Editing James McKeen Cattell

{{Short description|American psychologist and educator (1860–1944)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = 
| image             = James McKeen Cattell.jpg
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1860|5|25|mf=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Easton, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1944|1|20|1860|5|25|mf=y}}
| death_place       = [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| residence         = 
| citizenship       = 
| nationality       = 
| ethnicity         = 
| field             = [[Psychology]], [[psychometrics]]
| work_institutions = [[University of Cambridge]]<br/>[[University of Pennsylvania]]<br/>[[Columbia University]]
| alma_mater        = [[Lafayette College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]]) <br/>[[University of Leipzig]] ([[PhD]])
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Wilhelm Wundt]]
| doctoral_students = [[Walter Dearborn]]<br>[[Harry L. Hollingworth]]<br>[[Shepherd Ivory Franz]]<br>[[Edward Thorndike]]<br>[[Edward Kellog Strong Jr.]]<br>[[John Dashiell]]
| known_for         = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| prizes            = 
| religion          = 
| footnotes         = 
| signature         = 
| module            = {{Infobox person |embed=yes
|father            = [[William Cassady Cattell]]
|spouse            = {{marriage|Josephine Owen|1888}}
|children          = 7, including [[Psyche Cattell|Psyche]]
}}
}}
'''James McKeen Cattell''' (May 25, 1860 – January 20, 1944) was the first professor of [[psychology]] in the United States, teaching at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] in [[Philadelphia]]. He was a long-time editor and publisher of scientific journals and publications, including ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'', and served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as [[Society for Science]] from 1921 to 1944.

At the beginning of Cattell's career, many scientists regarded psychology simply as a minor field of study, or as a [[pseudoscience]] like [[phrenology]]. Cattell helped establish psychology as a legitimate science, worthy of study at the highest levels of the academy. At the time of his death, ''[[The New York Times]]'' credited him as "the dean of American science."

Cattell was uncompromisingly opposed to American involvement in [[World War I]].<ref name="baron2006">{{cite web|url=http://www.psych.upenn.edu/history/cattelltext.htm|title=History: Cattell at Penn|author=Jonathan Baron|year=2006|access-date=2014-09-24}} Baron cites C. S. Gruber (1972), "Academic freedom at Columbia University: The case of James McKeen Cattell", ''AAUP Bulletin'', Autumn, pp. 297-305, with respect to Cattell's views on the war and place in the debate on academic freedom.</ref>  His public opposition to the draft led to his dismissal from his position at [[Columbia University]], which later led many American universities to establish [[academic tenure]] as a means of protecting unpopular beliefs.<ref name="baron2006"/>

==Early life and education==
Cattell was born in [[Easton, Pennsylvania]], on May 25, 1860, the eldest child of a wealthy and prominent family. His father, [[William Cassady Cattell]], a [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] minister, became president of [[Lafayette College]] in Easton shortly after James' birth.  In 1859, William Cattell married Elizabeth "Lizzie" McKeen; together, they shared Lizzie's substantial inheritance. James' uncle [[Alexander G. Cattell]] represented [[New Jersey]] in the [[United States Senate]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://memberscongress.lawi.us/alexander-gilmore-cattell/|title=Cattell, Alexander Gilmore|first=Edward|last=Smyth|date=March 18, 2015|access-date=March 23, 2020|archive-date=February 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205081504/https://memberscongress.lawi.us/alexander-gilmore-cattell/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Cattell entered Lafayette College in 1876 at the age of sixteen and graduated in four years with the highest honors. In 1883, the faculty at Lafayette awarded him an [[Master of Arts|M.A.]], again with highest honors. At Lafayette, Cattell spent most of his time devouring [[English literature]] and also showed a gift for [[mathematics]]. Cattell said [[Francis March]], a [[philology|philogist]], was a great influence during his time at Lafayette.<ref name=dab>{{Cite DAB|title=Cattell, James McKeen|year=1973|volume=Supplement Three (1941-1945)|author=Dorothy Ross}}</ref>

Cattell found his calling after arriving in [[Germany]] for doctoral studies, where he was supervised by [[Wilhelm Wundt]] at [[Leipzig University|University of Leipzig]]. He also studied under [[Hermann Lotze]] at the [[University of Göttingen]]. An essay on Lotze won Cattell a fellowship at [[Johns Hopkins University]] in [[Baltimore]].

In October 1882, Cattell left Germany for his fellowship in October 1882.<ref name=dab/> The fellowship was not renewed,<ref name=dab/> and Cattell returned to [[Leipzig]] the next year as Wundt's assistant.

The partnership between Wundt and Cattell proved highly productive; the two helped to establish the formal study of [[intelligence (trait)|intelligence]]. Under Wundt, Cattell became the first American to publish a dissertation in the field of [[psychology]]. The title of his German dissertation was ''Psychometrische Untersuchungen'' (''Psychometric Investigation''); it was accepted by the University of Leipzig in 1886. Cattell tried to explore the interiors of his own mind through the consumption of the then-legal drug [[hashish]]. Under the influence of this drug, Cattell once compared the whistling of a schoolboy to a [[orchestra|symphony orchestra]].

==Career==
===Academia===
After completing his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] with Wundt in Germany in 1886, Cattell took up a lecturing post at the [[University of Cambridge]] in England, and became a Fellow of [[St John's College, Cambridge|St. John's College]] at the University of Cambridge.<ref>{{acad|id=CTL886JM|name=Cattell, James McKeen}}</ref> He made occasional visits to the U.S., where he gave lectures at [[Bryn Mawr College]] in [[Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania]], and the [[University of Pennsylvania]] in [[Philadelphia]].

In 1889, he returned to the U.S. to become a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1891, he moved to [[Columbia University]], where he became department head of psychology, anthropology, and philosophy. In 1895, he was appointed president of the [[American Psychological Association]]. In 1888, he was elected as a member to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1888&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-07-07|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

From the beginning of his career, Cattell worked to establish psychology as a field as worthy of study as any of the hard physical sciences, such as chemistry or physics.  He believed that further investigation would reveal that intellect itself could be parsed into standard units of measurements. He also established the methods of Wilhelm Wundt and [[Francis Galton]], including mental testing, in the U.S.

In 1917, Cattell and English professor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana, grandson of [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]] and [[Richard Henry Dana Jr.]], were fired from Columbia University for opposing the United States’ conscription policy during [[World War I]].<ref>''[[Current Literature|Current Opinion]]'', November 1917, p.294</ref> He later sued the university and won an annuity. In 1921, he used the money that he gained from the settlement to start [[Harcourt Assessment|The Psychological Corporation]] to foster his interest in applied psychology. Because he was never able to really explain how psychologists apply their work, the organization failed until it was taken over by other psychologists who had experience in applied psychology. Towards the end of his life, Cattell edited and published journals. To help himself in the process, he created the Science Press Printing Company in order to produce his journals. He continued his work on journals until his death in 1944.

===Eugenicist beliefs===
Like many eminent scientists and scholars of the time, Cattell's thought was influenced by belief in [[eugenics]], defined as the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population, usually referring to human populations."<ref>"Eugenics", Unified Medical Language System (Psychological Index Terms), National Library of Medicine, 26 Sep. 2010.</ref> Cattell's belief in eugenics was heavily influenced by the research of [[Charles Darwin]], whose [[theory of evolution]] motivated Cattell's emphasis on studying “the psychology of [[individual differences]]”.<ref name="Benjamin">{{cite book |last=Benjamin |first=L.T. Jr. |author-link=Ludy T. Benjamin |year=1993 |title=A history of psychology in letters |location=Dubuque, IA |publisher=Wm. C. Brown |oclc=26931839 |isbn=978-0697129802 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpsychol0000benj }}</ref>

In connection with his eugenicist beliefs, Cattell's own research found that men of science were likely to have fathers who were clergymen or professors. Incidentally, Cattell's father was both.<ref name="Sokal">{{cite journal | last1 = Sokal | first1 = M. M. | year = 1980 | title = Science and James McKeen Cattell, 1894 to 1945 | journal = Science | volume = 209 | issue = 4452| pages = 43–52 | doi=10.1126/science.7025202 | pmid=7025202| bibcode = 1980Sci...209...43S }}</ref>

Cattell believed that he had “inherited ability", but he also credited the influence of his environment, saying "it was my fortune to find a birthplace in the sun. A [[germplasm]] fairly well compounded [good genes] met circumstances to which it was unusually fit to react”.<ref name="Sokal"/> Cattell's belief in eugenics even motivated him to offer his own children monetary gifts of $1,000 if they married the offspring of a university professor or academic professional.<ref name="Thorne">Thorne, B. M., Henley, T. (2001). ''Connections in the history and systems of psychology''.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin</ref>

===Mental tests===
Cattell's research on individual differences played a significant role in introducing and emphasizing the experimental technique and importance of methodology in experimentation in America.<ref name="Pillsbury">Pillsbury, W.B. (1947). ''Biographical Memoir of James McKeen Cattell 1860-1944. National Academy of the Sciences''. http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/cattell-james-m.pdf</ref> Cattell's design of mental tests were influenced by Wundt's definition of psychology in regards to the achievements of psychophysics and by Galton's view on the importance of the senses for judgement and intelligence.<ref name="doi.org">“Boeck, P.D., Gore, L. R., Gonzalez, T., & Martin, E. S. (2019). “An Alternative View on the Measurement of Intelligence and its History”. The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence, 47-74. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108770422.005</ref> Regarding the beginnings of his mental tests, in Leipzig, Cattell independently began to measure “simple [[mental processes]]”<ref name="Thorne"/>

Between 1883 and 1886, influenced by [[Francis Galton]],<ref name="doi.org"/> Cattell published nine articles on human [[reaction time]] rates and [[individual differences]].<ref name="Thorne"/> As a professor at the [[University of Pennsylvania]], Cattell administered a battery of ten tests to student volunteers, and for the first time introduced the term "mental tests" as a general term for his set of tests which included measures of sensation, using weights to determine just-noticeable differences, reaction time, [[human memory]] span, and rate of movement. There are two types of perspectives on measuring intelligence which are: 1.) Derived from Aristotle that asserts it is only through the identification of intelligence that its measurement becomes possible, through identification does not necessarily imply a definition 2.) all measurement is based on comparison and that different bases of comparison are possible.<ref name="doi.org"/><ref name="Thorne"/> When Cattell moved to Columbia University, the battery of tests became compulsory for all freshmen. Cattell believed that his mental tests were measuring intelligence; however, in 1901 [[Clark Wissler]], a student of Cattell, demonstrated that there was no [[Correlation|statistical relationship]] between scores on Cattell's tests and academic performance. The tests were finally rendered irrelevant with the development of [[Alfred Binet]]’s [[intelligence measurement]]s.<ref name="Thorne"/><ref name="Applied History">Applied History of Psychology/Models of Testing. Wikibooks. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Applied_History_of_Psychology/Models_of_Assessment</ref>

===Journals===
Cattell was well known for his involvement in creating and editing scientific journals. He was so involved in owning and publishing journals, that his research productivity declined. Along with [[James Mark Baldwin]], he co-founded the journal ''[[Psychological Review]]''.  He also acquired the journal ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' and, within five years of acquiring it, made it the official publication of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]].

In 1900, Cattell purchased ''Popular Science Monthly'' from [[D. Appleton & Company]]. In 1915, the title was purchased from him and became ''[[Popular Science]]''. He, in turn, founded and edited ''[[The Scientific Monthly]]'', which went to the subscribers of the old ''Popular Science Monthly'' as a substitute.<ref name="Pillsbury"/><ref name = "PSM Sep 1915">{{cite journal | last = Cattell | first = James McKeen | title = The Scientific Monthly and the Popular Science Monthly | journal = Popular Science Monthly | volume = 87 | issue = 3 | pages = 307–310 |date = September 1915| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QqUVAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA307}}</ref>

Cattell was the editor of ''Science'' for nearly 50 years. During that time, he did much to promote psychology as a science by seeing to it that empirical studies in psychology were prominently featured in the journal.<ref name="Thorne"/> On Cattell's editorship of ''Science'', [[Ludy T. Benjamin]] wrote "there is no denying that it significantly enhanced psychology’s visibility and status among the older sciences."<ref name="Benjamin"/>{{rp|56}}

===American Men of Science===
{{Further|American Men and Women of Science}}
In 1906, Cattell became the first compiler of ''[[American Men and Women of Science|American Men of Science]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title=American Men of Science |editor= Cattell, J. McKEEN |editor-link= James_McKeen_Cattell |place=New York |publisher=The Science Press |year= 1906|url=https://archive.org/details/americanmenofsci01catt/page/n5 |access-date=November 7, 2018 |via= Internet Archive }}</ref> Despite the name, two women, [[Grace Andrews (mathematician)|Grace Andrews]] and [[Charlotte Angas Scott]], were listed in this first edition of ''American Men of Science''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=Martha J.|title=American Women in Science:A Biographical Dictionary|year=1994|publisher=ABC-CLIO, Inc.|isbn=0-87436-740-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/americanwomenins00bail_0}}</ref>

===Skepticism===
Cattell was skeptical of [[paranormal]] claims and [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualism]]. He dismissed [[Leonora Piper]] as a fraud. He was involved in a debate over Piper with the psychologist [[William James]] in the ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' journal.<ref>Cattell, J. M. (1898). ''Mrs. Piper, the medium''. ''Science'' 7: 534-535.</ref><ref>James, W. (1898). ''Mrs. Piper, "the medium".'' ''Science'' 7: 640-641.</ref><ref>Cattell, J. M. (1898). ''Mrs. Piper, "the medium"''. ''Science'' 7: 641-642.</ref> He took issue with James's support for [[Parapsychology|psychical research]].<ref>Kimble, Gregory A; Wertheimer, Michael; White, Charlotte. (2013). ''Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology''. Psychology Press. p. 23. {{ISBN|0-8058-0620-2}}</ref> In a letter to James, Cattell wrote that the "[[Society for Psychical Research]] is doing much to injure psychology".<ref>Goodwin, C. James. (2015). ''A History of Modern Psychology''. Wiley. p. 154. {{ISBN|978-1-118-83375-9}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Cattell married Josephine Owen, the daughter of an English merchant, in 1888. Their seven children obtained their pre-college educations at home with their parents as instructors.  The whole family shared in Cattell's editorial work.<ref name=dab/> One daughter, [[Psyche Cattell]] (1893–1989), followed in her father's footsteps, establishing a small child psychology practice in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], and developing tests to assess the intelligence of infants.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cattell|first1=Psyche|title=The Measurement of Intelligence of Infants and Young Children|date=1940|publisher=The Psychological Corporation|location=New York, New York|edition=1st}}</ref>

==Death==
Cattell died at [[Lancaster General Hospital]] in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], on January 20, 1944, at age 83.<ref name="harrisburg">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76993369/dr-james-m-cattell-21-jan-1944-harri/ |title=Dr. James M. Cattell |page=3 |newspaper=Harrisburg Telegraph |date=21 January 1944 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2021-05-03}}</ref>

==Legacy==
The main street in the College Hill neighborhood of [[Easton, Pennsylvania]], home to [[Lafayette College]], Cattell's alma mater, is named after Cattell.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/wundt/opera/cattell/psymtrik/PSYMETUI.htm |last=Cattell |first=James McKeen |year=1886 |title=Psychometrische Untersuchungen}}
*{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/americanmenofsci03catt|title=American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory|first=James McKeen |last=Cattell|year=1921|edition=3rd|location=Garrison, New York|publisher=The Science Press}}
*{{cite journal |pmid=18348397 |doi=10.1177/0306312706075338 |year=2007 |author1=Godin |title=From eugenics to scientometrics: Galton, Cattell, and men of science |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=691–728 |journal=Social Studies of Science|s2cid=13166578 }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=15382378 |doi=10.1037/1093-4510.7.3.265 |year=2004 |author1=Whipple |title=Eminence revisited |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=265–96 |journal=History of Psychology}}
*{{cite journal |pmid=11624166 |doi=10.1080/000337900296281 |year=2000 |author1=Benschop |first2=D |title=In pursuit of precision: the calibration of minds and machines in late nineteenth-century psychology |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |journal=Annals of Science |last2=Draaisma|s2cid=37504910 }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=1556288 |doi=10.1037/0022-006X.60.1.7 |year=1992 |author1=Cattell |title=Retrospect: psychology as a profession. 1937 |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=7–8; discussion 9–15 |journal=Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology}}
*{{cite journal |pmid=7025202 |doi=10.1126/science.7025202 |year=1980 |author1=Sokal |title=Science and James McKeen Cattell, 1894 to 1945 |volume=209 |issue=4452 |pages=43–52 |journal=Science|bibcode=1980Sci...209...43S }}
*{{cite journal |pmid=4934276 |doi=10.1037/h0032048 |year=1971 |author1=Sokal |title=The unpublished autobiography of James McKeen Cattell |volume=26 |issue=7 |pages=626–35 |journal=The American Psychologist}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource author}}
{{commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100519071912/http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/author.htm#c James McKeen Cattell bibliography]
*[http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/references?id=per310 Short biography, bibliography, and links on digitized sources] in the [[Virtual Laboratory]] of the [[Max Planck Institute for the History of Science]]
*[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/cattell-james-m.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=39849| name=James McKeen Cattell}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=James McKeen Cattell}}
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{APA Presidents}}
{{Presidents of the American Society of Naturalists}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cattell, James}}
[[Category:1860 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century psychologists]]
[[Category:20th-century American psychologists]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:American skeptics]]
[[Category:Columbia University faculty]]
[[Category:Critics of parapsychology]]
[[Category:Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:American intelligence researchers]]
[[Category:Lafayette College alumni]]
[[Category:People from Easton, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Psychological Association]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Society of Naturalists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]