Episode 9. Larry Stern on James McConnell, the Unabomber, Robert Merton, and Woodstock

History of Psychology Show
History of Psychology Show
233 بار بازدید - 3 سال پیش - The History of Psychology ShowNotes
The History of Psychology Show
Notes to Episode 9. Larry Stern on James McConnell, the Unabomber, Robert Merton, & Woodstock

Posted 29 March 2021

MINUTES
00:00 - Show opening
00:15 - Introduction
01:26 - Who was James McConnell? "Cannibalistic" flatworms, Radio/TV writer,

5:05 - What did McConnell condition planaria to do?
6:10 - Psychological establishment's reaction to planaria memory research
     6:40 - Mention of James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA
     7:25 - Mention of Harry Harlow, famous for research on maternal "love" in monkeys
     7:35 - Mentions of Donald Hebb (McGill, "cell assemblies"),
                Gordon Bower (Stanford, neurological memory researcher),
                Karl Pribram (Georgetown, neuroscientist, "holographic brain" theory)
     8:05 - Mention of Richard Sperry (Nobel prize for medicine)
     8:30 - McConnell's sources of funding

10:05 - Worm Runner's Digest / Journal of Biological Psychology
     13:05 - Coverage in Newsweek magazine, high school science fairs
     14:25 - McConnell's science fiction stories.
     15:45 - Mention of B. F. Skinner (aka F. Galton Pennywhistle)
     16:15 - Satire of Freudian theory: "Nasal stage" of development.

18:40 - McConnell's personal background. Oklahoma, Louisiana, religion, navy (atomic bomb, Bikini Island), Louisiana State University (LSU), radio disc jockey, acting/speaking, TV writing, graduate school at U Texas, Karl Dallenbach.

23:30 - What became of the memory transfer research program? West coast excursion. Melvin (Mac) Calvin (1961 Nobel prize chemistry). Failure to show learning in flatworms. Conflicting disciplinary research cultures. Further efforts with rats, salamanders, mina birds,...
    29:50 - Mentions of Frank Rosenblatt (AI, perceptrons),
                 George Ungar (medical sleep researcher)
32:15 - Behavior modification, "brainwashing"
    34:15 - Another mention of Donald Hebb.
    35:00 - Psychology today article "Criminals can be brainwashed now."
                 Mention of Angela Davis (supporter of Black Panthers, famous professor)
36:30 - McConnell's popular and lucrative psychology textbook, "validation" from students
    36:40 - Mention of Ludy T. Benjamin, et al. (2007)
38:30 - McConnell's efforts to "gamify" education in the 1970s,
            Mentions of Bo Schembechler (coach of U Michigan football team 1969-1989)
            Tried to bring flight simulator technology to coaching: "Hercules project"
42:35 - The 1985 Unabomber (Ted Kaczynski) attack on McConnell
            (+ 15 other members of the American academy, 1978-1996. 3 killed, 23 injured)
            NOTE: Kaczynski had taken courses with psychologist Henry Murray at Harvard
            He is reported to have resented Murray's invasive teaching methods
            (see Barber, 2017).
45:15 - How Larry Stern became an FBI "person of interest" in the Unabomber case
            NOTE: Kaczynski arrested 3 April 1996, 11 years after McConnell attack
55:00 - Larry Stern's background. Brooklyn College. Columbia U. Robert Merton (eminent American sociologist of science), Harriet Zuckerman (eminent sociologist of science, chair of Columbia U. sociology dept., Senior Vice Pres. of Mellon Foundation).

58:00 - Most misunderstood aspects of Merton's position.
1:01:00 - The tale of Larry Stern at Woodstock, 1969.
1:06:45 - Parting shot from McConnell.
1:07:40 - Closing
1:08:03 - END


SOURCES

Barber, N. (2017, Nov 9). Is psychology responsible for the Unabomber? Psychology Today blog "The Human Beast." https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...

Benjamin, LT Jr., Whitaker, JL, Ramsey, RM, & Zeve, D. (2007). John B. Watson's alleged sex research: An appraisal of the evidence. American Psychologist, 62 (2), 131-139.

McConnell, James V., Jacobson, Allan J. & Kimble, Daniel P., (1959). The effects of regeneration upon retention of a conditioned response in the planarian. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 52(1), 1-5.

McConnell, James V., Jacobson, Reeva, & Maynard, D.M., (1959). Apparent retention of a conditioned response following total regeneration in the planarian. American Psychologist 14. 410.

Merton, RK. (1973). The Sociology of Science: Theoretical and empirical investigations. University of Chicago Press.

Stern, L. (2016). The reception of extraordinary scientific claims: The search for the elusive engram. In M. Levin & D.S. Adams (Eds.), Ahead of the Curve: Hidden Breakthroughs in the Biosciences, IOP Publishers.

-cdg, March 2021
3 سال پیش در تاریخ 1400/01/08 منتشر شده است.
233 بـار بازدید شده
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