03 June in the History of Psychology

On June 3:

1873 — Otto Loewi was born. Loewi's research was the first to discover that neural impulses are transmitted chemically. With Sir Henry Dale, Loewi identified the first known chemical neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. Loewi and Dale received the Nobel prize in 1936 for their work.

1899 — Georg von Békésy was born. Von Békésy's work on the physiology of hearing resulted in the traveling wave theory of pitch perception. Society of Experimental Psychologists Warren Award, 1955; Nobel prize, 1961.

1926 — Carl N. Zimet was born. Zimet has promoted excellence in education and training in the professional practice of psychology. He directed the Chicago Conference on the Professional Preparation of Clinical Psychologists (1965) and first chaired the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions, 1987.

1953 — The Measurement Research Center, of Iowa City, was incorporated. This company offered the first electronic scoring of test response forms, using equipment invented by psychologists Everet F. Lindquist and Phillip Rulon.

1985 — In Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. Massachusetts, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state insurance laws requiring mental health coverage are not preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which lacks this requirement. The ERISA decision strengthened mental health coverage and freedom-of-choice legislation.