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Arch. Neurol.& Psychiatry, 1940, 43, 421-438 2
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George Humphrey (1889-1966) BA, Oxford (1912) University of Leipzig with Wilhelm Wundt Taught classics at St. Francis Xavier University - in Nova Scotia (1916-1918) PhD, Harvard (1920) Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wesleyan University (1920-1924) The Story of Man s Mind (1923) Charlton Professor of Psychology, in the Philosophy Department, Queen s University, Ontario (1924-1947) The Nature of Learning (1933) Hired Donald O. Hebb (1939) First Professor of Psychology, Oxford University (1947-1956) Thinking (1951) Died at Cambridge, England (1966) 7
Everything Began with WWII 8
Queen s University, 1939-1942; war research 9
1940-1942, Editor, Bulletin of the CPA 10
Points raised in this paper: 1. Brain lesions have different effects on verbal abilities and performance abilities. 2. In any test performance there are two factors involved: one factor being present intellectual power, of the kind essential to normal intellectual development; the other being the lasting changes of perceptual organization and behavior induced by the first factor during the period of development. Roughly, the one concerns power of reasoning, of synthesis and invention; the other skill (that is, a factor due to experience). 3. (a) Early lesions will tend to produce low scores in both Binet and performance-test tasks, regarding the Binet as predominantly a level-of-development index, the performance test predominantly as a present-level index. (b) When the lesion occurs in the middle of the developmental period, or is of increasing severity during growth, the test score pattern would approach that found in adult deterioration, with Binet and vocabulary indices relatively high. 11
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Cattell s addition re: Hebb 15
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Yerkes Labs, Florida, 1947 23
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J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1952, 45, 322-8. 25
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1. Rat HW Maze - H.E. Rosvold 2. Environmental enrichment - D.G. Forgays 3. Emotional differences in dogs - H. Mahut 4. Mouse Behaviour Genetics - W.R. Thompson 5. Neural basis of behaviour - P. Milner, J. Olds The Organization of Behavior 6. Neuropsychology - B. Milner 7. Perceptual isolation - W.H. Bexton, W. Heron 8. Human perception and learning - P. Bryden 9. Human thought - Hebb 10. Education for research - Hebb 11. CPA & APA involvement 12. Research grant agencies - DRB, NRC 34
Left to Right Ben Doan Helen Mahut Peter Milner Jim Olds G.Rolfe Morrison Richard Stennet Seth Sharpless Donald O.Hebb Caltech Dalhousie University Northeastern University McGill University McMaster University Student of Malmo on EEG & Arousal University of Colorado, Boulder McGill University 35
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Development of Scientific Research Capacity in Canada: 3. Operations Research: Psychology and the Defence Research Board Nelson W. Morton, 1910-1976 1933 PhD in Psychology, McGill 1939 Development of M-test 1940-45 Canadian Army 1947 DRB Operations Research 1947 NRC Psychology Committee 1951 President of CPA 43
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Contract X-38. In September 1951, Hebb was awarded contract number DRB X-38: "To determine the specific conditions of limitation of subject's field of perception and action which when coupled with subsequent suggestion will effect persistent changes in attitudes of some fundamental importance." 45
Hebbs research classified SECRET. Hebb, Heron and Bexton (1952) presented a paper on The effect of isolation upon attitude, motivation and thought at the Fourth Symposium on Military Medicine in Montreal. This report was classified SECRET and has not been published. 46
Hebb begs to publish On 2 November 1953, Hebb begged Morton to declassify his research on project X-38 and allow him to report on it in public. Later, DRB permission was given to present some of the X-38 data in public. Heron, Bexton and Hebb (1953) presented a paper on Cognitive effects of a decreased variation in the sensory environment at the American Psychological Association Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio and this paper was published in 1954 Hebb also published a paper on Experimental deafness in 1954. 47
The Final Report on X-38: 1955. Hebb and Heron (1955) submitted their final report on project X-38 entitled Effects of Radical Isolation Upon Intellectual Function and the Manipulation of Attitudes. This report was edited by a DRB Scientific Advisor and finalized as Report No. HR63 in October 1955. It was classified SECRET, and was not declassified until 2005. The DRB gave the report wide circulation to the British and American military. 48
Enter the CIA: 1955 In 1955 the CIA project ARTICHOKE took an interest in Hebb's work. In a memior of 21 March 1955, Hebb's work was discussed, but they wanted to use these techniques for military intelligence. The CIA seemed to know little about Hebb's work at this time. 49
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Scientific American Article, 1957. First Diagrams of Perceptual Isolation Room 52
Globe and Mail, Saturday 17 Nov. 2007 53
Conclusion Hebb s research on perceptual isolation was developed from his studies on environmental enrichment and restricted environments in animals. These were based on the theories presented in The Organization of Behaviour and led to his ideas on optimal arousal. Hebb, D.O. 1955. Psychological Review 62: 243-54. The DRB X-38 project was an application of these ideas to military problems during the Cold War. It is unfortunate that this research was later used for other means. But Hebb did NOT work for the CIA to develop torture methods. 54
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