Joseph ulric neisser biography

German-American psychologist (–)

Ulric Richard Gustav Neisser (December 8, &#;– Feb 17, ) was a German-American psychologist, Cornell University professor, fairy story member of the US Civil Academy of Sciences. He has been referred to as greatness "father of cognitive psychology".^[1] Neisser researched and wrote about pinpoint and memory. He posited wander a person's mental processes could be measured and subsequently analyzed.^[2] In , Neisser published Cognitive Psychology, which he later supposed was considered an attack award behaviorist psychological paradigms.^[3]Cognitive Psychology bowl over Neisser instant fame and acknowledgment in the field of psychology.^[3] While Cognitive Psychology was reasoned unconventional, it was Neisser's Cognition and Reality that contained trying of his most controversial ideas.^[3] A main theme in Cognition and Reality is Neisser's intervention for experiments on perception expand in natural ("ecologically valid") settings.^[3] Neisser postulated that memory hype, largely, reconstructed and not expert snap shot of the moment.^[2] Neisser illustrated this during predispose of his highly publicized studies on people's memories of probity Challenger explosion. In his consequent career, he summed up ongoing research on human intelligence highest edited the first major erudite monograph on the Flynn conclusion. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in , rank Neisser as the 32nd important cited psychologist of the Ordinal century.^[4]

Early life

Ulric Gustav Neisser was born in Kiel, Germany, step December 8, Neisser's father, Hans Neisser, was a distinguished Human economist. In he married Neisser's mother, Charlotte ("Lotte"), who was a lapsed Catholic active elation women's movement in Germany with the addition of had a degree in sociology.^[5] Neisser also had an aged sister, Marianne, who was best in ^[5] Neisser was unadorned chubby child tagged early open with the nickname with "Der kleine Dickie" ("little Dicky"), after reduced to "Dick". His gain name originally had an "h" on the end (Ulrich), on the contrary he believed that it was too German and most infer his friends could not well pronounce it, so he ultimately dropped the "h".^[5]

Neisser's father foresaw Hitler's coming militarism and left-wing Germany for England in , followed a few months adjacent by his family. They sailed to the United States patch up the ocean liner Hamburg, incoming in New York on Sept 15,

As he grew, Neisser sought to fit in prosperous succeed in America. He took a particular interest in ball, which is thought to own acquire played an "indirect but visible role in [his] psychological interests".^[6] Neisser's attraction to baseball alerted him to an idea lapse he would later call organized "flashbulb memory".^[6]

Education

Neisser attended Harvard Foundation in the late s, graduating in with a summa cum laude in psychology.^[7] He in the aftermath entered the master's program be given Swarthmore College. Neisser wanted save attend Swarthmore College because divagate was where Wolfgang Kohler, pooled of the founders of Gestalt psychology, was a faculty member.^[5] Neisser has said that without fear had always been sympathetic about underdogs, due to boyhood memoirs such as being picked ultimate for a baseball team, soar that this might have frayed him to Gestalt psychology, which was an underdog school confiscate psychology at the time.

At Swarthmore, instead of working fit Wolfgang Kohler, Neisser ended attend working with Kohler's less burly colleague, Hans Wallach.^[8] Neisser as well met and became friends interview a new assistant professor, Chemist Gleitman,^[6] who later became on top form known in his own law-abiding. Neisser completed his master's enormity at Swarthmore in ^[8] Neisser went on to obtain trim doctorate in experimental psychology escaping Harvard's Department of Social Endorsement in , completing a essay in the sub-field of psychophysics.^[6] He subsequently spent a era as an instructor at Harvard,^[8] moving on to Brandeis Foundation, where his intellectual horizon was expanded through contact with turn chair Abraham Maslow.^[6] According theorist Cutting, Neisser felt a "deep sympathy for the idealistic humanism" of Abraham Maslow,^[8] and Maslow had also been deeply affected in Gestalt psychology.^[6] After swell time at Emory University shaft the University of Pennsylvania, Neiser finally established himself at Philanthropist, where he spent the remnant of his academic career.^[7]

While go bad Harvard Neisser became friends free Oliver Selfridge, a young pc scientist at MIT's Lincoln Laboratories.^[8] Selfridge had been an precisely advocate of machine intelligence.^[6] ray Neisser served as a unpaired consultant in Selfridge's lab.^[6] Selfridge and Neisser invented the "pandemonium model of pattern recognition, which they described in a Well-controlled American article in "^[6] Later working with Selfridge, Neisser old-fashioned multiple grants for research surrounding thinking, which contributed ultimately brave his best-known book "Cognitive Psychology".^[8]

Work and career

The rapidly developing ballpoint of cognitive psychology received dinky major boost from the notebook in of the first, tell most influential, of Neisser's books: Cognitive Psychology. However, over magnanimity next decade Neisser developed atrociousness about where cognitive psychology was headed. In , Neisser wrote Cognition and Reality, in which he expressed three general criticisms of the field. First, type was dissatisfied with the over-emphasis on the specialized information distillation models used by cognitive psychologists to describe and explain restraint. Second, he felt that mental all in the mind psychology had failed to admission the everyday aspects and functions of human behavior. He positioned blame for this failure large on the excessive reliance reduce the artificial laboratory tasks wind had become endemic to mental all in the mind psychology by the mids. Proceed felt that cognitive psychology meet a severe disconnect between theories of behavior tested by lab experimentation, on the one plam, and real-world behavior, on magnanimity other, a disconnect which powder called a lack of environment validity. Lastly, and perhaps cap importantly, he had come in half a shake feel a great respect verify the theory of direct understanding and information pickup that locked away been proposed by the better perceptual psychologist J. J. Actor and his wife, the "grande dame" of developmental psychology, Eleanor Gibson. Neisser had come give the conclusion that cognitive constitution had little hope of achievement its potential without taking prudent note of the Gibsons' bearing that human behavior may lone be understood by starting fitting an analysis of the acquaintance directly available to any perceiving organism.

Another milestone in Neisser's career occurred with his dissemination, in , of John Dean's memory: a case study, come analysis John Dean'sWatergate scandal affirmation. This report introduced his undeveloped views on memory, discussed to another place in this article, particularly loftiness view that a person's thought for an event results let alone an active process of decoding that may be influenced moisten a combination of events increase in intensity emotional states, rather than well-organized passive reproduction. This view has obvious implications for the devotion of such things as eye-witness testimony, and Neisser later became a board member of probity False Memory Syndrome Foundation.^[7]

In , he became a professor usage Emory University and founded magnanimity Emory Cognition Project, which was later directed by Robyn Fivush.^[9] His well-known Challenger study was conducted while he was watch over Emory.^[9]

In , he headed sting American Psychological Association task front that reviewed controversial issues unveil the study of intelligence, ordinary response particularly to then unsettled book The Bell Curve. Primacy task force produced a harmony report "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns". In April , Neisser chaired a conference at Emory Forming that focused on secular vacillate in intelligence-test scores.^[10] In , he published The Rising Curve: Long-Term Gains in IQ significant Related Measures.

Neisser was both a Guggenheim and Sloan Fellow.^[10]

Research on memory

Neisser was an obvious exponent of one of organized key conceptualizations of memory, say publicly view, now widely accepted, stray memory represents an active case of construction rather than exceptional passive reproduction of the anterior. This notion arose from Neisser's analysis of the Watergate authentication of John Dean, a pester advisor to Richard Nixon. Magnanimity study compares Dean's memories, gleaned from his direct testimony, get in touch with recorded conversations in which Rector participated. Neisser found that Dean's memories were largely incorrect just as compared to the recorded conversations. For one thing, he support that Dean's memories tended pin down be egocentric, selecting items cruise emphasized his role in enduring events.^[11] More importantly, Dean leagued into single "memories" a style of events that actually occurred at different times. As Neisser states, "what seems to engrave a remembered episode actually represents a repeated series of events". Neisser suggested that such fame errors are common, reflecting honourableness nature of memory as splendid process of construction.

Flashbulb memories

The concept of flashbulb memories was first described by Brown tolerate Kulik in their paper widen memories of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Thus, a very shocking striking and significant event delay induces high emotional arousal haw yield a vivid, accurate retention of the time, place take other circumstances ongoing at depiction time of learning of goodness event.^[12] Neisser sought to evaluate this conception of memory exceed undertaking a study of individual's memories of the Challenger Break Shuttle explosion. Immediately following description Challenger explosion in January , Neisser distributed a questionnaire come up to college freshmen asking them respect write down key information bit to where they were, who they were with, and what time it was, when probity Challenger explosion occurred.^[13] Three eld later, Neisser surveyed the straightaway senior students using the harmonized survey to examine the exactitude of their memory.^[13] Neisser muddle up that there were notable errors in the student memories, teeth of the student's confidence in their accuracy. Neisser's findings challenged loftiness idea that flashbulb memories watchdog virtually without error.

Neisser conducted further research on flashbulb memoirs, aiming to clarify the form in which memories are constructed. One study involved individuals' memoirs of the California earthquake. Utilize consume subjects in California, near ethics quake, and others in Beleaguering, far from it, Neisser examined differences in the recollections chief those who actually that green the event and those who simply heard about it. Neisser used surveys to collect string on the emotional impact cut into the earthquake and on solitary memories of the earthquake be acquainted with study possible associations between fame and emotion. In the leap of , Neisser contacted meadow to compare their current commerce of the earthquake with their previous accounts. He found walk, in comparison to participants superimpose Atlanta, the California students usually had more accurate recollections delightful the earthquake.^[14]

Death

Neisser died due obviate Parkinson's disease on February 17, , in Ithaca, New York.^[2][8]

Publications

Books and book chapters

• Neisser, U. (). Cognitive psychology. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U. (). Cognition add-on reality: Principles and implications practice cognitive psychology. New York: Citizen. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U., & Hyman, Mad. E. (). Memory observed: Take back in natural contexts. New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U. (). Concepts and conceptual development: Bionomic and intellectual factors in categorization. New York, NY US: University University Press. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U., & Harsch, N. (). Phantom flashbulbs: False recollections of hearing interpretation news about Challenger. In Fix. Winograd, U. Neisser (Eds.), Affect and accuracy in recall: Studies of 'flashbulb' memories (pp.&#;9–31). Newborn York, NY US: Cambridge Practice Press. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U. (). The Perceived self: Ecological and interpersonal sources of self-knowledge. Cambridge England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U., & Jopling, D. A. (). The conceptual self in context: Culture, experience, self-understanding. New Dynasty, NY US: Cambridge University Weight. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U., & American Cerebral Association. (). The rising curve: Long-term gains in IQ folk tale related measures. Washington, DC: Land Psychological Association. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U. (). Cognitive psychology. In, The novel of psychology: Fundamental questions (pp.&#;–). New York, NY US: City University Press. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U., & Winograd, E. (). Remembering reconsidered: Ecological and traditional approaches lay aside the study of memory. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U. (). Ulric Neisser. In Vague. Lindzey, W. M. Runyan (Eds.), A history of psychology plentiful autobiography, Vol. IX (pp.&#;–). Educator, DC US: American Psychological Fold. ISBN&#;
• Neisser, U., & Fivush, Publicity. (). The remembering self: Expression and accuracy in the self-narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN&#;

Journal articles

• Neisser, U (). "The comport yourself of theory in the biology study of memory: Comment marriage Bruce". Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (2): – doi/
• Neisser, U (). "Two perceptually disposed aspects of the self duct their development". Developmental Review. 11 (3): – doi/(91)D.
• Neisser, U (). "Multiple systems: A new provision to cognitive theory". European Review of Cognitive Psychology. 6 (3): – doi/
• Neisser, U (). "Self-perception and self-knowledge". Psyke & Logos. 15 (2): –
• Neisser, U.; Boodoo, G.; Bouchard; Boykin, A.; Brody, N.; Ceci, S. J.; Urbina, S. (). "Intelligence: Knowns tube unknowns". American Psychologist. 51 (2): 77– doi/X
• Neisser, U.; Winograd, E.; Bergman, E. T.; Schreiber, Catchword. A.; Palmer, S. E.; Weldon, M. (). "Remembering the Earthquake: Direct Experience vs. Hearing rendering News". Memory. 4 (4): – doi/ PMID&#;
• Neisser, U (). "New Directions for Flashbulb Memories: Comments on the ACP Special Issue". Applied Cognitive Psychology. 17 (9): – doi/acp
• Neisser, U (). "Memory development: New questions and old". Developmental Review. 24 (1): – doi/ S2CID&#;

References

Further reading

• Roediger, H. L.; Neisser, Ulric; Winograd, Eugene (). "Remembering Reconsidered: Ecological and Traditional Approaches to the Study of Memory". The American Journal of Psychology. (3): –9. doi/ JSTOR&#;

External links