APA Historical Database: Selected Entries

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On June 21:

1880 — Arnold L. Gesell was born. Gesell undertook monumental work in establishing age norms for the physical and motor development of children. His "ages and stages" approach had great popular appeal for parents. He is believed to be the first person to have held the title school psychologist, serving the Connecticut State Board of Education from 1915 to 1919. The Gesell Institute of Child Development carries on Gesell's work.

1905 — Jean-Paul Sartre was born. Sartre's philosophy and plays were major conduits of twentieth century phenomenology and existentialism. His primary impact on psychology was that of existential psychoanalysis, a process of confronting individual values and choices described in Sartre's book Being and Nothingness (1943).

1966 — The chimpanzee named Washoe began her training in American Sign Language at the University of Nevada at Reno. Reno is the county seat of Washoe County. R. Allen Gardner and Beatrice Gardner conducted this research.

1982 — In deciding Blue Shield of Virginia v. McCready, The U.S. Supreme Court granted Carol McCready legal standing to sue Blue Shield of Virginia for treble damages for antitrust violations under the provisions of the Clayton Act. Blue Shield had denied McCready reimbursement for mental health services because she was a clinical psychologist, not a psychiatrist.

1987 — The first IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks, sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, began in San Diego, California. The topic of the meeting reflected the growing convergence of the fields of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, and neuropsychology.

1991 — The current APA logo was presented to the APA Board of Directors. The logo depicts an asymmetrical Greek letter psi, half drawn in angular lines and half in curves to represent the dual scientific and professional nature of psychology.

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