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J. McVicker Hunt
Joseph McVicker Hunt (March 19, 1906 – January 9, 1991) was a prominent American educational psychologist and author. He promoted and researched concepts related to the malleable nature of child intelligence (also promulgated by Benjamin Bloom). That work eventually led to the theory of learning centered on the concept of the information processing system.
Joseph McVicker Hunt was born in Nebraska on March 19, 1906, to parents R. Sanford and Carrie Pearl Hunt, who were both University of Nebraska graduates. Hunt was an active student with interests in both academic and nonacademic areas such as sports.
Hunt enrolled in the University of Nebraska in the mid-1920s. He became president of the League of Industrial Democracy and Student Christian Association as well as participating in football and wrestling. He was also a writer for a newspaper and sold life insurance while in school to earn extra money.
Hunt had difficulty deciding on an undergraduate major, so he started with biology, and then moved to philosophy, economics, and sociology. His interest in psychology did not begin until his junior year, when Joy Paul Guilford returned to the University of Nebraska to direct the psychology laboratory. Hunt took advice from one of his sociology professors and enrolled in a course taught by Guilford who eventually asked him to complete graduate work in psychology. Hunt accepted and became a graduate student in 1929 at the University of Nebraska.
Hunt was interested in psychoanalysis. For his master's thesis, Hunt wanted to discuss the personality traits of extraversion and introversion, which were described by William McDougal, but after reading the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Hunt became convinced of the importance of early life experiences in shaping one's personality. Additionally, Hunt had the opportunity to test the intelligence of children at the Nebraska Home for Dependent Children, which proved to be important in his later work on the development of child intelligence.
Hunt completed his MA in 1930 and then became an assistant instructor at his alma mater for one year. Hunt then completed his doctoral degree at Cornell University under the supervision of Madison Bentley, who was a student of Edward Bradford Titchener. Hunt received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1933. Hunt also completed postdoctoral fellowships at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Worcester State Hospital. He also received a D.Sc. from Brown University.
As an assistant instructor at the University of Nebraska, Hunt directed the laboratory experiences for introductory psychology students and taught a course on psychological testing. He was asked to be an instructor of psychology at Brown University, which Hunt accepted in 1936. Hunt was a professor at Brown for 10 years and during this time researched experimental psychopathology and Freudian concepts in animals. This is also where he became familiar with the work of Jean Piaget.
A notable collaboration at Brown was with Harold Schlosberg, in which they attempted to induce neuroses in hoarding rats. They found that the rats that were given unlimited food supply did not hoard their food as adults, whereas the rats that were fed irregularly did hoard their food as adults. These findings implied the importance of early life experience in shaping adult behavior.
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J. McVicker Hunt
Joseph McVicker Hunt (March 19, 1906 – January 9, 1991) was a prominent American educational psychologist and author. He promoted and researched concepts related to the malleable nature of child intelligence (also promulgated by Benjamin Bloom). That work eventually led to the theory of learning centered on the concept of the information processing system.
Joseph McVicker Hunt was born in Nebraska on March 19, 1906, to parents R. Sanford and Carrie Pearl Hunt, who were both University of Nebraska graduates. Hunt was an active student with interests in both academic and nonacademic areas such as sports.
Hunt enrolled in the University of Nebraska in the mid-1920s. He became president of the League of Industrial Democracy and Student Christian Association as well as participating in football and wrestling. He was also a writer for a newspaper and sold life insurance while in school to earn extra money.
Hunt had difficulty deciding on an undergraduate major, so he started with biology, and then moved to philosophy, economics, and sociology. His interest in psychology did not begin until his junior year, when Joy Paul Guilford returned to the University of Nebraska to direct the psychology laboratory. Hunt took advice from one of his sociology professors and enrolled in a course taught by Guilford who eventually asked him to complete graduate work in psychology. Hunt accepted and became a graduate student in 1929 at the University of Nebraska.
Hunt was interested in psychoanalysis. For his master's thesis, Hunt wanted to discuss the personality traits of extraversion and introversion, which were described by William McDougal, but after reading the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Hunt became convinced of the importance of early life experiences in shaping one's personality. Additionally, Hunt had the opportunity to test the intelligence of children at the Nebraska Home for Dependent Children, which proved to be important in his later work on the development of child intelligence.
Hunt completed his MA in 1930 and then became an assistant instructor at his alma mater for one year. Hunt then completed his doctoral degree at Cornell University under the supervision of Madison Bentley, who was a student of Edward Bradford Titchener. Hunt received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1933. Hunt also completed postdoctoral fellowships at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Worcester State Hospital. He also received a D.Sc. from Brown University.
As an assistant instructor at the University of Nebraska, Hunt directed the laboratory experiences for introductory psychology students and taught a course on psychological testing. He was asked to be an instructor of psychology at Brown University, which Hunt accepted in 1936. Hunt was a professor at Brown for 10 years and during this time researched experimental psychopathology and Freudian concepts in animals. This is also where he became familiar with the work of Jean Piaget.
A notable collaboration at Brown was with Harold Schlosberg, in which they attempted to induce neuroses in hoarding rats. They found that the rats that were given unlimited food supply did not hoard their food as adults, whereas the rats that were fed irregularly did hoard their food as adults. These findings implied the importance of early life experience in shaping adult behavior.