ABSTRACT
The contribution of efferent and proprioceptive (kinesthetic) factors to perception remains a vital research issue in present-day psychology (e.g., Shebilske, 1984). Owing to the independent rediscovery of Helmholtz’s efferent theory of space constancy by Sperry (1950) and v. Holst and Mittelstaedt (1950), most investigators are aware of the fact that in the middle of the last century great emphasis had been given to the role of efferent factors in perception, and that this emphasis somehow became superseded by their complete denial at the end of the last century. However, the historical details of the rise and fall of efferent theorizing in the 19th century are little known. The section “kinesthesis” in Boring’s (1942) classical work Sensation and Perception in the History of Experimental Psychology is still the most comprehensive treatment of the topic, to which may be added, for readers of German, the article “Kinästhesie” in the Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie (Lasslop, 1976). In the present contribution, an attempt is made to eleborate the information given by these two authors and to supplement an earlier study presenting a more inclusive outline of the history of motor theorizing in psychology (Scheerer, 1984).
