Edwin G. Boring

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Edwin Garrigues Boring (October 23, 1886-July 1, 1968 is one of the first historians of psychology. He wrote several books on the subject.

Life

From 1924 to 1949 Boring was director of the psychological laboratory at Harvard University, where his goal became to free psychology from its status as a subsection of the Department of Philosophy. Boring was successful and established an independent Department of Psychology in 1934. He emphasized the use of the experimental method to investigate psychological questions rather than the tools of philosophy.

Among his studies on visual perception, Boring gave prominence to the ambiguous illusion depicting either a young woman or an old woman, which has often been referred to as the Boring Figure after the researcher.

He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1932.

He was president of the American Psychological Association in 1928.

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Preceded by: H.L. Hollingworth

Edwin G. Boring elected APA President 1928

Succeeded by: Karl Lashley

Publications

Books

• Boring, E. G. (1942). Sensation and perception in the history of experimental psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
• Boring, E. G. (1950). A history of experimental psychology (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• A History of Experimental Psychology (1929)
• The Physical Dimensions of Consciousness (1933)
• Boring, Edwin G.Review of Association Theory To-day: An Essay in Systematic Psychology.Psychological Bulletin.1933.Vol.30 No.6.
• Sensation and Perception in the History of Experimental Psychology (1942)
• Introduction to Psychology (1938)
• Sensation and perception in the history of experimental psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. (1942)
• Psychology for the Fighting Man (1943)
• Psychology for the Armed Services (1945)
• Foundations of Psychology (1948, with Herbert Langfeld and Harry Weld)
• A history of experimental psychology (1950)(2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• Psychologist at Large: an Autobiography and Selected Essays (1961)
• History, Psychology, and Science: Selected Papers (1963)
• A History of psychology in autobiography‎ -Psychology - 1967

Papers

• Boring, Edwin G. (1929). The psychology of controversy. Psychological Review, 36, 97-121. (1928 APA Presidential Address) Full text

• Boring, Edwin G. (1951). The woman problem. American Psychologist, 6, 679-682. Full text

External links

• Boring entry at the National Academy of Sciences
• Edwin G. Boring
• The History Channel: Boring
• Boring Revisionist essay
• Template:Findagrave