Robert Yerkes
Robert Mearns Yerkes, (born May 26, 1876; died February 3, 1956) was a psychologist, ethologist and primatologist best known for his work in intelligence testing and in the field of comparative psychology. Yerkes was a pioneer in the study of both human and primate intelligence, and of the social behavior of gorillas and chimpanzees. Joining with John D. Dodson, Yerkes developed the Yerkes-Dodson law relating arousal to performance.
Life
Yerkes received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1898, and his PhD in psychology from Harvard in 1902. He then became an instructor and later a professor at Harvard.
Prior to World War I, Yerkes worked closely with John B. Watson to develop the theory of behaviorism. Although Yerkes never subscribed to the strict behaviorism that Watson advocated, the correspondence between the two psychologists reveals evidence of a close collaboration and sharing of ideas.
Instructor and Assistant Professor in Comparative Psychology at Harvard University (1902-1917) Director of Psychological Services and Research, Boston Psychopathic Hospital (1913-1917) Helped to create the Yerkes-Bridges Point Scale of Intelligence (1915) President of American Psychological Association (1917) Chairman, Committee on the Psychological Examination of Recruits (The committee that designed the WWI Army Alpha and Beta testing program) Professor of Psychobiology, Yale University (1924-1944) Founded and directed the Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology (1929-1941)
Work
Intelligence testing
In 1917, Yerkes served as president of the American Psychological Association (APA). Under his urging, the APA began several programs devoted to the war effort in World War I. As chairman of the Committee on the Psychological Examination of Recruits, he developed the Army's Alpha and Beta Intelligence Tests, given to over 1 million United States soldiers during the war. The test ultimately concluded that recent immigrants (especially those from Southern and Eastern Europe) scored considerably lower than older waves of immigration (from Northern Europe), and was used as one of the eugenic motivations for harsh immigration restriction. The results would later be criticized as very clearly only measuring acculturation, as the test scores correlated nearly exactly with the number of years spent living in the US
National Research Council
Immediately after Word War I, Yerkes worked as a paid officer for the National Research Council (NRC) and took the helm of the NRC Committee for Research in Problems of Sex. The Committee for Research in Problems of Sex helped Yerkes establish close relationships with officers from Rockefeller philanthropic foundations, relationships that later helped him to solicit substantial funds for his chimpanzee projects.
Primatology pioneer
Yerkes had a long and storied fascination with the study of chimpanzees. He had spent time observing chimpanzees in Cuba at Madame Abreu's colony in the early 1920s, and had returned from the trip determined to raise and observe chimps on his own. He began by purchasing two chimpanzees, Chim and Panzee, from a zoo. He brought the two chimps home, where they lived in a bedroom and ate with a fork at a miniature table. Chim was a particular delight for Yerkes, and the summer that chimp and psychologist spent together is memorialized in Almost Human (1924).
In 1924, Yerkes was hired as a professor of psychobiology, a field that he pioneered, at Yale University. He founded the Yale University Laboratories of Primate Biology in New Haven, followed by his Anthropoid Breeding and Experiment Station in Orange Park, Florida with funds from the Rockefeller Foundation. After Yerkes death, the lab was moved to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and is now called the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. The Great Ape language Yerkish was developed there.
Legacy
Robert Yerkes will remain known for his comparative psychology research with apes. He founded the first non-human primate research lab in the United States, being its director from 1929 until 1941. The research laboratory in Yale was named after him - the Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
Yerkes contributed toward development of military testings, being the president of the committee that created the Army Alpha and Beta intelligence tests during the First World War.
Together with John D. Dodson, Yerkes created Yerkes-Dodson Law, which related arousal to parformance.
Bibliography
- Yerkes, Robert M. (1903). Reactions of Daphnia pulex to light and heat. H. Holt and Company
- Yerkes, Robert M. (1907/1926). The Dancing Mouse, A Study in Animal Behavior. Ayer Co Pub. ISBN 0405051743
- Yerkes, Robert M. (1911). Methods of Studying Vision in Animals. H. Holt & company
- Yerkes, Robert M. (1914). Outline of a Study of the Self. Harvard University Press
- Yerkes, Robert M. (1917). How may we discover the children who need special care? National Committee for Mental Hygiene, Inc.
- Yerkes, Robert M. (1934). Modes of behavioral adaptation in chimpanzee to multiple-choice problems. Johns Hopkins Press
- Yerkes, Robert M. (1982). Psychological examining in the United States Army. Kraus Reprint. ISBN 0527735884
External links
- Emory.edu - 'Innovation and Science: The History of Yerkes', Yerkes National Primate Research Center
- Indiana.edu - 'Robert Mearns Yerkes (1876-1956) American Comparative Psychologist', Indiana University
- IPFW.edu - 'Intelligence Tests' (historical overview)
- Karoo.net - 'A Nation of Morons' (critique of the Army Alpha Intelligence Test) Stephen J. Gould
- YorkU.ca - 'Autobiography of Robert Mearns Yerkes', Robert Yerkes, York University (1930)
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