Robert Mearns Yerkes (1876-1956) was an American Comparative Psychologist, influenced Wechsler, mostly know as head of committee that designed WWI Army Alpha and Beta tests, was the one who started to study primates, one of the sources of inspiration for book series Planet of the Apes.
Influenced: Wechsler
Time Period: The Great Schools' Influence
Education:
Ursinus College, Pennsylvania (1892-1897)
Harvard University, A. B. (1898); Ph.D. (1902)
While on leave from his teaching job at Harvard, Yerkes studied neuro-surgical techniques with Harvey Cushing at the Hunterian Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. He also spent several weeks with E.B. Titchener at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, MA.
Career:
Harvard University, Instructor and Assistant Professor in Comparative Psychology (1902-1917)
Boston Psychopathic Hospital, Director of Psychological Services and Research (1913-1917)
Helped create the Yerkes-Bridges Point Scale of Intelligence (1915)
President, American Psychological Association (1917)
Chairman, National Research Council Psychology Committee (WWI)
Chairman, Committee on the Psychological Examination of Recruits (The committee that designed the WWI Army Alpha and Beta testing program)
Continued to serve on the National Research Council (1919-1924)
Yale University, Professor of Psychobiology (1924-1944)
Founded and directed the Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology (1929-1941)
Definition of Intelligence:
"…the term intelligence designates a complexly interrelated assemblage of functions, no one of which is completely or accurately known in man…(Yerkes, 1929, p. 524)”
Major Contributions
Founded the first non-human primate research laboratory in the United States, and acted as its director from 1929 until 1941. The Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology was eventually renamed the Yerkes National Primate Research Center
Chaired the committee that created the WWI Army Alpha and Beta intelligence tests
Ideas and Interests
Robert Yerkes is most famous for his comparative psychology work with apes and chimpanzees. He was heavily influenced by Darwinism, and his writing emphasized that the cognitive differences between infrahuman primates and humans is often simply a matter of degree: …The study of other primates may prove the most direct and economical route to profitable knowledge of ourselves, because, in them, basic mechanisms are less obscured by cultural influence. Certainly it is unwise to assume that human biology can be advanced only by the study of man himself. This could be true only if he existed as a unique organism, lacking genetic relations to other types of creatures (Yerkes, 1943, p. 3). Yerkes rejected social Darwinism; that is, he dismissed the popular ideological belief that natural selection would gradually lead humanity to a sort of utopian ideal. He embraced the eugenicist view and argued, albeit gently, that humankind could benefit from intentional, selective interbreeding. Although he never advocated a political agenda, he hoped that the chimpanzee colonies established at the Yale Laboratories would popularize the idea that genetic research could improve society: We realize that with varying wisdom man has learned to shape nature to his needs and desires. Only with his own nature has he refrained from tampering. Yet the course of civilization and any sudden change for better or worse in the human type obviously depend upon consciously or unconsciously directed modifications. Probably there is no more unprofitable assumption than that of the unalterability of human nature…It has always been a feature of our plan for the use of the chimpanzee as an experimental animal to shape it intelligently to specification instead of trying to preserve its natural characteristics. We have believed it important to convert the animal to as nearly ideal a subject for biological research as is practicable. And with this intent has been associated the hope that the possibility of re-creating man himself in the image of a generally acceptable ideal. … the effort to create an ideally suitable laboratory chimpanzee may prove useful to those who are seeking an ideal for mankind. One is led to think at once of generally recognized human shortcomings, such as extreme selfishness, dishonesty, slothfulness, cruelty, and to wonder whether by developing an ape notable for its dependability, trustworthiness, consideration of others, measure of self-control, and cooperativeness, and by exhibiting it extensively and impressively, attention might not be focused on the problem of improving human nature and the possibilities of its solution. Possibly such an exhibit, carried to mankind pictorially and verbally, might shame a portion of our kind into resolving to do something about it instead of continuing to be carelessly fatalistic. …The really important things for us at present are recognition and active acceptance of the principles of modifiability, controllability, and consequent improvability, of human nature (Yerkes, 1943, p. 9-11). Yerkes’s eugenicist goals were not carried to fruition, but he did leave an important cultural and psychological legacy. Immediately after the United States entered the First World War, Yerkes urged the American Psychological Association to contribute psychological expertise to the war effort. The APA responded by deploying twelve committees. Yerkes chaired both the National Research Council Psychology Committee and the Committee on the Psychological Examination of Recruits. This second committee was charged with developing group intelligence test that could identify recruits with low intelligence and allow the Army to recognize men who were particularly well-suited for special assignments and officers' training schools (McGuire, 1994).
Members of the Committee on the Psychological Examination of Recruits: The committee met for the first time in May of 1917. Among others, it included Henry Goddard, Lewis Terman, and Walter Bingham. By mid-July they had constructed five alternate forms of the verbal test, henceforth to be known as the Army Alpha, and had designed the Army Beta, a nonverbal test for illiterate and non-English speaking recruits (Dahlstrom, 1985). The final forms of the Army Alpha and Beta tests were published in January of 1919, and by the end of the war they had been administered to approximately two million men (Larson, 1994; McGuire, 1994). For many reasons, the launch of the Army Alpha and Beta testing program was a pivotal moment in the history of psychology. First, it provided psychometricians with the first group intelligence tests. Second, the publicity it generated popularized intelligence testing in the public and private sectors. Third, the program provided vast amounts of data to serve as fuel for future controversies over apparent racial differences in intelligence test scores and the supposed decline of America's "national intelligence" (Fancher, 1985).
Selected Publications:
Yerkes, R. M. (1930). Autobiography of Robert Mearns Yerkes. In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 2, pp. 381-407). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.
Yerkes, R. M. (1916/1979). The mental life of monkeys and apes: a study of ideational behavior. Delmar, NY: Scholars' Facsimiles and Reprints.
Yerkes, R. M. (Ed.) (1921) Psychological examining in the United States Army. Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 15, 1-890.
Yerkes, R. M., & Yerkes, A. W. (1929). The great apes: a study of anthropoid life. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Yerkes, R. M., Bridges, J. W., & Hardwick, R. S. (1915). A point scale for measuring mental ability. Baltimore: Warwick & York.
Yerkes, R. M. (1941). Man-power and military effectiveness: the case for human engineering. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 5, 205-209.
Yerkes, R. M. (1943, 1971). Chimpanzees: A laboratory colony. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation.
References:
www.intelltheory.com
Dahlstrom, W. G. (1985). The development of psychological testing. In G. A. Kimble and K. Schlesinger (Eds.), Topics in the history of psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 63-114).
Fancher, R. E. (1985). The intelligence men: Makers of the IQ controversy. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Larson, G. (1994) Armed services vocational aptitude battery. In R.J. Sternberg (Ed.), Encyclopedia of intelligence (Vol. 1, pp. 121-124.) New York: Macmillan.
Krawiec, T. S. (Ed.). (1974). Yerkes, R.M. In The psychologists, (Vol 2). London: Oxford University Press.
Legassé, P. (Ed.). (2001). Yerkes, Robert Mearns. The Columbia Encyclopedia ( 6th ed.) [Online Version]. New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved June 5, 2002.
McGuire, F. (1994). Army alpha and beta tests of intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Encyclopedia of intelligence (Vol 1, pp. 125-129.) New York: Macmillan.
Wolman, B. B. (1968). Historical roots of contemporary psychology. New York: Harper & Row.
Yerkes, R. M. (1932). Psychobiologist. In Carl Murchison (Ed.), The history of psychology in autobiography. (Vol. 2, pp. 381-407). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press. Full text for this chapter is available online from the Classics in the History of Psychology website.
On this blog i will explore genius and geniality concepts, talented child and adults, polymaths, multipotentialite, multipods and other similar denominations. Mostly, i would like to learn about the potential hidden within each of us.
Showing posts with label army beta test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label army beta test. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Walter V. Bingham
Walter V. Bingham (1880-1952) was an American Industrial and Applied Psychologist, who had E. L. Thorndike as teacher. Helped to create Army Alpha and Beta tests and many others aptitude tests in the WWII period.
Student of: E. L. Thorndike
Students: L. Thurstone
Time Period: The Great Schools' Influence
Education:
Beloit College, Bachelors Degree (1901)
Harvard University, Masters Degree (1907)
University of Chicago, Ph.D. in Psychology (1908)
Career:
Between 1908 and 1924 Bingham taught at several universities, including the University of Chicago, Teachers' College of Columbia University, Dartmouth College and the Carnegie Institute of Technology
Helped to create Army Alpha and Beta tests as an Army psychologist during WWI
Helped to design a series of aptitude tests as Chairman of the Army National Research Council on Classification of Military Personnel during WWII
Chief Psychologist, Adjutant General's Office (WWII)
Chairman of the Council of Advisers to the Director of Personnel and Administration of the Army's General Staff (1946-1948)
Consultant on personnel policies for the Secretary of Defense (1949-1952)
Definition of Intelligence
"We shall use the term 'intelligence' to mean the ability of an organism to solve new problems or, as Warren puts it, 'to meet novel situations by improvising novel adaptive responses' (Bingham, 1937, p.36).”
"The most reasonable interpretation would seem to be that a person's position on the scale of intelligence is not unalterably fixed at birth. His ability to think and act intelligently is a product of at least three factors: native endowment, growth or maturity, and opportunity for educative experience…To be sure, inherited capacities make a greater contribution than environmental influences in the ultimate outcome (Bingham, 1937, p. 39).”
Major Contributions:
Founded first university department of Applied Psychology (Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1915)
Helped to develop the Army Alpha and Beta tests in 1917
Helped to popularize intelligence and aptitude testing in industry
Ideas and Interests
Almost immediately after the United States entered the First World War, a team of psychologists headed by Robert M.Yerkes was deployed to design group intelligence tests that could identify recruits with low intelligence and allow the Army to recognize men who were particularly well-suited for special assignments and officers' training schools (McGuire, 1994). The final forms of the Army Alpha and Beta tests were published in January of 1919, and by the end of the war they had been administered to approximately two million men (Larson, 1994; McGuire, 1994). Walter Bingham was a member of Yerkes' team. Bingham believed that intelligence is a complex set of factors that can be measured by looking at individual aptitudes for mathematical, verbal, mechanical and social skills (Bingham, 1937, p 39, 42). He asserted that intelligence manifests itself three dimensions:
- the level of difficulty of the problems [a person] can solve
- the range or number of problems he can solve at that level
- the speed with which he can solve them (Quoted from Bingham, 1937, p. 36)
Although Bingham believed that heredity is the most important factor in intellectual development, and that environmental influences serve only to modify what is already present within the individual, (Bingham, 1937, p. 39) he was not overly concerned with answering the nature vs. nurture question. His interest in intelligence testing was purely practical. As he put it: A person planning his educational or occupational future is looking forward, not back. How intelligent is he now?" That is the first question. Then, what does that fact indicate as to his probable intelligence in the future? In other words, what is his ability to learn the things he will need to learn in order to enter this occupation or that, and what will be his ability to conduct himself intelligently and make progress once he has begun (Bingham, 1937, p. 40)". Bingham criticized theorists who claimed to be able to judge intelligence by visual appraisals (as in the case of Henry Goddard's "moron detection" procedures at Ellis Island). He also warned against placing blind faith in intelligence test scores. He noted that low scores could be the result of previously undetected physical problems such as poor eyesight or malnutrition (Bingham, 1937, pp. 40-41). However, Bingham did not limit the validity of intelligence testing to standardized forms. He noted that "rough but useful appraisal(s)" of intelligence could be gleaned from details in a person's life history: One can confidently infer that a stupid-looking young woman with an impediment of speech is really pretty keen intellectually if she has graduated with honors from a good high school at age sixteen and published two articles for which editors have paid (Bingham, 1937, p. 41). Bingham spent the years after the First World War writing books and articles emphasizing the civilian applications of the testing procedures he helped develop for the Army. He believed that aptitude test and intelligence subtest scores could be used to help businesses increase the efficiency of their workforce and to help teachers and counselors direct their students and clients to careers that would make them happy. (Bingham, 1937, p. vii) He also noted that aptitude testing would be useful for identifying the types of jobs at which mentally retarded people could be successful. (Bingham, 1937 p. 55) For example, if it was found that individuals with a mental age of 7 are successful at job X, then test scores could be used to prescreen potential workers (1937, p. 55-56). During the Second World War Bingham was the Chief Psychologist in the Army Adjutant General's office. In 1940 he was appointed Chairman of the Army National Research Council on Classification of Military Personnel. His research team created a series of aptitude tests that served several purposes:
--assigning the new arrivals into a few broad groupings with respect to their ability to learn quickly the duties and responsibilities of a soldier
-selecting men for training as officers
-simplifications of officer-efficiency reporting
-improvement of standardized occupational interviews and tests of proficiency in a trade
-supplementary testing of aptitudes for work which calls for mechanical ingenuity or other special talents (Quoted from Bingham, 1941, p. 222)
Bingham believed that these aptitude tests would help the war effort and increase American military might. He asserted that the human engineering made possible by the administration of aptitude tests would increase the efficiency and effectiveness of military training programs in the same way that mechanical engineering maximizes the effectiveness of tanks, guns and airplanes. By 1941 standardized test scores had been recorded for more than a million military men (Bingham, 1941). After World War II, the group intelligence test model was embraced by civilian industry, and the new field of industrial psychology gained popularity. Business leaders were enthusiastic about the possible fiscal benefits of using standardized tests to select the best workers for each type of job. Unfortunately, naïve exuberance often resulted in inappropriate use of these tests (Vitales, 1974).
Selected Publications
Bingham, W.V. (1919). Army personnel work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 3, 1-12.
Bingham, W.V., & Moore, B.V. (1931). How to interview. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Bingham, W. V. (1937). Aptitudes and aptitude testing. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Bingham, W.V. (1941). Psychological services in the United States Army. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 5, 221-224.
References
Bingham, W. V. (1937). Aptitudes and aptitude testing. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Larson, G. (1994) Armed services vocational aptitude battery. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human intelligence (pp. 121-124.) New York: Macmillan.
McGuire, F. (1994). Army alpha and beta tests of intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human intelligence (pp. 125-129.) New York: Macmillan
Vitales, M. S. (1974). Industrial psychology. In T. S. Krawiec (Ed.), The psychologists (Vol. 2). London, Oxford University Press.
Dr. W.V. Bingham, psychologist, 72: Army aide in 2 world wars, consultant to the Secretary of Defense since '49 dies. (1952, July 9). New York Times, p.27.
intelltheory.com
Student of: E. L. Thorndike
Students: L. Thurstone
Time Period: The Great Schools' Influence
Education:
Beloit College, Bachelors Degree (1901)
Harvard University, Masters Degree (1907)
University of Chicago, Ph.D. in Psychology (1908)
Career:
Between 1908 and 1924 Bingham taught at several universities, including the University of Chicago, Teachers' College of Columbia University, Dartmouth College and the Carnegie Institute of Technology
Helped to create Army Alpha and Beta tests as an Army psychologist during WWI
Helped to design a series of aptitude tests as Chairman of the Army National Research Council on Classification of Military Personnel during WWII
Chief Psychologist, Adjutant General's Office (WWII)
Chairman of the Council of Advisers to the Director of Personnel and Administration of the Army's General Staff (1946-1948)
Consultant on personnel policies for the Secretary of Defense (1949-1952)
Definition of Intelligence
"We shall use the term 'intelligence' to mean the ability of an organism to solve new problems or, as Warren puts it, 'to meet novel situations by improvising novel adaptive responses' (Bingham, 1937, p.36).”
"The most reasonable interpretation would seem to be that a person's position on the scale of intelligence is not unalterably fixed at birth. His ability to think and act intelligently is a product of at least three factors: native endowment, growth or maturity, and opportunity for educative experience…To be sure, inherited capacities make a greater contribution than environmental influences in the ultimate outcome (Bingham, 1937, p. 39).”
Major Contributions:
Founded first university department of Applied Psychology (Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1915)
Helped to develop the Army Alpha and Beta tests in 1917
Helped to popularize intelligence and aptitude testing in industry
Ideas and Interests
Almost immediately after the United States entered the First World War, a team of psychologists headed by Robert M.Yerkes was deployed to design group intelligence tests that could identify recruits with low intelligence and allow the Army to recognize men who were particularly well-suited for special assignments and officers' training schools (McGuire, 1994). The final forms of the Army Alpha and Beta tests were published in January of 1919, and by the end of the war they had been administered to approximately two million men (Larson, 1994; McGuire, 1994). Walter Bingham was a member of Yerkes' team. Bingham believed that intelligence is a complex set of factors that can be measured by looking at individual aptitudes for mathematical, verbal, mechanical and social skills (Bingham, 1937, p 39, 42). He asserted that intelligence manifests itself three dimensions:
- the level of difficulty of the problems [a person] can solve
- the range or number of problems he can solve at that level
- the speed with which he can solve them (Quoted from Bingham, 1937, p. 36)
Although Bingham believed that heredity is the most important factor in intellectual development, and that environmental influences serve only to modify what is already present within the individual, (Bingham, 1937, p. 39) he was not overly concerned with answering the nature vs. nurture question. His interest in intelligence testing was purely practical. As he put it: A person planning his educational or occupational future is looking forward, not back. How intelligent is he now?" That is the first question. Then, what does that fact indicate as to his probable intelligence in the future? In other words, what is his ability to learn the things he will need to learn in order to enter this occupation or that, and what will be his ability to conduct himself intelligently and make progress once he has begun (Bingham, 1937, p. 40)". Bingham criticized theorists who claimed to be able to judge intelligence by visual appraisals (as in the case of Henry Goddard's "moron detection" procedures at Ellis Island). He also warned against placing blind faith in intelligence test scores. He noted that low scores could be the result of previously undetected physical problems such as poor eyesight or malnutrition (Bingham, 1937, pp. 40-41). However, Bingham did not limit the validity of intelligence testing to standardized forms. He noted that "rough but useful appraisal(s)" of intelligence could be gleaned from details in a person's life history: One can confidently infer that a stupid-looking young woman with an impediment of speech is really pretty keen intellectually if she has graduated with honors from a good high school at age sixteen and published two articles for which editors have paid (Bingham, 1937, p. 41). Bingham spent the years after the First World War writing books and articles emphasizing the civilian applications of the testing procedures he helped develop for the Army. He believed that aptitude test and intelligence subtest scores could be used to help businesses increase the efficiency of their workforce and to help teachers and counselors direct their students and clients to careers that would make them happy. (Bingham, 1937, p. vii) He also noted that aptitude testing would be useful for identifying the types of jobs at which mentally retarded people could be successful. (Bingham, 1937 p. 55) For example, if it was found that individuals with a mental age of 7 are successful at job X, then test scores could be used to prescreen potential workers (1937, p. 55-56). During the Second World War Bingham was the Chief Psychologist in the Army Adjutant General's office. In 1940 he was appointed Chairman of the Army National Research Council on Classification of Military Personnel. His research team created a series of aptitude tests that served several purposes:
--assigning the new arrivals into a few broad groupings with respect to their ability to learn quickly the duties and responsibilities of a soldier
-selecting men for training as officers
-simplifications of officer-efficiency reporting
-improvement of standardized occupational interviews and tests of proficiency in a trade
-supplementary testing of aptitudes for work which calls for mechanical ingenuity or other special talents (Quoted from Bingham, 1941, p. 222)
Bingham believed that these aptitude tests would help the war effort and increase American military might. He asserted that the human engineering made possible by the administration of aptitude tests would increase the efficiency and effectiveness of military training programs in the same way that mechanical engineering maximizes the effectiveness of tanks, guns and airplanes. By 1941 standardized test scores had been recorded for more than a million military men (Bingham, 1941). After World War II, the group intelligence test model was embraced by civilian industry, and the new field of industrial psychology gained popularity. Business leaders were enthusiastic about the possible fiscal benefits of using standardized tests to select the best workers for each type of job. Unfortunately, naïve exuberance often resulted in inappropriate use of these tests (Vitales, 1974).
Selected Publications
Bingham, W.V. (1919). Army personnel work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 3, 1-12.
Bingham, W.V., & Moore, B.V. (1931). How to interview. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Bingham, W. V. (1937). Aptitudes and aptitude testing. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Bingham, W.V. (1941). Psychological services in the United States Army. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 5, 221-224.
References
Bingham, W. V. (1937). Aptitudes and aptitude testing. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Larson, G. (1994) Armed services vocational aptitude battery. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human intelligence (pp. 121-124.) New York: Macmillan.
McGuire, F. (1994). Army alpha and beta tests of intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human intelligence (pp. 125-129.) New York: Macmillan
Vitales, M. S. (1974). Industrial psychology. In T. S. Krawiec (Ed.), The psychologists (Vol. 2). London, Oxford University Press.
Dr. W.V. Bingham, psychologist, 72: Army aide in 2 world wars, consultant to the Secretary of Defense since '49 dies. (1952, July 9). New York Times, p.27.
intelltheory.com
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Henry Herbert Goddard
Henry Herbert Goddard (14 August 1866-1957) was an American Psychologist, mostly known as the one who translated Binet work on IQ testing in United States.
Student of: Hall
Influenced by: Galton
Time Period: The Great Schools' Influence
Education:
B.A., Haverford College, Pennsylvania (1887)
M.A. in Mathematics, Haverford College (1889)
Ph.D. in Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts (1899)
Career:
Football coach and Instructor of Latin, history, and botany, University of Southern California (1887-1888)
Teacher, Damascus Academy, Ohio (1889-1891)
Teacher and Principal, Oak Grove Seminary, Vassalboro, Maine, (1891-1896)
Professor of Psychology and Pedagogy, State Normal School, West Chester, Pennsylvania, (1899-1906)
Director of Research, Training School for Feeble-minded Girls and Boys, Vineland, NJ (1906-1918)
Invited to Ellis Island assist in identifying mental defectives (1910, 1912)
Member of Army Alpha and Beta Testing Team (1917-1919)
Ohio State Bureau of Juvenile Research (1918-1938)
Professor of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology, Ohio State University (1922-1938)
Major Contributions:
Translated the Binet-Simon intelligence scale into English (1908)
Distributed 22,000 copies of the translated Binet scale and 88,000 answer blanks across the United States (1908-1915)
Established the first laboratory for the psychological study of mentally retarded persons (1910)
Helped to draft the first American law mandating special education (1911)
Strongly argued the hereditarian position
Definition of Intelligence:
"…our thesis is that the chief determiner of human conduct is a unitary mental process which we call intelligence: that this process is conditioned by a nervous mechanism which is inborn: that the degree of efficiency to be attained by that nervous mechanism and the consequent grade of intelligence or mental level for each individual is determined by the kind of chromosomes that come together with the union of the germ cells: That it is but little affected by any later influences except such serious accidents as may destroy part of the mechanism" (Goddard, 1920, p. 1).
Ideas and Interests:
It is no exaggeration to characterize Henry Goddard as the father of intelligence testing in the United States. His biographer points out that he was either a leader or a participant in every significant event occurring during the genesis of American psychometrics. In the years between 1908 and 1918 he translated the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale into English, distributed 22,000 copies of the test throughout the United States, advocated for its use in the public schools, established an intelligence testing program on Ellis Island, and served as a member of Robert Yerkes' Army Alpha and Beta testing team during World War One (Zenderland, 1998, p.2). Goddard's contributions to public education were considerable as well: He helped draft the first state law mandating that schools provide special education, and stressed the need for public school reform by suggesting that normal children could benefit from the instructional techniques originally developed for use with retarded students (Zenderland, p. 124, 63). When Goddard began working in education he was an unlikely candidate for such a distinguished career. He spent his 20s working as a Quaker schoolteacher and principal, and he didn't begin his Ph.D. work until he was 30 years old. He graduated in 1899 and took a job teaching psychology and pedagogy at a state normal school in Pennsylvania. In 1906 he was offered a position in a small New Jersey institution called the Training School for Feeble-Minded Girls and Boys. He enjoyed his work with the students there, and became very interested in the both the causes of mental deficiency and the teaching methods employed by the instructors. His research facility at the school was perhaps the first laboratory for the scientific study of mentally retarded persons. In 1908 Goddard traveled to Europe and secured copies of the Binet-Simon intelligence scales. Upon his return to the U.S., he translated the test and began using it with the mentally retarded children living at the school. Convinced of its effectiveness, he began distributing it widely across the United States (Fancher, 1985; Zenderland, 1998). The fact that it was Goddard who popularized the Binet scales offers an historical irony; Binet was extremely careful not to attribute students' test performance to any inherent or unchangeable factors. Goddard was a vociferous hereditarian. (Fancher, 1985; Zenderland, 1998). Goddard's views on intelligence were derived from Mendelian genetics. He believed that feeblemindedness was caused by the transmission of a single recessive gene. His 1912 book The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-mindedness purported to prove this through an examination the differences between two branches of a single family tree. (For More information about The Kallikak Family, please see our related Hot Topic.) Goddard was a eugenicist, and his views on population growth and control were very similar to those of the Englishman Francis Galton (1822-1911). Although both men were concerned with raising their respective country's national intelligence, they differed in their approach. Galton was more vocal about promoting population growth among highly intelligent people, whereas Goddard was more focused on preventing the breeding of feebleminded people (Fancher, 1984). Goddard believed that compulsory sterilization would solve the American problem (Goddard, 1912, p. 106-107). However, he understood that many Americans would find it offensive. As an alternative, he suggested that mentally deficient individuals should be kept, humanely, in institutions. Before considering any other method, the writer would insist that segregation and colonization is not by any means as hopeless a plan as it may seem to those who look only at the immediate increase in the tax rate. If such colonies were provided in sufficient number to take care of all the distinctly feeble-minded cases in the community, they would very largely take the place of our present almshouses and prisons, and they would greatly decrease the number in our insane hospitals. Such colonies would save an annual loss in property and life, due to the action of these irresponsible people, sufficient to nearly, or quite, offset the expense of the new plant. Besides, if these feeble-minded children were early selected and carefully trained, they would become more or less self-supporting in their institutions, so that the expense of their maintenance would be greatly reduced (Goddard, 1912, p. 105-6). Goddard's ideas were representative of the eugenicist zeitgeist in America. The American public had come to suspect that a disproportionately large percentage of the new Ellis Island immigrants were mentally defective. In 1882 the United States Congress had passed a law prohibiting mentally defective people from passing through the Ellis Island checkpoint. Enforcing this law proved to be difficult because as many as 5,000 immigrants needed to be inspected each day. In 1910 Goddard was among those invited to Ellis Island to investigate how the screening process might be expedited. In 1912 he returned to the Island, accompanied by two specially trained assistants. The procedure he developed was a two-step process: One assistant would visually screen for suspected mental defectives as the immigrants passed through the checkpoint. These individuals would then proceed to another location where the other assistant would test them with a variety of performance measures and a revised version of the Binet scales. Goddard believed that trained inspectors could be more accurate than the Ellis Island physicians; the key to their success was expertise developed through experience, and he likened the process to wine or tea-tasting (Zenderland, 1998, p. 268). The number of immigrants who were deported increased exponentially as a result of these screening measures (Zenderland, p. 273).
Selected Publications:
Goddard, H. H. (1912). The Kallikak Family: A study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness. New York: Macmillan.
Goddard, H. H. (1914). Feeble-mindedness: Its causes and consequences: New York: Macmillan.
Goddard, H. H. (1917). Mental tests and the immigrant. Journal of Delinquency, 2, 243-277.
Goddard, H.H. (1920). Human efficiency and levels of intelligence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
References:
Fancher, R.E. (1985). The intelligence men: Makers of the IQ controversy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company
Goddard, H. H. (1912). The Kallikak family: A study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness. New York: Macmillan.
Goddard, H.H. (1920). Human efficiency and levels of intelligence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Strickland, B. (Ed). (2000). Kallikak family. In Gale encyclopedia of education (2nd ed). (pp. 352-353). New York: Gale Group.
www.intelltheory.com
Zenderland, L. (1998). Measuring minds: Henry Herbert Goddard and the origins of American intelligence testing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zuzne, L. (1984). Goddard, Henry Herbert. In Biographical dictionary of psychology (pp. 158). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Student of: Hall
Influenced by: Galton
Time Period: The Great Schools' Influence
Education:
B.A., Haverford College, Pennsylvania (1887)
M.A. in Mathematics, Haverford College (1889)
Ph.D. in Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts (1899)
Career:
Football coach and Instructor of Latin, history, and botany, University of Southern California (1887-1888)
Teacher, Damascus Academy, Ohio (1889-1891)
Teacher and Principal, Oak Grove Seminary, Vassalboro, Maine, (1891-1896)
Professor of Psychology and Pedagogy, State Normal School, West Chester, Pennsylvania, (1899-1906)
Director of Research, Training School for Feeble-minded Girls and Boys, Vineland, NJ (1906-1918)
Invited to Ellis Island assist in identifying mental defectives (1910, 1912)
Member of Army Alpha and Beta Testing Team (1917-1919)
Ohio State Bureau of Juvenile Research (1918-1938)
Professor of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology, Ohio State University (1922-1938)
Major Contributions:
Translated the Binet-Simon intelligence scale into English (1908)
Distributed 22,000 copies of the translated Binet scale and 88,000 answer blanks across the United States (1908-1915)
Established the first laboratory for the psychological study of mentally retarded persons (1910)
Helped to draft the first American law mandating special education (1911)
Strongly argued the hereditarian position
Definition of Intelligence:
"…our thesis is that the chief determiner of human conduct is a unitary mental process which we call intelligence: that this process is conditioned by a nervous mechanism which is inborn: that the degree of efficiency to be attained by that nervous mechanism and the consequent grade of intelligence or mental level for each individual is determined by the kind of chromosomes that come together with the union of the germ cells: That it is but little affected by any later influences except such serious accidents as may destroy part of the mechanism" (Goddard, 1920, p. 1).
Ideas and Interests:
It is no exaggeration to characterize Henry Goddard as the father of intelligence testing in the United States. His biographer points out that he was either a leader or a participant in every significant event occurring during the genesis of American psychometrics. In the years between 1908 and 1918 he translated the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale into English, distributed 22,000 copies of the test throughout the United States, advocated for its use in the public schools, established an intelligence testing program on Ellis Island, and served as a member of Robert Yerkes' Army Alpha and Beta testing team during World War One (Zenderland, 1998, p.2). Goddard's contributions to public education were considerable as well: He helped draft the first state law mandating that schools provide special education, and stressed the need for public school reform by suggesting that normal children could benefit from the instructional techniques originally developed for use with retarded students (Zenderland, p. 124, 63). When Goddard began working in education he was an unlikely candidate for such a distinguished career. He spent his 20s working as a Quaker schoolteacher and principal, and he didn't begin his Ph.D. work until he was 30 years old. He graduated in 1899 and took a job teaching psychology and pedagogy at a state normal school in Pennsylvania. In 1906 he was offered a position in a small New Jersey institution called the Training School for Feeble-Minded Girls and Boys. He enjoyed his work with the students there, and became very interested in the both the causes of mental deficiency and the teaching methods employed by the instructors. His research facility at the school was perhaps the first laboratory for the scientific study of mentally retarded persons. In 1908 Goddard traveled to Europe and secured copies of the Binet-Simon intelligence scales. Upon his return to the U.S., he translated the test and began using it with the mentally retarded children living at the school. Convinced of its effectiveness, he began distributing it widely across the United States (Fancher, 1985; Zenderland, 1998). The fact that it was Goddard who popularized the Binet scales offers an historical irony; Binet was extremely careful not to attribute students' test performance to any inherent or unchangeable factors. Goddard was a vociferous hereditarian. (Fancher, 1985; Zenderland, 1998). Goddard's views on intelligence were derived from Mendelian genetics. He believed that feeblemindedness was caused by the transmission of a single recessive gene. His 1912 book The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-mindedness purported to prove this through an examination the differences between two branches of a single family tree. (For More information about The Kallikak Family, please see our related Hot Topic.) Goddard was a eugenicist, and his views on population growth and control were very similar to those of the Englishman Francis Galton (1822-1911). Although both men were concerned with raising their respective country's national intelligence, they differed in their approach. Galton was more vocal about promoting population growth among highly intelligent people, whereas Goddard was more focused on preventing the breeding of feebleminded people (Fancher, 1984). Goddard believed that compulsory sterilization would solve the American problem (Goddard, 1912, p. 106-107). However, he understood that many Americans would find it offensive. As an alternative, he suggested that mentally deficient individuals should be kept, humanely, in institutions. Before considering any other method, the writer would insist that segregation and colonization is not by any means as hopeless a plan as it may seem to those who look only at the immediate increase in the tax rate. If such colonies were provided in sufficient number to take care of all the distinctly feeble-minded cases in the community, they would very largely take the place of our present almshouses and prisons, and they would greatly decrease the number in our insane hospitals. Such colonies would save an annual loss in property and life, due to the action of these irresponsible people, sufficient to nearly, or quite, offset the expense of the new plant. Besides, if these feeble-minded children were early selected and carefully trained, they would become more or less self-supporting in their institutions, so that the expense of their maintenance would be greatly reduced (Goddard, 1912, p. 105-6). Goddard's ideas were representative of the eugenicist zeitgeist in America. The American public had come to suspect that a disproportionately large percentage of the new Ellis Island immigrants were mentally defective. In 1882 the United States Congress had passed a law prohibiting mentally defective people from passing through the Ellis Island checkpoint. Enforcing this law proved to be difficult because as many as 5,000 immigrants needed to be inspected each day. In 1910 Goddard was among those invited to Ellis Island to investigate how the screening process might be expedited. In 1912 he returned to the Island, accompanied by two specially trained assistants. The procedure he developed was a two-step process: One assistant would visually screen for suspected mental defectives as the immigrants passed through the checkpoint. These individuals would then proceed to another location where the other assistant would test them with a variety of performance measures and a revised version of the Binet scales. Goddard believed that trained inspectors could be more accurate than the Ellis Island physicians; the key to their success was expertise developed through experience, and he likened the process to wine or tea-tasting (Zenderland, 1998, p. 268). The number of immigrants who were deported increased exponentially as a result of these screening measures (Zenderland, p. 273).
Selected Publications:
Goddard, H. H. (1912). The Kallikak Family: A study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness. New York: Macmillan.
Goddard, H. H. (1914). Feeble-mindedness: Its causes and consequences: New York: Macmillan.
Goddard, H. H. (1917). Mental tests and the immigrant. Journal of Delinquency, 2, 243-277.
Goddard, H.H. (1920). Human efficiency and levels of intelligence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
References:
Fancher, R.E. (1985). The intelligence men: Makers of the IQ controversy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company
Goddard, H. H. (1912). The Kallikak family: A study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness. New York: Macmillan.
Goddard, H.H. (1920). Human efficiency and levels of intelligence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Strickland, B. (Ed). (2000). Kallikak family. In Gale encyclopedia of education (2nd ed). (pp. 352-353). New York: Gale Group.
www.intelltheory.com
Zenderland, L. (1998). Measuring minds: Henry Herbert Goddard and the origins of American intelligence testing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zuzne, L. (1984). Goddard, Henry Herbert. In Biographical dictionary of psychology (pp. 158). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
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