ABSTRACT
As you look through the contents of this book, you may ask, “Who on earth was Albert Michotte?” And as you begin to read about this celebrated Belgian psychologist, you may wonder what a privileged white man from a bygone century could possibly contribute to psychology in this new century, when so much has changed and so much more change is inevitable. You may find some answers to these questions as you become familiar with Michotte's work and with what his peers and contemporary psychologists have said about him. In a review of the English translation of Michotte's magnum opus, The Perception of Causality (1946/1963), for example, a peer from beyond Belgium's borders said, “There are few psychologists with the originality of mind, the ingenuity in experimental design and techniques, the psychological insight and the expertise in argument” who can rival Albert Michotte (Vernon, 1964, p. 75). Knowledgeable contemporary psychologists also admire Michotte's experimental-phenomenological research and remark on its pertinence to current issues in the psychology of perception, developmental psychology, and social psychology (Thinès, Costall, & Butterworth, 1991). It would not surprise me if, after you scrutinize Michotte's life and work, some of you, like me, will put him on your short list of great contributors to psychology. In any case, I hope that what you learn about the life and work of Albert Michotte will enrich your lives and careers.
