In November 1896 he defended his dissertation “The problem of perception of space in connection with the doctrine of a priori and innateness”, which was inspired by the works of Nikolai Grot and Lev Lopatin and was awarded the degree of Master of Philosophy by the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University.

Chelpanov published reviews of the latest literature on psychology, epistemology, and Kant's transcendental aesthetics.

[6] From the beginning of the mid 1920s and the introduction of Marxist psychology by Konstantin Kornilov and Pavel Blonsky, Chelpanov's methods were dismissed as idealist.

In his psychological research, the theories of Nikolai Grot, Lev Lopatin, Wilhelm Wundt and Carl Stumpf had a significant influence on him.

Chelpanov's epistemological views ("transcendental realism") generally corresponded to the principles of the neo-Kantian theory of knowledge.

He stood on the principles of apriorism in general philosophical constructions and in substantiating the foundations of psychological science.

Conducted experiments on the perception of space and time, developed methods of laboratory research (Introduction to experimental psychology, 1915).