Historical Perspectives - Individual Differences

Francis Galton

19th century English scholar, Darwin’s cousin, studied the individual differences in humans, developed statistical analysis methods and eugenics

Where did Galton’s wealth come from?

his Quaker gunmanufacturing/bank running family

Galton Biography?

was a young genius, studied medicine at age 16 @ Birmingham hospital, dropped out and transferred to Cambridge; would take different medications to see their effects; travelled.

What are the two travel books Galton published?

Tropical South Africa, The Art of Travel

What are Daltons discoveries (individual differences)?

• 1st to investigate individual differences (behavior, biology)

• developed Galton whistle to test hearing

• conducted psychometric tests to get data on intelligence and sensory/motor skills

• conducted the 1st memory experiment

• discovered fingerprints

What are Dalton’s discoveries (statistical)?

• developed the Bell curve (median/average in the middle peak → extends outward in both directions with extremes on both sides)

• developed the presentation of average and percentiles to show trends and distributions of things

• introduced ideas of correlations, regression, dispersion

What were Daltons discoveries (Eugenics)

• collected data on head circumference, height, weight, etc. and thought that the larger your head, the smarter you are

• further developed the idea of Nature vs Nurture and popularized it

• believed that intelligence was hereditary

• developed Eugenics = improvement of human race through genetic control; only breed the humans that are the smartest, most beautiful, strongest

What was the memory experiment Galton conducted?

He asked men and women if they could remember what they ate for breakfast

Galton studied _____ association and conducted __________ time tests.

word; reaction

What were some of the books Galton published?

Hereditary Genius, Tropical South Africa, The Art of Travel

Galton believed that ____ studies were a good way to test ideas of nature v nurture.

twin

What did Galton discover with his whistle and hearing tests?

hearing ability declines with age

What was the name of the lab he established in London and how many people did he study in 1 year?

The Anthropometric Laboratory; a permanent one was established later (Victorian Albert Museum)

9,000 people were studied in 1 year