles into a theory of brain function. This work clearly forced an understanding of the nervous system as a functionally dynamic and resilient system, as opposed to a static and discretely differentiated "switchboard" conceptualization.
