12 June in the History of Psychology

On June 12:

1867 — Howard C. Warren was born. Warren's principal contribution was establishing, editing, and publishing many early journals of American psychology. He founded the Journal of Experimental Psychology and owned and edited Psychological Bulletin, Psychological Review, and Psychological Monographs. APA President, 1913.

1876 — Guy Montrose Whipple was born. Whipple's interests were in educational psychology and testing. He published an early guide to mental measurements in 1910 and was an advocate of training standards for test administrators and interpreters. Whipple was a founder of the Journal of Educational Psychology (1910) and designed the Whipple tachistoscope.

1906 — Robert S. Woodworth delivered an invited address titled "Psychiatry and Experimental Psychology" to the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Boston. The address was a plea for the study of the problems of psychiatry with the methods of experimental psychology.

1912 — Carl I. Hovland was born. Hovland's early work was on learning and motivation. He formulated the frustration-aggression hypothesis (1939) with John Dollard and others. During World War II, Hovland studied communication and later, with Irving Janis and Harold H. Kelley, wrote the classic book Communication and Persuasion (1949). APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, 1957.

1917 — John Garcia was born. Garcia is best known for his work on classical conditioning of taste aversions and studies of innate preparedness for learning. APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, 1979.

1947 — Leonard Saxe was born. Saxe's analyses of social issues research, performed for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, have affected federal legislation. His topics have included the effectiveness of psychotherapy, alcohol abuse treatments, polygraph testing, and children's mental health. APA Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest Award, 1989.

1979 — The antidepressant drug Surmontil (trimipramine; Wyeth) was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Trimipramine is a tricyclic antidepressant. It may work by enhancing neurotransmission in the brain through blocking reuptake of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin.

1982 — Several hundred members of Psychologists for Social Responsibility marched in a New York City mass demonstration supporting nuclear disarmament.

1991 — The first free-standing convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) was held in Washington, DC. David Sears was the keynote speaker at the meeting, and Kay Deaux was president of the SPSP at the time. The SPSP convention supplements the APA Division 8 program at the annual APA convention.