Edwin Ray Guthrie

Edwin Ray Guthrie (9 January 1886 - 23 April 1959) was an American behavioral psychologist and teacher. Although he wrote on philosophy and in different areas of psychology, Guthrie was primarily noted for his work in evolving a single simple theory of learning. Guthrie developed a one-trial, contiguity, nonreinforcement theory of learning. Guthrie is best known for his teaching and writing on the psychology of learning and applying his learning principles to the understanding of everyday behaviors, including the behavior of people in conflict. He typically lectured and wrote in a style easily accessible to undergraduate students.

Life

Edwin Guthrie was born on January 9, 1886, in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was one of five children in the family. His mother was a schoolteacher, and his father a store manager. He graduated and received a master's degree from the University of Nebraska, specializing in mathematics, philosophy, and psychology. He entered the University of Pennsylvania as a Harrison fellow and received his doctorate in 1912. His educational training and background reflect his analytical frame of reference in his psychological writings. Two years later, Guthrie accepted an instructorship in philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle. Soon he transferred to the Department of Psychology, where he remained until his retirement in 1956.

Between 1921 and 1930, Guthrie coauthored a textbook in general psychology with the American psychologist and neurophysiologist Stevenson Smith.

With his wife, Helen M. Guthrie, he translated Principles of Psychothrapy, by the French psychiatrist Pierre Janet.

From 1943 to 1952, Guthrie served as dean of the Graduate School at the University of Washington.

Work

The behaviorist, peripheralist, and theorist

As behaviorist, Guthrie believed that the observable behavior of organism, including humans, was the proper subject of psychology. As a peripheralist, he considered thoughts and feelings to be manifested in muscular contractions and grandular secretions. As theorist, he was more interested in seeking rules to describe learning than in developing a formal program of research.

Legacy

Educated at the University of Nebraska and the University of Pennsylvania, he played an important role in the development of the contiguity theory of learning.

References

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• Angell, J. R. (1913). Behavior as a category of psychology. Psychological Review, 20, 255-270.
• Ben-David, J.and Collins, R. 1966. Social factors in the origin of a new science: The case of psychology. American Psychological Review, 31, 451-465.
• Boring, E.G.(1950). A history of experimental psychology, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
• Brennan, J.F.(1982). History and systems of psychology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
• Dollard, J. & Miller, N. E. 1950. Personality and psychotherapy: An analysis in terms of learning, thinking, and culture. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Guthrie, E. R. 1946. Psychological facts and psychological theory. Psychological Bulletin, 43, 1-20.
• Guthrie, E. R.1952. The psychology of learning(rev. ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
• Guthrie, E. R. 1959. Association by contiguity. In S. Koch (ed.), Psychology: A Study of a science. Vol. 2: General Systematic Formulations, Learning, and Special Processes. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Hull, C. 1951. Essentials of behavior. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Hull, C. 1952. A behavior system. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Leahey, Th. H. (1991). A History of Modern Psychology. Englewood Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
• Luria, A. R.1979. The making of a mind. A person’s account of soviet psychology. In M. Cole & S. Cole Eds., Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Miller, N. E. 1969. Learning of visceral and grandular responses. ‘’Science’’. 163, 434-445.

• Mowrer, O. H. 1949. On the dual nature of learning: A reinterpretation of “conditioning” and ‘problem solving.” Harvard Educational Review, 17, 102-148.
• Mowrer, O. H. 1960. Learning theory and behavior. New York: Wiley.
• Sahakian, W. S. 1968. History of Psychology: A source book in systematic psychology. Itasca, Illinois: F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc.
• Skinner, B. F. 1950. Are theories of learning necessary? Psychological Review, 57, 193-216.
• Smith, S. & Guthrie, E. R..1921. General psychology in terms of behavior. New York: Appleton.
• Spence, K. (1948). Postulates and methods of behaviorism. Psychological Review, 55, 67-78.
• Tolman, E.C. (1951/1966). Behavior and psychological man. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Tolman, E.C. (1955). Principles of performance. Psychological Review, 62, p. 315-326.
• Tolman, E.C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55, 189-208.
• Tolman, E.C., Ritchie, B. F., & Kalish, D. (1946). Studies in spatial learning: II. Place learning versus response learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 37, p. 385-392.
• Williams, K. (1931). Five behaviorisms. American Journal of Psychology. 22, 337-361.
• Woodworth, R. S. (1924). Four varieties of behaviorism. Psychological Review, 31, 257-264.

External links

• Edwin Ray Guthrie Biography
• Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology Article

Credits

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