Psychology Testing Movement: The Contributions of Women
Psychological Testing Movement: The Contributions of Women
Robin Kelly-Dunton
California State University, Sacramento
In investigating the origins of the Psychological testing movement what I found most fascinating is the originality, strength, brilliance, and sheer talent of the women whom contributed to this era. It was interesting to find out the key roles different women played in the shaping of testing, development and applied methods in psychological test.
A prime example of the various contributions women made to the testing movement is the Draw-A-Man Test also referred to as the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (Schultz, 2012 p.172) which was developed by Florence Goodenough who received her doctorate from Stanford University in the early twentieth century. The test design was essential in assessing the intelligence quotients for children. What made this IQ examination unique is that it presented a non-verbal format in which children could identify and respond to even with their limited language ability. Goodenough’s reputation certainly surpassed her name in that she perform exceptional work at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota for over twenty years and during this time she published a detailed review of the psychological testing movement and several books on child psychology.
Another unique women of this period was Thelma Gwinn Thurstone who because of the discrimination of the era was forced to work on her husbands L.L. Thurstone’s projects because any published work by her would be dismissed by the zeitgeist of the day. What I found amazing was that she actually helped develop the Primary Mental Abilities test battery, which was a group of intelligence test and she went on to become a professor of education at the University of North Carolina and director of the Psychometric laboratory their. In fact, when her husband commented on her abilities he was sure to call her a “genius in test
Robin Kelly-Dunton
California State University, Sacramento
In investigating the origins of the Psychological testing movement what I found most fascinating is the originality, strength, brilliance, and sheer talent of the women whom contributed to this era. It was interesting to find out the key roles different women played in the shaping of testing, development and applied methods in psychological test.
A prime example of the various contributions women made to the testing movement is the Draw-A-Man Test also referred to as the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (Schultz, 2012 p.172) which was developed by Florence Goodenough who received her doctorate from Stanford University in the early twentieth century. The test design was essential in assessing the intelligence quotients for children. What made this IQ examination unique is that it presented a non-verbal format in which children could identify and respond to even with their limited language ability. Goodenough’s reputation certainly surpassed her name in that she perform exceptional work at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota for over twenty years and during this time she published a detailed review of the psychological testing movement and several books on child psychology.
Another unique women of this period was Thelma Gwinn Thurstone who because of the discrimination of the era was forced to work on her husbands L.L. Thurstone’s projects because any published work by her would be dismissed by the zeitgeist of the day. What I found amazing was that she actually helped develop the Primary Mental Abilities test battery, which was a group of intelligence test and she went on to become a professor of education at the University of North Carolina and director of the Psychometric laboratory their. In fact, when her husband commented on her abilities he was sure to call her a “genius in test
Bibliography: Schultz, D.P & Schultz, S.E. (2012). A HISTORY OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY: Belmont, Ca.: Wadsworth.