APA Historical Database: Selected Entries

---

On June 5:

1757 — Pierre Cabanis was born. A French physician, Cabanis studied the physical nature of mental events. In 1795 he was asked to study whether a person was still conscious after being guillotined. He concluded that the answer was no.

1885 — Warder Clyde Allee was born. Allee's research focused on animal social behavior, including studies of crowding, cooperation, social facilitation, and dominance.

1887 — Ruth Fulton Benedict was born. Benedict was a cultural anthropologist whose writing on culture and personality has been important to psychologists. She presented evidence for cultural relativism in definitions of deviant behavior.

1907 — Alfred Binet and Thιodore Simon published Les Enfants Anormaux (Abnormal Children), "a practical guide for the admission of retarded children into special classes." The guide was based on Binet and Simon's experiences with pupil selection for the first French special education classes in Paris (1906) and included portions of the 1905 form of the Binet-Simon scale in its selection procedures.

1958 — Fritz Heider's book The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations was published.

1964 — Victor H. Vroom's book Work and Motivation was published.

1974 — The petition to create APA Division 36 (Psychologists Interested in Religious Issues; now called Psychology of Religion) was submitted. Virginia Staudt Sexton headed the petitioning group.

1981 — The first report of a case of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the United States was made by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Psychologists have actively studied behavioral, physiological, and attitudinal factors involved in AIDS transmission and personal and social responses to AIDS.

1984 — The petition to form APA Division 44 (Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian and Gay Issues) was filed. Stephen F. Morin was instrumental in creating Division 44.

1989 — Raymond Fowler began serving as Chief Executive Officer of the APA. His predecessor was Gary R. VandenBos.

1993 — The Council on Undergraduate Research, an interdisciplinary organization of science professors, added a Psychology Division at its national meeting. John Batson, of Furman University, was elected chair of the new division.

Choose Another Day
How to Cite This Page in APA Style