People of Psychology

John B. Watson

Influential American psychologist recognized as one of the founders of behaviorism. He emphasized the study of observable behaviors rather than internal mental processes, advocating for a scientific approach to psychology.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist whose research laid the foundation for classical conditioning. He is famous for his experiments on dog salivation, which demonstrated how learning occurs through associations.

B.F. Skinner

Leading psychologist known for his work in behaviorism and operant conditioning. He developed techniques to manipulate behavior through consequences, such as reinforcement and punishment.

Carl Rogers

American psychologist and founder of person-centered therapy. He emphasized the unique qualities of humans, including their freedom and potential for personal growth, advocating for a client-centered approach to therapy.

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist who originated psychoanalysis. He theorized that the conflict between the id, ego, and superego is fundamental to human behavior, emphasizing the role of unconscious processes in shaping personality.

Jean Piaget

Swiss psychologist who created a 4-stage theory of cognitive development. He asserted that cognitive growth involves assimilation (fitting new information into existing schemas) and accommodation (modifying existing schemas to fit new information).

Noam Chomsky

American linguist, philosopher, and cognitive scientist who disagreed with Skinner on language acquisition. He proposed that humans have an innate ability to develop language, known as the Language Acquisition Device (LAD).

Albert Bandura

Canadian-American psychologist who pioneered observational learning. He conducted the Bobo Doll experiment, which demonstrated how children learn by observing and imitating the behavior of others, especially aggressive actions.

Stanley Schachter

American social psychologist who developed the two-factor theory of emotion. This theory posits that physical arousal and cognition must combine to produce emotion, suggesting that emotions are the result of both physiological and cognitive processes.

Virginia Johnson

American sexologist famous for her research on human sexual response and dysfunctions. Her work, often conducted with William Masters, provided insights into the physiological and psychological aspects of human sexuality.

Hans Selye

Endocrinologist who studied stress and developed the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) model of stress response. GAS describes how the body responds to stress over time, progressing through stages of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

Carl Lange

Danish physiologist who proposed a theory of emotion similar to William James'. His theory focuses on physiological awareness leading to emotional experience, suggesting that emotions are the result of perceiving bodily changes.

Walter Cannon

American physiologist who defined the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion. This theory suggests that emotional and physiological responses occur simultaneously and independently. He is also known for his work on the physiological basis of hunger.

Philip Bard

Prominent psychologist known for his contributions to the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion. He was also involved with the American Psychological Association (APA) during World War II, contributing to wartime psychological efforts.

Mary Ainsworth

Developmental psychologist known for her research on attachment styles in infants. She developed the Strange Situation experiment, which assesses infant attachment behaviors when separated from and reunited with their caregivers.

Diana Baumrind

Developmental psychologist who identified three parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive. These styles differ in their levels of demandingness and responsiveness, influencing child development and behavior.

Lev Vygotsky

Soviet psychologist who theorized that social interaction plays a crucial role in cognitive development. He introduced the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which is the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance.

Erik Erikson

Developmental psychologist who proposed eight stages of human development. Each stage presents a psychosocial crisis to resolve, such as trust vs. mistrust in infancy and integrity vs. despair in old age, shaping personality and identity.

Karen Horney

German-American psychoanalyst who criticized Freud's theories and proposed that personality is shaped by current fears and impulses rather than just childhood experiences. She emphasized the role of cultural and social factors in personality development.

Carl Jung

Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who developed concepts of the conscious and unconscious, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. He expanded upon Freud's theories, emphasizing the importance of symbolism and mythology in understanding the human psyche.

Alfred Adler

Austrian psychiatrist known for his theory of inferiority complexes and how childhood experiences shape personality. He emphasized the importance of social factors and the drive for superiority in understanding human behavior.

Hans Eysenck

German-British psychologist who believed that personality could be classified along introversion-extraversion and stable-unstable scales. His work contributed to trait theory and the assessment of personality dimensions.

Raymond Cattell

British-American psychologist who contributed to intelligence psychology. He developed the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence, distinguishing between the ability to solve novel problems and accumulated knowledge, and also identified personality factors through factor analysis.

Gordon Allport

American psychologist and a founding figure in personality psychology. He developed a trait theory of personality, emphasizing the uniqueness of individuals and the organization of traits that define their behavior.

Charles Spearman

English psychologist who developed the concept of 'g' or general intelligence. This factor correlates with specific cognitive abilities and reflects overall intellectual capacity.

Howard Gardner

American developmental psychologist who proposed the theory of multiple intelligences. This theory highlights various forms of intelligence, including linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.

Robert Sternberg

American psychologist who devised the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. This theory encompasses analytical, practical, and creative domains of intelligence, suggesting that intelligence is multifaceted and context-dependent.

Louis Terman

American psychologist who revised Binet's IQ test to create the Stanford-Binet test for American children. He standardized the test and established norms for IQ scores, contributing to the use of intelligence testing in education and psychology.

David Wechsler

American psychologist who developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). This test for adult intelligence expanded upon traditional IQ tests by including both verbal and performance subscales, providing a more comprehensive assessment of cognitive abilities.

Aaron Beck

American psychiatrist and pioneer of Cognitive Therapy. He created various depression and anxiety scales and is known for his cognitive triad theory about depression.

Martin Seligman

American psychologist who founded the Positive Psychology movement. He studied learned helplessness in dogs and contributed to the understanding of optimism, resilience, and well-being.

Albert Ellis

American psychologist who developed Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET). This therapy focuses on changing irrational thoughts to improve emotional outcomes, challenging negative beliefs and promoting more adaptive thinking patterns.

Leon Festinger

American social psychologist who introduced cognitive dissonance theory. This theory explains the tension that arises from inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviors, motivating individuals to reduce dissonance through attitude or behavior change.

Solomon Asch

Polish-American social psychologist who studied conformity. His experiments demonstrated how social pressures influence individual judgments, even when the group's opinions are clearly wrong.

Stanley Milgram

American social psychologist who conducted the Shock Study. This study explored obedience to authority figures and moral conflict, revealing the extent to which individuals will obey orders even when it involves harming others.

Philip Zimbardo

American social psychologist who led the Stanford Prison Study. This study examined how social situations influence behavior, revealing the powerful effects of roles and environments on individuals' actions and attitudes.

John Watson

American psychologist known for establishing behaviorism as a major paradigm in psychology. He emphasized the study of observable behavior and conducted experiments that shaped the understanding of learning and conditioning. experiment with Little Albert, the study of which the baby was taught to fear the white rat.

Harry Harlow

A Psychologist interested mainly in

developmental psychology; compared effects

of maternal separation, devised patterns of

attachment; "The Strange Situation":

observation of parent/child attachment.