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1844 — The American Psychiatric Association was founded by 13 physicians at the Jones Hotel in Philadelphia. The organization was first called the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, became the American Medico-Psychological Association in 1894, and adopted its current name in 1913. Samuel B. Woodward was elected president at this meeting.
1893 — G. Stanley Hall's The Contents of Children's Minds on Entering School was published. This was one of the first American books on child psychology and was based on data from questionnaires given to children.
1909 — Arthur Benton was born. Benton has applied his studies of perceptual and cognitive deficits associated with brain lesion to neuropsychological assessment. The Benton Visual Retention Test is widely used in clinical settings. APA Distinguished Professional Contribution Award, 1978; American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal for Life Achievement in the Applications of Psychology, 1991.
1913 — Raymond J. McCall was born. McCall's contributions were in philosophical and clinical psychology, especially in phenomenological approaches to personality and psychotherapy. He was a founder of the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology (1980) and pivotal in the early growth of the Wisconsin Psychological Association.
1927 — Martin T. Orne was born. Orne is a psychological scientist and psychotherapist best known for his studies of hypnosis and demand characteristics in social psychology experiments. Orne has contended that the hypnotic state is not different from ordinary consciousness. APA Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology, 1986.
1929 — The Washington-Baltimore Branch of the APA, also known as the Psychological Group, first met at the Washington Child Research Center. Mandel Sherman was elected temporary chair and later became the first president of the group. This organization became the District of Columbia Psychological Association in 1946.
1962 — Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was published. Kuhn described revolutionary change in science as a social process of "paradigm shifts," not a product of the discovery of new facts.
1965 — The dedication ceremony of the APA headquarters building at 1200 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC, was held. The speaker was Donald F. Hornig, Special Assistant to President Johnson for Science and Technology. The central office staff began to move into portions of the building on October 1, 1964.
1966 — The California legislature made possession of LSD-25 illegal. The federal government soon followed suit in banning this psychoactive drug. In San Francisco and in New York City, the occasion was marked by a protest "be-in." Space does not permit a satisfactory description of a be-in.
1979 — In its ruling on Larry P. v. Wilson Riles, the U.S. District Court ruled that California's use of standardized intelligence testing in the schools was discriminatory and therefore illegal. The plaintiffs pointed out that testing resulted in a disproportionate number of African-American students being identified for classes for the educable mentally retarded.
1981 — The drug Xanax (alprazolam; Upjohn) was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Alprazolam is a benzodiazepine and is used as an antianxiety agent and as a sedative.
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