19 June in the History of Psychology

On June 19:

1623 — Blaise Pascal was born. Pascal was a pioneer in discovering the laws of probability, which allowed the statistical prediction of uncertain natural events, including human behavior.

1890 — Abraham A. Roback was born. Roback was known for his writing on the psychology of character and as a historian of psychology, especially for books on American psychology, behaviorism, and psychiatry.

1928 — John A. Swets was born. Swets is best known for the development of signal detection theory. He applied the theory to understanding human sensation and perception, decision making, cognition, psychological measurement, and diagnostic processes. Society of Experimental Psychologists Warren Medal, 1985; APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, 1990.

1933 — Time magazine reported Winthrop and Luella Kellogg's study of raising their son Donald and a baby chimpanzee, Gua, under the same conditions.

1942 — The 50th annual meeting of the APA was canceled, in compliance with World War II travel restrictions.

1957 — The Parapsychological Association, a society for researchers in that field, was founded.

1964 — The U.S. Senate passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, desegregating public accommodations and schools and eliminating racial discrimination in employment and voting. Psychological studies affected the legislation and resulted from its passage, and many psychologists have been influential in implementing its provisions.

1987 — The APA and the Canadian Psychological Association agreed to semiannual executive meetings.