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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Robert Richardson Sears
| name = Robert Richardson Sears
|image = Robert Richardson Sears, 1940s.jpg
| image = Robert Richardson Sears, 1940s.jpg
|image_size = 250px
| image_size = 250px
|caption = Photograph of Sears from the 1940s
| caption = Photograph of Sears from the 1940s
|birth_date = August 31, 1908<ref name="AP1979"/>
| birth_date = August 31, 1908<ref name="AP1979"/>
|birth_place = [[Palo Alto, California|Palo Alto]], [[California]]<ref name="AP1979"/>
| birth_place = [[Palo Alto, California|Palo Alto]], [[California]], United States<ref name="AP1979"/>
|death_date = {{d-da|May 22, 1989|August 31, 1908}}<ref name="NYTObit"/>
| death_date = {{death-date and age|May 22, 1989|August 31, 1908}}<ref name="NYTObit"/>
|death_place = [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]], [[California]]<ref name="NYTObit"/>
| death_place = [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]], [[California]]<ref name="NYTObit"/>
|residence =
| residence =
|citizenship = [[United States|American]]
| field = [[Child psychology]]
⚫
| work_institutions = [[Stanford University]]
|nationality =
|ethnicity =
| alma_mater =
| thesis_title = A Neurological Study Of Conditioned Responses In Goldfish
|field = [[Child psychology]]
| thesis_url = https://search.library.yale.edu/catalog/14964149
⚫
|work_institutions = [[Stanford University]]
|alma_mater =
| thesis_year = 1932
|doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_advisor = [[Harold Saxton Burr]]
|doctoral_students =
| doctoral_students = [[Juliet Popper Shaffer]]
|known_for =
| prizes =
|influences = [[Clark Leonard Hull]]
| footnotes =
|influenced =
|prizes =
|religion =
|footnotes =
}}
}}


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| authorlink2 = Evelyn Lohr
| authorlink2 = Evelyn Lohr
| title = Current Biography Yearbook: Who's News and Why
| title = Current Biography Yearbook: Who's News and Why
| journal = Current Biography Yearbook : Annual Cumulation
| journal = Current Biography Yearbook: Annual Cumulation
| publisher = [[H. W. Wilson Company]]
| publisher = [[H. W. Wilson Company]]
| location = [[New York City|New York]]
| location = [[New York City|New York]]
| year = 1952
| year = 1952
| issn = 0084-9499
| issn = 0084-9499
| page = 522}}</ref> He received his [[Bachelor of Arts|''Artium Baccalaureus'']] degree from Stanford in 1929<ref name="BDMAE"/> and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph. D.]] from [[Yale University]] in 1932.<ref name="NYTObit"/> He was married on June 25, 1932 to [[Pauline Sears|Pauline Kirkpatrick Snedden]],<ref name="BDMAE"/> who co-authored a book with him and with whom he shared APA gold medal for achievement<ref name="BDWS">{{BDWS|1171||Sears, Pauline Sneddon (1908-1993)}}</ref> in psychology late in their lives.<ref name="AR">{{citation
| page = 522}}</ref> He received his [[Bachelor of Arts|''Artium Baccalaureus'']] degree from Stanford in 1929<ref name="BDMAE"/> and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph. D.]] from [[Yale University]] in 1932.<ref name="NYTObit"/> He was married on June 25, 1932, to [[Pauline Sears|Pauline Kirkpatrick Snedden]],<ref name="BDMAE"/> who co-authored a book with him and with whom he shared APA gold medal for achievement<ref name="BDWS">{{BDWS|1171||Sears, Pauline Sneddon (1908-1993)}}</ref> in psychology late in their lives.<ref name="AR">{{citation
| first1 = Nancy Felipe
| first1 = Nancy Felipe
| last1 = Russo
| last1 = Russo
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| title = Contributions of Women to Psychology
| title = Contributions of Women to Psychology
| volume = 38
| volume = 38
| publisher = [[Annual Reviews(publisher)|Annual Reviews]]
| publisher = [[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]]
| location = [[Palo Alto, California|Palo Alto]], [[California]]
| location = [[Palo Alto, California|Palo Alto]], [[California]]
| date = January 1987
| date = January 1987
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| page = 5592
| page = 5592
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mIozAAAAMAAJ
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mIozAAAAMAAJ
| lccn = 73603875}}</ref> Sears focused on the personalities of children and the different socialization pressure parents place on their child. He also said that the root of personalities in children stemmed from their family. Sears became the first person to have the child’s own parent present in the experiments conducted. He wrote two books, ''Patterns of Child Rearing'' (1957) and ''Identification and Child Rearing'' (1965), where he explained some of his findings on the personality of a child. Sears established many research centers and institutions that allowed students and colleagues to study more. One of Sears’ biggest achievements was founding the Bing Nursery School. This was a model preschool with a research facility for the child development unit at Stanford.
| lccn = 73603875}}</ref> Sears focused on the personalities of children and the different socialization pressure parents place on their child. He also said that the root of personalities in children stemmed from their family. Sears became the first person to have the child's own parent present in the experiments conducted. He wrote two books, ''Patterns of Child Rearing'' (1957) and ''Identification and Child Rearing'' (1965), where he explained some of his findings on the personality of a child. Sears established many research centers and institutions that allowed students and colleagues to study more. One of Sears' biggest achievements was founding the Bing Nursery School. This was a model preschool with a research facility for the child development unit at Stanford.


From 1949 until 1953 he directed the Laboratory of Human Development at the [[Harvard Graduate School of Education]].<ref name="committee" />
From 1949 until 1953 he directed the Laboratory of Human Development at the [[Harvard Graduate School of Education]].<ref name="committee" />
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In 1953 Sears returned to Stanford where he served as chair of the Psychology department until 1961, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences from 1961 to 1970, and [[David Starr Jordan]] Professor of Psychology from 1970 until 1975.<ref name="BDMAE" /> At Stanford, Sears did studies using the Terman sample of gifted children. He was very involved in follow-up studies of the group of gifted children that had begun by Lewis Terman in 1922. He had taken on the responsibility of working with these individuals after Terman's death in 1956. Sears found a national planning committee that investigated later maturity in these children. He said that the earlier records could predict development in the later years of life. He followed 700 people over 60 years. He did this with the help of his systematic recording that he created to capture large amounts of previously unexamined material and coded it. This was the first archive in the history of psychology. Many psychologists and researchers today use this method. Robert and his wife, Pauline, published a set of papers on the late-life careers of gifted children based on the Terman study. These papers were named, ''The Gifted in Later Maturity''.
In 1953 Sears returned to Stanford where he served as chair of the Psychology department until 1961, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences from 1961 to 1970, and [[David Starr Jordan]] Professor of Psychology from 1970 until 1975.<ref name="BDMAE" /> At Stanford, Sears did studies using the Terman sample of gifted children. He was very involved in follow-up studies of the group of gifted children that had begun by Lewis Terman in 1922. He had taken on the responsibility of working with these individuals after Terman's death in 1956. Sears found a national planning committee that investigated later maturity in these children. He said that the earlier records could predict development in the later years of life. He followed 700 people over 60 years. He did this with the help of his systematic recording that he created to capture large amounts of previously unexamined material and coded it. This was the first archive in the history of psychology. Many psychologists and researchers today use this method. Robert and his wife, Pauline, published a set of papers on the late-life careers of gifted children based on the Terman study. These papers were named, ''The Gifted in Later Maturity''.


Sears was president of the [[American Psychological Association]] in 1951.<ref name="BDMAE"/> He was elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1956 and the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Richardson Sears |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/robert-richardson-sears |access-date=2022-11-17 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Robert+Sears&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-11-17 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
Sears was president of the [[American Psychological Association]] in 1951.<ref name="BDMAE"/>


==Select works==
==Select works==
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{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


== External Links ==
== External links ==


* [https://historicalsociety.stanford.edu/publications/sears-robert-richardson Robert Richardson Sears: An Oral History], Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 1982.
* [https://historicalsociety.stanford.edu/publications/sears-robert-richardson Robert Richardson Sears: An Oral History], Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 1982.
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[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:American psychology writers]]
[[Category:American psychology writers]]
[[Category:Child psychologists]]
[[Category:American child psychologists]]
[[Category:Palo Alto High School alumni]]
[[Category:Palo Alto High School alumni]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
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[[Category:University of Illinois faculty]]
[[Category:University of Illinois faculty]]
[[Category:University of Iowa faculty]]
[[Category:University of Iowa faculty]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Harvard University Department of Psychology faculty]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Psychological Association]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Psychological Association]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:20th-century American psychologists]]
[[Category:APA Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology recipients]]

Latest revision as of 13:37, 2 September 2024

Robert Richardson Sears
Photograph of Sears from the 1940s
BornAugust 31, 1908[1]
Palo Alto, California, United States[1]
DiedMay 22, 1989 (1989-05-23) (aged 80)[2]
Menlo Park, California[2]
Scientific career
FieldsChild psychology
InstitutionsStanford University
ThesisA Neurological Study Of Conditioned Responses In Goldfish (1932)
Doctoral advisorHarold Saxton Burr
Doctoral studentsJuliet Popper Shaffer

Robert Richardson Sears (/sɪərz/; August 31, 1908[1] – May 22, 1989[2]) was an American psychologist who specialized in child psychology and the psychology of personality. He was the head of the psychology department at Stanford and later dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences there,[2] continued the long-term I.Q. studies of Lewis Madison Terman at Stanford,[3] and authored many pivotal papers and books on various aspects of psychology.

Early life

[edit]

He was born in Palo Alto, California to Jesse Brundage Sears, a professor at Stanford University, and Stella Louise (Richardson) Sears.[3] As a child Sears attended Palo Alto Union High School.[4] He received his Artium Baccalaureus degree from Stanford in 1929[3] and a Ph. D. from Yale University in 1932.[2] He was married on June 25, 1932, to Pauline Kirkpatrick Snedden,[3] who co-authored a book with him and with whom he shared APA gold medal for achievement[5] in psychology late in their lives.[6]

Professional life

[edit]

After leaving Yale, Sears was first an instructor in psychology at the University of Illinois from 1932 to 1936 and at the same time was a clinical psychologist at the Institute for Juvenile Research there. He returned to Yale as an associate professor of psychology in 1936 and remained there until 1942.[3]

From 1942 until 1949 he was director of the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station at the University of Iowa.[7] Sears focused on the personalities of children and the different socialization pressure parents place on their child. He also said that the root of personalities in children stemmed from their family. Sears became the first person to have the child's own parent present in the experiments conducted. He wrote two books, Patterns of Child Rearing (1957) and Identification and Child Rearing (1965), where he explained some of his findings on the personality of a child. Sears established many research centers and institutions that allowed students and colleagues to study more. One of Sears' biggest achievements was founding the Bing Nursery School. This was a model preschool with a research facility for the child development unit at Stanford.

From 1949 until 1953 he directed the Laboratory of Human Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.[7]

In 1953 Sears returned to Stanford where he served as chair of the Psychology department until 1961, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences from 1961 to 1970, and David Starr Jordan Professor of Psychology from 1970 until 1975.[3] At Stanford, Sears did studies using the Terman sample of gifted children. He was very involved in follow-up studies of the group of gifted children that had begun by Lewis Terman in 1922. He had taken on the responsibility of working with these individuals after Terman's death in 1956. Sears found a national planning committee that investigated later maturity in these children. He said that the earlier records could predict development in the later years of life. He followed 700 people over 60 years. He did this with the help of his systematic recording that he created to capture large amounts of previously unexamined material and coded it. This was the first archive in the history of psychology. Many psychologists and researchers today use this method. Robert and his wife, Pauline, published a set of papers on the late-life careers of gifted children based on the Terman study. These papers were named, The Gifted in Later Maturity.

Sears was president of the American Psychological Association in 1951.[3] He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1956 and the American Philosophical Society in 1962.[8][9]

Select works

[edit]
  • Frustration and aggression (1939, with John Dollard, Leonard William Doob, Neal Elgar Miller, Orval Hobart Mowrer, ISBN 0-313-22201-0)
  • Survey of objective studies of psychoanalytic concepts (1943, Social Science Research Council, ISBN 0-313-21249-X)
  • Patterns of child rearing (1957, Eleanor E. Maccoby, Harry Levin, Edgar L. Lowell, Pauline Snedden Sears, and John W. M. Whiting, Jean Berwick, ISBN 0-8047-0916-5)
  • Identification and child rearing (1966, Lucy Rau Ferguson, Ram Dass, ISBN 0-422-98500-7)
  • Seven Ages of Man (June 1973, S. Shirley Feldman, ISBN 978-0-913232-06-4)
  • Your ancients revisited: A history of child development (1975, ISBN 978-0-226-33154-6)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c No Authorship Indicated (1979), "Robert R. Sears: Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards for 1975.", American Psychologist, 31 (1), Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association: 59–64, doi:10.1037/h0078460, ISSN 0003-066X
  2. ^ a b c d e Narvaez, Alfonso A. (May 26, 1989), "Dr. Robert R. Sears, 80, Is Dead; Child Psychologist and Educator", The New York Times
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Sears, Robert Richardson", Biographical Dictionary of Modern American Educators, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997, p. 285, ISBN 978-0-313-29133-3, OCLC 36430647.
  4. ^ Rothe, Anna Herthe; Lohr, Evelyn (1952), "Current Biography Yearbook: Who's News and Why", Current Biography Yearbook: Annual Cumulation, New York: H. W. Wilson Company: 522, ISSN 0084-9499
  5. ^ Marilyn Ogilvie; Joy Harvey, eds. (January 1, 2000). "Sears, Pauline Sneddon (1908-1993)". The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science. Vol. 2. New York and London: Routledge. p. 1171. ISBN 978-0-415-92040-7.
  6. ^ Russo, Nancy Felipe; Denmark, Florence L. (January 1987), "Contributions of Women to Psychology", Annual Review of Psychology, 38, Palo Alto, California: Annual Reviews: 279–298, doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.38.020187.001431, ISSN 0066-4308
  7. ^ a b United States Congress Senate Committee on Finance (1969), Tax Reform Act of 1969: Hearings, Ninety-first Congress, First Session, on H.R. 13270: to Reform the Income Tax Laws. Sept. 4-Oct. 22, 1969, Washington, D.C.: G. P. O., p. 5592, LCCN 73603875, OCLC 29021
  8. ^ "Robert Richardson Sears". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  9. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
[edit]
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