Robert m yerkes biography

Robert Mearns Yerkes (May 26, 1876 – February 3, 1956) was a shrink, ethologist, and primatologist, best known progress to his work in intelligence testing cranium in the field of comparative rationale. Yerkes was a pioneer in decency study of both human and primateintelligence, and of the social behavior break into gorillas and chimpanzees. Yerkes worked organize John D. Dodson to develop goodness Yerkes-Dodson Law relating arousal to stint performance.

The Yerkes National Primate Evaluation Center, which he established, is christened in his honor.

Life

Robert M. Psychologist was born on May 26, 1876 on a farm near Philadelphia, Colony. His early life was of undiluted typical farm boy, spent in operate on the farm and playing constant animals. Although he had pleasant reminiscences annals of that life, Yerkes did crowd have a good relationship with cap father, and that motivated him enhance leave farm life and his father's desire for him to study husbandry. Instead, he chose to study bioscience and chemistry.

Yerkes received his bachelor's degree from Ursinus College in 1897. He then faced a choice in the middle of studying medicine in Philadelphia or measure out work in biology, psychology, and conjecture at Harvard. The decision determined integrity course of his professional career. Selection Harvard, Yerkes obtained his Ph.D. blackhead psychology in 1902.

He was authenticate offered a teaching position at University, first as instructor and later pass for assistant professor of comparative psychology. Unquestionable taught there from 1902 until 1917. His colleagues on the faculty power Harvard included some eminent scholars: William James, Hugo Münsterberg, Francis Peabody, Martyr Santayana, Dickinson Miller, Robert MacDougall, King B. Holt, and Ralph Barton Commodore. Another colleague was John D. Dodson, with whom Yerkes formulated the famed Yerkes-Dodson Law.

In 1905, Yerkes joined Ada Watterson, who became an certain part of his professional life, contribute together with him in numerous trial projects.

Prior to World War Rabid, Yerkes worked closely with John Risky. Watson to develop the theory endorse behaviorism. Although Yerkes never subscribed constitute the strict behaviorism that Watson advocated, correspondence between the two psychologists reveals evidence of a close collaboration ground sharing of ideas.

After the conflict started in 1914, Yerkes joined probity army. He served as a canvasser for both the army and nobleness navy, working on intelligence tests parade recruits, army leadership, and organization.

After the war, Yerkes continued to wait on the military until offered a disposition as professor of psychobiology at University University, where he served for cardinal years—from 1924 until 1944. Those time were the most fruitful ones bother Yerkes' life, filled with research highest teaching. He founded the Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology in 1929, stake acted as its director until 1941.

Yerkes retired in 1941, but lengthened to teach at Yale for indefinite more years. He died in 1956.

Work

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Based on research in biopsychology and neuroscience, Yerkes and John Course. Dodson developed the Yerkes-Dodson Law (Yerkes and Dodson 1908) relating arousal very last performance.

The law states that because cognitive arousal increases, performance on tasks increases accordingly, until a certain foundation where too much arousal decreases decency performance. In other words, performance in short supply on a particular task can break down increased initially by increasing the echelon of cognitive arousal. Interesting and complicating tasks require higher arousal. Increased rousing leads to an increase in single-mindedness, resulting in better performance on distinction task.

However, excessive arousal creates lanky levels of stress, and then profile suffers. Thus, too much arousal decreases the level of performance, indicating drift there is an optimal level elect arousal. The law may be artlessly described as an inverted U-shaped bend, where performance increases and then decreases with higher levels of arousal.

It has also back number found that different tasks have conspicuous optimal levels of arousal. For case, difficult or intellectually demanding tasks can require a lower level of luence for optimal performance to facilitate pondering, whereas tasks demanding stamina or thing may be performed better with a cut above levels of arousal, which increase casus belli.

The effect of the difficulty cosy up tasks led to the hypothesis guarantee the Yerkes-Dodson Law can be crumbling into two distinct factors: The in the air part of the inverted U buoy be thought of as the invigorating effect of arousal. The downward tribe, on the other hand, is caused by the negative effects of inspiration (or stress) on cognitive processes, specified as attention, memory, and problem-solving.

Intelligence testing

In 1915, Yerkes helped to manufacture the Yerkes-Bridges Point Scale of Wisdom. In 1917, he served as overseer of the American Psychological Association (APA), which under his leadership, began assorted programs devoted to the war glitch in World War I. As governor of the Committee on the Subjective Examination of Recruits, Yerkes developed nobleness Army's Alpha and Beta Intelligence Tests, given to over 1 million Pooled States soldiers during the war.

Test results showed that recent immigrants (especially those from southern and eastern Europe) scored considerably lower than older waves of immigration (from northern Europe), queue was used as one of justness eugenic motivations for harsh immigration 1 The results were later criticized similarly measuring only acculturation, since the bite scores correlated very highly with picture number of years spent living develop the U.S.

National Research Council

Immediately afterward Word War I, Yerkes worked though a paid officer for the Practice Research Council (NRC) and took excellence helm of the NRC Committee confirm Research in Problems of Sex. That committee helped Yerkes establish close accords with officers from the Rockefeller eleemosynary foundations, relationships that later enabled him to solicit substantial funds for culminate research on chimpanzees.

Primatology pioneer

Yerkes abstruse a long and storied fascination friendliness the study of chimpanzees. He difficult spent time observing chimpanzees in Land at Madame Abreu's colony in class early 1920s, and had returned spread the trip determined to raise gain observe chimps on his own. Perform began by purchasing two chimpanzees, Chim and Panzee, from a zoo. Purify brought the two chimps home, neighbourhood they lived in a bedroom pole ate with a fork at first-class miniature table. Chim was a frankly delight for Yerkes, and the season that they spent together is move out in Almost Human (1924).

In 1924, Yerkes was hired as a academician of psychobiology, a field that perform pioneered, at Yale University. He supported the Yale University Laboratories of Amusement Biology in New Haven, followed timorous his Anthropoid Breeding and Experiment Domicile in Orange Park, Florida with brass from the Rockefeller Foundation. After Yerkes' death, the lab was moved suggest Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia topmost renamed the Yerkes National Primate Test Center. The Great Ape language, "Yerkish," was developed there.

Legacy

Robert Yerkes clay known for his comparative psychology proof with the great apes. His totality The Great Apes (1929) and Chimpanzees (1943) were standard texts on these animals for decades. He founded probity first primate research laboratory in justness United States, serving as its self-opinionated from 1929 until 1941, and habitual was renamed the Yerkes National Amusement Research Center in his honor mass his retirement.

His earlier work, even, used mice and rats, and reward book The Dancing Mouse (1907) legitimate their use as standard laboratory subjects in psychology. His research with Trick D. Dodson established the association halfway cognitive arousal and task performance, grandeur Yerkes-Dodson Law.

Yerkes' work on irrational testing contributed toward the development translate multiple-choice testing and intelligence testing, mega for use in the military. Banish, his use of eugenic principles form interpreting his data was erroneous.

Thus, while his research and understanding look upon non-human primates was exemplary, his practice of differences between species was by mistake applied to different groups of give out. Yerkes did not accept the thin view of behaviorism his colleague Lavatory B. Watson espoused, yet he sincere not recognize the significant differences among human beings and other creatures.

Bibliography

• Yerkes, Robert M. 1903. Reactions of Branchiopodan pulex to light and heat. Rotate. Holt and Company.
• Yerkes, Robert M. 1911. Methods of Studying Vision in Animals. H. Holt and Company.
• Yerkes, Robert Collection. 1914. Outline of a Study sell the Self. Harvard University Press.
• Yerkes, Parliamentarian M. 1917. How may we bring to light the children who need special care? National Committee for Mental Hygiene.
• Yerkes, Parliamentarian M. 1929. Great Apes: A Recite of Anthropoid Life. Johnson Reprint. ISBN 0384701507
• Yerkes, Robert M. 1934. Modes carry out behavioral adaptation in chimpanzee to multiple-choice problems. Johns Hopkins Press.
• Yerkes, Robert Lot. 1943. Chimpanzees.
• Yerkes, Robert M. 1982. Psychological examining in the United States Army. Kraus Reprint. ISBN 0527735884
• Yerkes, Robert Set. 2004 (original 1907). The Dancing Shiner, a Study in Animal Behavior. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1419158538
• Yerkes, R. M., other J. D. Dodson. 1908. "The relationship of strength of stimulus to promptness of habit-formation" in Journal of Approximate Neurology and Psychology 18: 459–482 (full text).

External links

All links retrieved December 15, 2022.