Forty Studies that Changed Psychology

1    Biology and Human Behavior  

One Brain or Two?  

Gazzaniga, M. S. (1967). The split brain in man. Scientific American, 217(2), 24—29.

More Experience = Bigger Brain 

Rosenzweig, M. R., Bennett, E. L., & Diamond, M. C. (1972). Brain changes in response to experience. Scientific American, 226(2), 22—29.

Are you A “Natural?” 

Bouchard, T., Lykken, D., McGue, M., Segal, N., & Tellegen, A. (1990). Sources of human psychological differences: The Minnesota study of twins reared apart. Science, 250, 223—229.

Watch Out For The Visual Cliff! 

Gibson, E. J., & Walk, R. D. (1960). The “visual cliff.” Scientific American, 202(4), 67—71.

 

2.    Perception and Consciousness 

TAKE A LONG LOOK . . .  

 Fantz, , R.L., (1961). The origin of form perception. Scientific American, 204(May), 61-72.

 To Sleep, No Doubt to Dream...

Aserinsky, E., & Kleitman, N. (1953). Regularly occurring periods of eye mobility and concomitant phenomena during sleep. Science, 118, 273—274.

Dement, W. (1960). The effect of dream deprivation. Science, 131, 1705—1707.

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. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 1335—1348.

Acting as if you are Hypnotized  

Spanos, N. P. (1982). Hypnotic behavior: A cognitive, social, psychological perspective. Research Communications in Psychology, Psychiatry, and Behavior, 7, 199—213.

 

3       Learning  

It’S Not Just About Salivating Dogs!  

Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned reflexes. London: Oxford University Press.

Little Emotional Albert 

Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1—14.

Knock Wood! 

Skinner, B. F. (1948). Superstition in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38, 168—172.

See Aggression...Do Aggression! 

Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575—582.

 

4       Intelligence, Cognition, and Memory  

What You Expect Is What You Get 

Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1966). Teachers’ expectancies: Determinates of pupils’ IQ gains. Psychological Reports, 19, 115—118.

Just How Are You Intelligent?  

Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Maps In Your Mind  

Tolman, E. C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55, 189—208.

Thanks For The Memories!  

Loftus, E. F. (1975). Leading questions and the eyewitness report. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 560—572.

 

5       Human Development  

Discovering Love  

Harlow, H. F. (1958). The nature of love. American Psychologist, 13, 673—685.

Out Of Sight, But Not Out Of Mind  

Piaget, J. (1954). The development of object concept: The construction of reality in the child (pp. 3—96). New York: Basic Books.

How Moral Are You?   

Kohlberg, L. (1963). The development of children’s orientations toward a moral order: Sequence in the development of moral thought. Vita Humana, 6, 11—33.

In Control And Glad Of It!  

Langer, E. J., & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 191—198.

 

6       Emotion And Motivation  

A Sexual Motivation... 

Masters, W. H., & Johnson, V. E. (1966). Human sexual response. Boston: Little, Brown.

I Can See It All Over Your Face!  

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1971). Constants across cultures in the face and emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 17, 124—129.

Life, Change, And Stress  

Holmes, T. H., & Rahe, R. H. (1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213—218.

Thoughts Out Of Tune  

Festinger, L., & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 203—210.

 

7       Personality  

Are You The Master Of Your Fate?  

Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80, 1—28.

Masculine or Feminine...or Both?  

Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155—162.

Racing Against Your Heart  

Friedman, M., & Rosenman, R. H. (1959). Association of specific overt behavior pattern with blood and cardiovascular findings. Journal of the American Medical Association, 169, 1286—1296.

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. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 323—338.

 

8       Psychopathology  

Who’s Crazy Here, Anyway?  

Rosenhan, D. L. (1973). On being sane in insane places. Science, 179, 250—258.

You’Re Getting Defensive Again!  

Freud, A. (1946). The ego and the mechanisms of defense. New York: International Universities Press.

Learning to be Depressed  

Seligman, M. E. P., & Maier, S. F. (1967). Failure to escape traumatic shock. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74, 1—9.

Crowding into the Behavioral Sink  

Calhoun, J. B. (1962). Population density and social pathology. Scientific American, 206(3), 139—148.

 

9       Psychotherapy  

Choosing your Psychotherapist  

Smith, M. L., & Glass, G. V. (1977). Meta-analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies. American Psychologist, 32, 752—760.

Relaxing Your Fears Away  

Wolpe, J. (1961). The systematic desensitization treatment of neuroses. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 132, 180—203.

Projections of Who You Are  

Rorschach, H. (1942). Psychodiagnostics: A diagnostic test based on perception. New York: Grune & Stratton.

Picture This!  

Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in personality (pp. 531—545). New York: Oxford University Press.

 

10     SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY  

A PRISON BY ANY OTHER NAME . . .   

Zimbardo, P.G. (1972). The pathology of imprisonment. Society, 9(6). 4-8.

The Power Of Conformity  

Asch, S. E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, 193(5), 31—35.

To Help Or Not To Help  

Darley, J. M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 377—383.

Obey At Any Cost?  

Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 371—378.