Kurt Koffka Medal

Kurt-Koffka medal
Kurt-Koffka medal
Awarded for	Advancing the fields of perception or developmental psychology to an extraordinary extent.
Country	Germany
First awarded	2007; 14 years ago
Number of recipients	12 awards to 15 recipients (as of 2018)
Website	www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb06/psychologie/postertag-koffka/KKM/KKM/view

The Kurt-Koffka medal, Kurt Koffka Medal, or Kurt Koffka award is an annual, international award bestowed by Giessen University's Department of Psychology. The prize commemorates the German psychologist Kurt Koffka, a pioneer of Gestalt Psychology, in particular in the fields of perception and developmental psychology. Koffka worked at Giessen University for 16 years, from 1911 to 1927. The medal was first awarded in 2007.^[1]

The medal is notable among psychologists.^[2]

History[]

Kurt Koffka (March 18, 1886 – November 22, 1941) was a German psychologist. He was born and educated in Berlin. Along with Max Wertheimer and his close associates Wolfgang Köhler they established Gestalt psychology. Koffka's interests were wide-ranging, and they included: perception, hearing impairments in brain-damaged patients,^[3] interpretation, learning, and the extension of Gestalt theory to developmental psychology.^[3]

A committee of Giessen University Department of Psychology seeks nominations each year since 2006 and decides on the recipient(s) of the award each year. The first medal was awarded in 2007 to Martin "Marty" Banks.^[1]^[4]

Nominations[]

Nomination forms are sent by the members of the Committee to large numbers of individuals, usually in September the year before the award is made. These individuals are generally prominent academics working in a relevant area.

Selection[]

The members of the Committee prepare a report reflecting the advice of experts in the relevant fields.

Prizewinners[]

Source: Justus Liebig University, Giessen

2007:
2008:
2009: Janette Atkinson and Oliver Braddick
2010: Roberta Klatzky
2011: and David Burr
2012: Sandra Trehub
2013: Stuart Anstis
2014: Elizabeth Spelke
2015:
2016: Andrew N. Meltzoff
2017: Jan J. Koenderink and
2018: Karen E. Adolph
2019: ^[5]

Gender balance of recipients[]

Unlike some science awards, such as the Nobel prize, the Kurt-Koffka medal has a good gender balance of recipients (by 2019, 9 men and 7 women).^[1]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Kurt-Koffka-Medaille".
^ Bender, Elise (September 2010). "Sensing Success: Klatzky Doubly Honored". Aps Observer. 23 (7).
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b [1], Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 2001.
^ "Martin S. Banks".
^ "[visionlist] Dan Kersten winner of the 2019 Koffka medal".

[GiessenPsychologyPage-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Kurt-Koffka-Medaille".

[2] Bender, Elise (September 2010). "Sensing Success: Klatzky Doubly Honored". Aps Observer. 23 (7).

[encyclopediaofpsych-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b [1], Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 2001.

[4] "Martin S. Banks".

[5] "[visionlist] Dan Kersten winner of the 2019 Koffka medal".

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