09 January in the History of Psychology

On January 9:

1778 — Thomas Brown was born. Brown was a Scottish school philosopher who first distinguished between the processes of sensation and perception.

1878 — John Broadus Watson was born. Watson's behaviorism defined psychology as an objective, experimental branch of natural science, shunning mentalism. APA President, 1915.

1886 — Edwin R. Guthrie was born. Guthrie's associationist theory of learning relied solely on contiguity of stimulus and response to form learned sets in one learning trial. APA President, 1945; American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal, 1958.

1888 — James McKeen Cattell delivered his first university lecture, at Bryn Mawr College.

1891 — The first issue of G. Stanley Hall's Pedagogical Seminary, later titled the Journal of Genetic Psychology, was published.

1903 — Donald W. MacKinnon was born. MacKinnon was best known for his extensive series of studies on creativity, performed at the Institute for Personality Assessment and Research at the University of California, Berkeley.

1925 — The APA certificate of incorporation was recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds in the District of Columbia.

1930 — The Journal of Social Psychology was first published. The journal was founded by Carl Murchison and John Dewey. The original copyright holder was Clark University.

1932 — Elliot Aronson was born. Aronson's work in social psychology includes studies of cognitive dissonance, developing a method for reducing racial prejudice (The Jigsaw Classroom, 1978), writing an engaging textbook (The Social Animal, 1972) and coediting two editions of the Handbook of Social Psychology (1968, 1985). American Psychological Foundation Distinguished Teaching in Psychology Award, 1980.

1932 — Edward C. Tolman's Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men was published. The book explained the theory and supportive research of Tolman's blend of cognitive and behavioral psychology.

1937 — The first published report of insulin shock therapy for schizophrenia in an American hospital appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Julius Steinfeld was the author.

1952 — The U.S. Army's Clinical Psychology Officer Course opened at the Medical Field Service School, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Officers completing the course were given the military occupational specialty rating of psychological assistant.

1957 — Louisiana Psychologists, Inc., was incorporated, with Bernard Bass as president. Louisiana Psychologists, like similar organizations in other states, operated in the absence of state certification or licensing laws to regulate the professional practice of psychology. Nonstatutory certification was superseded in each state as regulatory laws were passed.

1970 — The first APA Division 29 (Psychotherapy) Midwinter Convention began in Tampa, Florida. The theme of the 3-day meeting was "Innovation in Communication." The division's midwinter meetings have continued to the present and have expanded to include participation by other practice-oriented divisions of the APA. Vin Rosenthal and Stephen Mourer organized the first meeting.

1975 — The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes was first published by the APA. Allen R. Wagner served as editor. The new journal was created by division of the content of the earlier Journal of Experimental Psychology.