John P. Seward (1905–1985).

Presents an obituary for John Seward. John Seward was born April 24, 1905, in New York City, the son of J. Perry and Eadith de Charmes Seward. After graduating from Cornell in 1926, Seward went to Columbia University to pursue his developing interest in psychology and received his PhD in 1931. Seward developed a focus on learning and the conditions of reinforcement in the late 1930s, a direction that became the major area of his research and theorizing for the remainder of his life. In 1946, he joined the faculty at the University of California-Los Angeles. There followed a series of important articles on learning and problems of reinforcement. During the late 1940s and the 1950s he became known as a major contributor to learning theory, especially for his efforts at reconciling the theories of Tolman and Hull, the two major theorists of the time. Following his retirement from UCLA in 1972, Seward continued in research that concerned sex differences in behavior and socialization. He died in 1985. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John W. Jacobson (1949-2004).

Obituary [John W. Jacobson; 1949-2004]. John W. Jacobson, born October 13, 1949, passed away on May 8, 2004, at the age 54, prematurely ending a distinguished career of over 25 years. John was a fellow of the American Psychological Association's Divisions 25 (Behavior Analysis) and 33 (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities), the American Association on Mental Retardation, and the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities, as well as a board-certified behavior analyst. He was Division 33's president (1995-1996), treasurer (2000 -2004), and an active member of its executive council for many years. He was a visible supporter of many other professional organizations, an outspoken advocate of evidence-based practice, and a driving force in obtaining formal recognition of behavioral psychology as a subspecialty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John I. Lacey (1915-2004).

John I. Lacey died on June 27, 2004. He was one of the pioneers in the integration of psychology and physiology. He worked to establish concepts that cut across disciplines--eschewing specialization within a cross-disciplinary area. Although a guiding figure in the founding of the Society for Neuroscience, John remained very active in the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Society for Psychophysiological Research until his professional retirement. John's career was characterized by a focused search for specific mechanisms defining how psychological processes interact with physiological processes. John Lacey has left us a legacy of a scientific approach that focuses directly on the relation between psychological concepts and their realization in physiological function. His creativity and breadth of knowledge contributed mightily to the currently burgeoning fields of neuroscience and behavioral medicine. His approach reminds us to continue to include solid psychological science when venturing into these fields. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John Joseph Austin (1930-2006).

Presents an obituary for John Joseph Austin, who died of cancer at age 75 on April 8, 2006, in Norton Shores, Michigan. John was employed as a school psychologist for the Muskegon Public Schools, from which he retired in 1986. After his official retirement, he served as president of Research Concepts and worked with the Alfred Binet Center, a testing organization he helped to form in the 1960s. John helped to form the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) in 1969 and served as its president (1971-1972). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John J. Conger (1921-2006).

Presents an obituary for John J. Conger. John Janeway Conger was both an extraordinary human being and an extraordinary psychologist. He died peacefully at the age of 85 on June 24, 2006, in Denver, Colorado, after a remarkable career that spanned five and a half decades and extended far beyond the pioneering work that he was known for in developmental and clinical psychology. He successfully took on many other important roles, both scholarly and administrative, yet remained a warm, caring and generous person, a combination all too rarely found in one individual. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: John Dollard (1900-1980).

Obituary for John Dollard (1900-1980). John Dollard was a pioneer in bringing together social, cultural, psychological, and biological research to develop an integrated science of the nature of humankind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John E. Exner Jr. (1928-2006).

Presents an obituary for John E. Exner Jr. Many psychologists bounce around a bit before they lock in on the specialty that becomes the focus of their professional life. That was not the case with John Exner. He first laid hands on a set of blots from the Rorschach Inkblot Test in 1953, and his fascination with the instrument anchored his career from then on. Through five decades, 14 books, more than 60 journal articles, and countless workshop and conference presentations, John Exner and the Rorschach became synonymous. John Exner died on February 20, 2006, at age 77, after a courageous fight with leukemia. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Doris, five children, and 10 grandchildren. Doris was the administrator of Rorschach Workshops since its inception. John chronicled their lifelong love in a series of poems in the dedication section for many of his books. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John L. Horn (1928-2006).

John Leonard Horn was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, on September 7, 1928, and he died in Los Angeles, California, on August 18, 2006. John Horn was a world-renowned scholar of immense intellect, and he was highly respected in his time. I believe his major contributions to psychology, as well as his influence on psychologists, will continue to grow. His challenging factor-analytic methods of the 1960s, the important methodological debates of the 1970s and 1980s, and his continuing resistance to faddish trends in psychological research all represent fundamental contributions. Through his research and teaching he forced people to question popular assumptions and to evaluate all the data available. He challenged us to think longer, harder, and better. His work will continue to inspire important research in the fields of multivariate analysis and human cognitive abilities for many decades to come. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John Paul Scott (1909-2000).

Presents an obituary for John Paul Scott. In 1945, Scott was the founding head of the new Division of Behavior Studies in Bar Harbor, Maine. In addition, he was responsible for the formation of the Animal Behavior Society (ABS). In 1968, Scott was appointed regents professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University. This position allowed him to build a superb canine research facility and to cultivate the practical implications of his work through the Center for the Study of Social Behavior, which he established. Among the many books he wrote were Animal behavior (1958), Guide dogs for the blind (with C. J. Pfaffenberger; 1976), and The evolution of social systems (1989). He also published more than 230 articles. Scott was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Animal Behavior Society, the American Psychological Association, and the New York Zoological Society. He remained intellectually active until his death in 2000. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fred L. Strodtbeck (1919-2005).

This obituary is about Fred L. Strodtbeck, who was a professor emeritus of sociology and psychology at the University of Chicago. Fred began his faculty career at Yale, moving to Chicago in 1953, where he remained continuously except for one year at the University of Michigan and another year at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, California. Although identified as a social psychologist, throughout his career Fred was fully engaged in the challenging interdisciplinary perspective propounded by the Department of Social Relations. Fred took pride in the accomplishments of his many students. His tutelage was emotional as well as intellectual, as he was mindful of those two dimensions that informed so much of his small-groups work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John F. Chaves (1941-2008).

John F. Chaves is best known for championing a scientific approach to hypnosis. Through his 75 publications, he also made important contributions to the psychological treatment of pain, education in dentistry, and psychological aspects of illness. Sadly, John died in his home, in Tucson, Arizona, on February 2, 2008, after a two-year battle with stomach cancer. He was 66 years old. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituaries: John W. Atkinson (1923-2003).

Presents the obituary of John William Atkinson, who died on October 27, 2003, in Chelsea, Michigan, at the age of 79. From the 1950s Atkinson was a leader in establishing motivation as a distinct field of study. His belief that scientific progress came from conceptual breakthroughs fueled his formulation and reformulation of a theory of motivation. He also recognized the importance of measurement in science, maintaining a career-long interest in the refinement of measures of human motivation, especially by means of the content analysis of imaginative thought. His discipline-changing ideas were followed around the world. In recognition, he received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association in 1979. Atkinson's life and further career accomplishments are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John W. Money (1921-2006).

John Money died of complications from Parkinson's disease the day before his 85th birthday. Always obsessed with language, Dr. Money (as everyone called him) co-opted the linguistic term of gender to help him explain the human paradox of hermaphroditism, the topic of his 1952 doctoral dissertation at Harvard. He came to the United States, where he completed a residency at the Western State Psychiatric Institute of the University of Pittsburgh in 1948. He then went to Harvard. In 1951, Lawson Wilkins, the founder of pediatric endocrinology, brought him to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Hospital. There, he essentially founded the field of psychoendocrinology when he established the Psychohormonal Research Unit for the long-term psychological study of individuals with intersexuality and other conditions. Money spent his entire professional career as a researcher at Hopkins, with dual appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics. According to the John Money Collections at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, he had a total of 1,192 publications, including 402 scholarly articles, 140 reviews and editorials, 95 book chapters, and 48 books, which were translated into many languages. He was the recipient of more than 65 worldwide honors, awards, lectureships, or degrees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John Bissell Carroll (1916-2003).

Memorializes John Bissell (Jack) Carroll, an early leader in the development of psycholinguistics and a dominant contributor to psychometrics and the study of individual differences in cognitive abilities. His seminal work in evaluating foreign language proficiencies across multiple cultures combined his expertise in psycholinguistics with that in psychometrics and defined fundamental issues in the study of language acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John Henry Jackson (1922-2008).

John Henry Jackson was born September 21, 1922, in Macon, Georgia, and died May 14, 2008. He received his bachelor's degree from Milwaukee State Teachers College (1946, now the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), and his master's (1948) and doctoral (1957) degrees in educational psychology from the University of Chicago. John served the Milwaukee Public Schools as a school psychologist from 1962 until his retirement in 1989. He was also a founding member and former officer of the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology, a member of the Wisconsin Psychological Association and, in 1981-1982, president of the Milwaukee Area Psychological Association. As a licensed psychologist in Wisconsin, he was also a member of the state examining board (1974-1980). John was a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1963 and a fellow since 1982. During his career, he published on topics related to school psychology interventions, the development and importance of school psychology, and minority affairs relevant to schoolchildren and psychologists. John Jackson was among the early and distinguished African American school psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Robert P. Abelson (1928-2005).

Presents an obituary for Robert Paul Abelson, who died in New Haven, Connecticut on July 13, 2005, from pneumonia brought on by Parkinson's disease. Dr. Abelson's wide-ranging intellect combined cognition with affect, the abstract with the everyday. His inclusive, collaborative orientation helped him become and remain a leading figure in multiple domains. He was a major contributor to social psychology, cognitive science, political psychology, and statistics, and he applied his insights and expertise to work of national importance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: John Henry Schopler (1930--2001).

Memorializes John Henry Schopler. Schopler spent his entire academic career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was active professionally in the field of social psychology. He dedicated his life to understanding how power and interpersonal and intergroup conflicts could lead not only to competition but also to outgroup hostility and sometimes rampant inhumanity. Schopler's combined clinical-social interests and depth of understanding of the applicability of interdependence concepts led to his intense involvement in the Dispute Settlement Center in Chapel Hill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

John Walter Thibaut (1917–1986).

John Thibaut died on February 19, 1986, after a five month bout with lung cancer. Characteristically, he lived his last months with dignity and with deep love for his wife and children. With an extensive circle of students, colleagues, and friends he was one of the most loved and respected figures in psychology. Professionally, he had made major contributions to his science and university and had received recognition through election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1978), receipt of the Distinguished Senior Scientist Award from the Society for Experimental Social Psychology (1981), and receipt of the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (1983). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

John L. Kennedy (1913–1984).

John Lyon Kennedy received his doctorate in 1937 for his dissertation on the neurological basis of movement perception. His many career steps included psychical research at Stanford; work for the Office of Scientific Research and Development; and cutting edge involvement in the evolution of human engineering from applied experimental psychology, biomechanics, and engineering psychology. He joined the Rand Corporation, where he established the Systems Research Laboratory. He accepted as a challenge the question of how to study the behavior of a total air defense system—as a system. Other accomplishments included being the chair of the Psychology Department at Princeton from 1958 to 1966, while also working with a number of external organizations, including the System Development Corporation, the Peace Corps, the Psychological Corporation, and the National Science Foundation. He finished his teaching career as a professor of management at California State University at Northridge, but continued as a Fulbright Hays Lecturer at the Vienna Institute of Commerce. Kennedy passed away in 1984. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical attractiveness and health: Comment on Weeden and Sabini (2005).

Evolutionary behavioral biology suggests that certain characteristics of the human face and body are important for mate preferences and are therefore subject to sexual selection. J. Weeden and J. Sabini (see record 2005-11504-001) identify a number of weaknesses in the association between traits' attractiveness and health. In contrast, the authors argue that (a) studies on preferences for physical characteristics that rely on 1 trait permit only limited interpretation, (b) limitations placed on J. Weeden and J. Sabini's review exclude important associations, (c) there are misconceptions in their treatment of some traits, and (d) their selected literature provides an inaccurate picture regarding effect size. The authors suggest that future research in this field should seek conceptual and methodological constancy in trait selection and in the evaluation of attractiveness- and health-related traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)