17 September in the History of Psychology

On September 17:

1889 — Sarah Carolyn Fisher was born. Fisher took a structuralist approach to her writing on systems of psychology, values and attitudes in family relations, and social psychology.

1904 — Oskar Pfungst began his examination of "Clever Hans," the horse supposedly endowed with human reasoning, reading, and mathematical abilities. Pfungst found that the horse's behavior was attributable to subtle cues from human observers. The case is often cited in discussions of experimenter expectancy effects.

1922 — Irving T. Diamond was born. Diamond's studies of the mammalian brain have contributed to the understanding of the topographical organization of sensory systems in a wide variety of species. APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, 1988.

1932 — Henry Tomes was born. Tomes has promoted increased ethnic diversity in professional psychology and increased sensitivity of all psychologists to aspects of minority group culture and experiences that affect psychological services. He was the first chair of the APA Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs. APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions, 1990.

1959 — Lloyd R. Peterson and Margaret J. Peterson's article "Short-Term Retention of Individual Verbal Items" was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. In 1982, this article was featured as a "citation classic" by the journal Current Contents.

1973 — The island nation of Grenada issued postage stamps honoring Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Freud was featured on a 3-cent stamp, Jung on a 35-cent stamp.

1986 — The APA signed the first licensing agreement for PsycLIT with Indiana University at Bloomington.