Types based on mental function
Type theories have been erected on a variety of foundations. For the sake of other, we have selected three groups for presentation here those which emphasize some aspect of mental functioning, sensory, emotional, organizational; those which involve some physiological basis; and those which depend on experience patterns . while it is impossible to cover all of these or to give any of tem and extensive treatment , we shall attempt to present a fair picture of a few samples.
Type theorists have commonly started with some specific experiment or problem in which they were interested , and have used it as a universal standard for personality classification. Thus Kulpe found that his subjects in an experiment on perception fell mostly into two classes: those whose report were influenced most by the color of the stimulus and those whose reports were determined by shape or form. He spoke of these individuals as representing the “material” and the”formal” types, and these groups have been studied by followers of Kulpe to located differences in other psychological functions correlated with the color-from distinction. Similarly, the brother Jaensch (1930) began with an investigation of eidetic imagery and evolved a complex theory of personality types.
There are several theories which focus on the direction attention and interest, inward upon the self or outward upon the environment, among them those of Jung, Stern, James, and Rorschach. As an example we shall take that which has been most widely discussed-Jung’s theory of introversion-extraversion. According to jung, the most fundamental distinction in personalities is that of orientation toward objective determainants.