Forty Studies that Changed Psychology

1. Biology and Human Behavior.


One Brain or Two, Gazzaniga, M.S. (1967). The split brain in man.



More Experience = Bigger Brain? Rosenzweig, M.R., Bennett, E.L. & Diamond M.C. (1972). Brain changes in response to experience.



Are You a “Natural”? Bouchard, T., Lykken, D., McGue, M., Segal N., & Tellegen, A. (1990). Sources of human psychological difference: The Minnesota study of twins raised apart.



Watch Out for the Visual Cliff! Gibson, E.J., & Walk, R.D. (1960). The “visual cliff.”



2. Perception and Consciousness.


What You See Is What You've Learned. Turnbull C.M. (1961). Some observations regarding the experience and behavior of the BaMuti “Pygmies.”



To Sleep, No Doubt to Dream... Aserinsky, E. & Kleitman, N. (1953). Regularly occurring periods of eye mobility and concomitant phenomena during sleep. Dement W. (1960). The effect of dream deprivation.



Unromancing the Dream... Hobson, J.A. & McCarley, R.W. (1977). The brain as a dream-state generator: An activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process.



Acting as if You Are Hypnotized Spanos, N.P. (1982). Hypnotic behavior: A cognitive, social, psychological perspective.



3. Learning and Conditioning.


It's Not Just about Salivating Dogs! Pavlov, I.P.(1927). Conditioned reflexes.



Little Emotional Albert. Watson J.B. & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional responses.



Knock Wood. Skinner, B.F. (1948). Superstition in the pigeon.



See Aggression...Do Aggression! Bandura, A., Ross, D. & Ross, S.A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models.



4. Intelligence, Cognition, and Memory.


What You Expect Is What You Get. Rosenthal, R. & Jacobson, L. (1966). Teacher's expectancies: Determinates of pupils' IQ gains.



Just How are You Intelligent? H. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences.



Maps in Your Mind. Tolman, E.C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men.



Thanks for the Memories. Loftus, E.F. (1975). Leading questions and the eyewitness report.



5. Human Development.


Discovering Love. Harlow, H.F.(1958). The nature of love.



Out of Sight, but Not Out of Mind. Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child: The development of object concept.



How Moral are You? Kohlberg, L.., (1963). The development of children's orientations toward a moral order: Sequence in the development of moral thought.



In Control and Glad of It! Langer, E.J. & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting.



6. Emotion and Motivation.


A Sexual Motivation... Masters, W.H. & Johnson, V.E. (1966). Human sexual response.



I Can See It All Over Your Face! Ekman, P. & Friesen, V.W. (1971). Constants across cultures in the face and emotion.



Life, Change, and Stress. Holmes, T.H. & Rahe, R.H. (1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale.



Thoughts Out of Tune. Festinger, L. & Carlsmith, J.M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance.



7. Personality.


Are You the Master of Your Fate? Rotter, J.B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.



Masculine or Feminine or Both? Bem, S.L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny.



Racing Against Your Heart. Friedman, M. & Rosenman, R.H. (1959). Association of specific overt behavior pattern with blood and cardiovascular findings.



The One; The Many..., Triandis, H., Bontempo, R., Villareal, M., Asai, M. & Lucca, N. (1988). Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships.



8. Psychopathology.


Who's Crazy Here, Anyway? Rosenhan, D.L. (1973). On Being sane in insane places.



Learning to Be Depressed. Seligman, M.E.P., & Maier, S.F. (1967). Failure to escape traumatic shock.



You're Getting Defensive Again! Freud, A. (1946). The ego and mechanisms of defense.



Crowding into the Behavioral Sink. Calhoun, J.B. (1962). Population density and social pathology.



9. Psychotherapy.


Choosing Your Psychotherapist. Smith, M.L. & Glass, G.V. (1977). Meta-analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies.



Relaxing Your Fears Away. Wolpe, J. (1961). The systematic desensitization of neuroses.



Projections of Who You Are. Rorschach, H. (1942). Psychodiagnostics: A diagnostic test based on perception.



Picture This! Murray, H.A. (1938). Explorations in personality.



10. Social Psychology.


Not Practicing What You Preach. LaPiere, R.T. (1934). Attitudes and actions.



The Power of Conformity. Asch, S.E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure.



To Help or Not to Help. Darley, J.M. & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility.



Obey at Any Cost. Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience.