Gregory A. Kimble - Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology Volume II

Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology

VOLUME II

Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology

VOLUME II

Edited by

Gregory A. Kimble

C. Alan Boneau

Michael Wertheimer

First Published by

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers

10 Industrial Avenue

Mahwah, New Jersey 07430

Transferred to Digital Printing 2009 by Psychology Press

270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016

27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA

Copyright 1996 by the American Psychological Association and Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

Published by

American Psychological Association

750 First Street, NE

Washington, DC 20002

Typeset in Times by University Graphics, York, PA

Printer: BookCrafters, Fredericksburg, VA

Technical/Production Editor: Edward B. Meidenbauer

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Portraits of pioneers in psychology / edited by Gregory A. Kimble, Michael Wertheimer, Charlotte White.

p. cm.

Sponsored by the Division of General Psychology, American Psychological Association.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8058-0620-2. ISBN 0-8058-1136-2 (pbk.)

1. Psychologists Biography. 2. Psychology History. I. Kimble, Gregory A. II. Wertheimer, Michael. III. White, Charlotte. IV. American Psychological Association. Division of General Psychology.

BF109.A1P67 1991

150.922 dc20

[B]

91-7226
CIP

Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology: Volume II has been published under the following ISBNs:

APA: 1-55798-344-5

1-55798-345-3 (pbk.)

LEA: 0-8058-2197-x

0-8058-2198-8 (pbk.)

British Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record is available from the British Library

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent.

Contents

Preface

The content of this book will supplement the common observation that psychology has a lengthy past but only a brief history by noting that its memory is even shorter. Many of the pioneers presented in this second volume of Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology are now forgotten; some never received the recognition they deserved, even during their own lifetimes. We suspect, for example, that readers will be surprised, as we were, at the methodological sophistication of Dorothea Dix, a trailblazer in the field of community mental health. A major aim of this book is to promote psychologys appreciation of these neglected giants in its history. The chapters here are intended to document the significance of these early contributions, many of them made more than a century ago.

A chief impetus for the production of a second volume in this series is the gratifyingly broad success and acclaim accorded the first volume of Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology (Pioneers I [Kimble, Wertheimer, & White, 1991]). Following the pattern employed in that first volume, the chapters in this book (Pioneers II) appear in the order of the birthdates of the pioneers. In comparison with Pioneers I, however, the content of Pioneers II is more varied, in terms of both the era when the pioneers lived and their subject-matter interests. Whereas in Pioneers I all but one of the psychologists included were born before 1900, one third of those presented here were born in this century. The earliest, Gustav Fechner and Dorothea Dix, were born in 1801 and 1802. The youngest, Stanley Milgram, was born in 1933.

Most of the pioneers in the first volume studied conventional topics, but those in Pioneers II include a social reformer (Dorothea Dix) an entrepreneur in publishing (Carl Murchison), the psychologist who studied the Dionne quintuplets (William Blatz), and the father of parapsychology (J. B. Rhine). Many of the individuals featured in Pioneers I were among the founders of the traditional schools of psychologyTitchener (Structuralism), Freud and Jung (Psychoanalysis), Carr and James (Functionalism), Watson and Hunter (Behaviorism), and Wertheimer and Kohler (Gestalt psychology). But in Pioneers II only John Dewey (Functionalism, again) fits into that category.

As was true of Pioneers I, most of the chapters in this book are revisions of invited addresses delivered at psychological conventions. This accounts for certain characteristics of the content: The pioneers included are, of course, those covered in these lectures. The authors are authorities in psychology, often in the same areas as their pioneers. Several of them are students, colleagues, or offspring of their pioneers and all of them are intrigued by the life and work of the psychologists about whom they have written. These features make the chapters both knowledgeable and readable. All of the 21 portraits in this book are informal; on occasion they are even humorous. Some of the chapters are impersonations. They tell their stories in what were or might have been the pioneers own words. Other third-person presentations might be called appreciations.

Although both volumes of Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology will be of interest to psychologists generally, and to scholars in related fields, the major purpose of these books is to provide source materials for teachers of undergraduate courses in psychology, particularly courses in the history of psychology, who want to add a bit of color to their lectures, and as supplementary readings for students in such courses. Together, Pioneers I and Pioneers II present information on a broad range of topics. Listed using categories that are apt to correspond to those in course syllabi, here are some of the pioneers presented (with chapters in Pioneers I and II separated by the symbol //):

Schools and Systems: Carr, Heidbreder, James, Kohler, Titchener, Watson, Wertheimer // Dewey.

Behavioral Genetics: Galton, Tryon // Blatz, Burks.

Animal Behavior: Watson // Yerkes, Schiller.

Individual Differences: Leta Hollingworth, Tryon // Stern, Doll.

Sensation and Perception: Wertheimer, Kohler // Fechner, Gibson, Graham, Rhine.

Conditioning, Learning, and Learning Theory: Hull, Hunter, Lashley, Pavlov, Thorndike, Tolman // Guthrie, Hebb, Sechenov.

Personality: Calkins, Freud, Jung // Tomkins.

Applied Psychology: Jastrow // Harry Hollingworth, Gilbreth.

Clinical Psychology: Sullivan // Dix, Tomkins, Witmer.

Psychology in Social Context: Puffer // Dix, Milgram, Murchison.

Without the institutional and financial backing of Division 1, the Division of General Psychology, of the American Psychological Association, this book would not have come into existence. Joy Chau, Beth Beisel, and Ed Meidenbauer of the Publications Office of APA provided sound and useful editorial advice. At Duke, Hazel Carpenter and Sue Kreger facilitated the production of the manuscript through their always good-natured dealing with the practicalities that always attend such projects.

Gregory A. Kimble

C. Alan Boneau

Michael Wertheimer

Portraits of the Authors and Editors

Helmut E. Adler, author of the chapter on Gustav Fechner, was born in Nuremberg, Germany. After 5 years in England, he came to the United States and obtained his undergraduate education and a PhD degree at Columbia University, in 1952, following service in the U.S. Army. Subsequently, Adler taught at Columbia and Yeshiva University, where he currently is Professor Emeritus of psychology. Adlers research was carried out at The American Museum of Natural History. His major topic of investigation was the sensory basis of orientation in bird navigation. In collaboration with his wife, Dr. Leonore Loeb Adler, he also worked on the behavior of bottlenose dolphins, beluga whales and California sea lions at the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. Adlers interest in Fechner began when Edwin G. Boring and Davis Howes asked him to translate Fechners