Adelbert Ames Jr. (August 19, 1880 – July 3, 1955) was an American scientist who made contributions to
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
,
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...
,
ophthalmology
Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...
,
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
, and
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. He pioneered the study of physiological optics at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
, serving as a research professor, then as director of research at the Dartmouth Eye Institute. He conducted important research into aspects of
binocular vision Binocular vision is seeing with two eyes. The Field_of_view, field of view that can be surveyed with two eyes is greater than with one eye. To the extent that the visual fields of the two eyes overlap, #Depth, binocular depth can be perceived. Th ...
, including
cyclophoria and
aniseikonia
Aniseikonia is an ocular condition where there is a significant difference in the perceived size of images. It can occur as an overall difference between the two eyes, or as a difference in a particular meridian. If the ocular image size in both ...
. Ames is perhaps best known for constructing
illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Illusions may ...
s of
visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...
, most notably the
Ames room and the
Ames window. He was a leading light in the Transactionalist School of psychology and also made contributions to
social psychology
Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...
.
Formative years
Adelbert Ames Jr. was born on August 19, 1880, in
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
. His father,
Adelbert Ames, was a general in the
Union Army during the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
and
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
and
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
from
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
; his mother,
Blanche Butler Ames
Blanche Butler Ames (March 2, 1847 – December 26, 1939) was the wife of Adelbert Ames, a decorated general of the American Civil War and Senator and Governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction.
Blanche Butler was born in Lowell, Massachuset ...
, was the daughter of U.S. general
Benjamin F. Butler, a controversial military leader, politician, and unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. presidency. Apart from his military and administrative service, General Ames obtained several U.S. patents for pencil sharpeners and other mechanical devices. Ames' sister
Blanche Ames Ames
Blanche Ames Ames (February 18, 1878 – March 2, 1969) was an American artist, political activist, inventor, writer, and prominent supporter of women's suffrage and birth control.
Personal life
Born Blanche Ames in Lowell, Massachusetts, Am ...
was a woman's rights
suffragist
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...
, and his brother
Butler Ames was a politician and Army officer during the
Spanish–American War
The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
. His son, Adelbert Ames III (1921–2018), was the Charles Anthony Pappas Professor of Neuroscience, Emeritus, at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.
In research papers, Adelbert Ames Jr. is commonly cited as Adelbert Ames II, to prevent his being confused with his father or his son.
Ames attended
Philips Academy,
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...
, then went to
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
, where he earned a law degree, and where his most influential teachers were
George Santayana
George Santayana (born Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) was a Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised and educated in the Un ...
and
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...
(whose daughter he was also engaged to, but did not marry). After practicing law for a few years, Ames abandoned it to become a painter. For several years, while collaborating with his sister, Blanche Ames (who was also a painter), the two of them tried to determine if the quality of visual art could be improved by the scientific study of vision. Ames set about improving his knowledge of the
optical components
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...
of the eye, assuming that once he had mastered them, he would return to painting. As it was, his studies mastered him and Ames made vision his life's work.
Ames went to
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...
in 1914 to study physiological optics, making enough of an impression to be made one of the eighteen founding members of the
Optical Society of America
Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and ca ...
in 1916. When the U.S. entered
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1917, he served briefly as a captain in the aviation service, then as the overseer of a machine shop in which prototypes for instruments were developed. While in the army he continued his studies of optics, in part because one of the soldiers in that shop (with whom he became a friend and collaborator) was Charles Proctor, professor of physics at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
.
Dartmouth College
After the war, Ames went to Dartmouth College in 1919 to work with Proctor. They decided to construct a large-scale model of the human eye using glass for its various layers, humors, and lens. In 1921, this work led to Ames' first published scientific paper, the award of an honorary Master of Arts degree, and his election as professor of research in a new department of Physiological Optics.
In 1923, Ames began recruiting staff of what was to become the Dartmouth Eye Institute. From
Eastman Kodak Company
The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...
he recruited lens designer Gordon H. Gliddon. More staff joined the department over the years, including
Kenneth N. Ogle, with whom Ames worked on
stereopsis
Binocular vision is seeing with two eyes, which increases the size of the Visual field, visual field. If the visual fields of the two eyes overlap, binocular #Depth, depth can be seen. This allows objects to be recognized more quickly, camouflage ...
and
binocular vision Binocular vision is seeing with two eyes. The Field_of_view, field of view that can be surveyed with two eyes is greater than with one eye. To the extent that the visual fields of the two eyes overlap, #Depth, binocular depth can be perceived. Th ...
. Ames was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1928.
The Dartmouth Eye Institute
In 1935 the Department of Physiological Optics became the Dartmouth Eye Institute under the overall directorship of
Alfred Bielschowsky
Alfred Bielschowsky (December 11, 1871 – April 5, 1940) was a German ophthalmologist. His specialty was physiology and pathology of the eye, particularly in regards to research of eye movement, space perception and diagnosis of oculomotor anomal ...
, with Ames serving as its director of research. Ames garnered support for it from various sources including
John D. Rockefeller Jr., the
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...
, and the
American Optical Company
The American Optical Company, also known as AO Eyewear, is a luxury American eyewear and sunglass company based in Vernon Hills, Illinois near Chicago. AO designs and manufactures in the United States.
History
Founded in 1833 by William Beecher, ...
. The institute at various times employed between thirty and forty staff, including researchers, and clinicians who examined patients' eyes and made eyeglasses.
Research at the institute concentrated on binocular vision, including
cyclophoria (the tendency of the eyes to rotate in opposite directions in their sockets) and
aniseikonia
Aniseikonia is an ocular condition where there is a significant difference in the perceived size of images. It can occur as an overall difference between the two eyes, or as a difference in a particular meridian. If the ocular image size in both ...
(in which each eye has a differently sized retinal image of the same object). This latter defect could be corrected by lenses that restored the usual equality of image sizes.
In 1940, Bielschowsky died unexpectedly. Hermann Burian, an ophthalmologist, worked briefly as acting director, and then was relieved by Walter Lancaster. He was not able to exert the influence he wanted, resigning in 1942. According to Herman M. Burian, acting ophthalmologist in chief, Ames "had actually lost his interest in the active work of the Institute, especially its clinical division" and "turned increasingly to the philosophic and social implications of the work". Due to conflicts, staff resignation and after several unsuccessful attempts at reorganisation, on 10 May 1947 the institute was closed.
Scientific achievements and honors

Ames is perhaps best known for his eponymous
room
In a building or a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure. The entrance connects it to either a passageway, another room, or the outdoors. The space is ...
,
window
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent ma ...
, and chair. These were called "equivalent configurations" by his collaborator William H. Ittelson, defined as "configurations
n which
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
identical 'incoming messages' can come from different external physical arrangements. In the absence of other information,... equivalent configurations will be perceived as identical, no matter how different they be physically".
Ames also developed the concept of "transactional ambiguity" holding that "mental set" or expectation could materially affect one's perception of visual and other stimuli, as with the
Ames trapezoid. This hypothesis extended the impact of mental set from the widely believed impact on one's conclusions about stimuli (the eyewitness phenomenon) to actual perception of the stimuli itself. If true, it calls seriously into question the value of eyewitness reports even by individuals with no prejudices about their observations.
In 1941 Ames began to make notes in the morning on his transactional analysis of perception. In 1960 his collaborator
Hadley Cantril
Albert Hadley Cantril, Jr. (16 June 1906 – 28 May 1969) was an American psychologist from Princeton University, who expanded the scope of the field.
Cantril made "major contributions in psychology of propaganda; public opinion research; applica ...
published an edited selection from these notes, with a Preface, and included Ames' correspondence with
John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century.
The overridi ...
.
In 1954, Ames was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Laws
A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...
by Dartmouth. In 1955 he won the Tillyer Medal, awarded by the
Optical Society of America
Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and ca ...
. Ames died on July 3, 1955, and was buried at the Dartmouth Cemetery. His name, and that of his siblings, is also inscribed on the gravestone of his parents at the
Hildreth family cemetery in Lowell.
In the address given on the presentation of the Tillyer Medal, the president of the society listed 38 books and scientific papers Ames wrote, and 21 patents awarded to Ames.
Publications in psychology
* 1946: "Binocular vision as affected by uniocular stimulus patterns in commonplace environments",
American Journal of Psychology
The ''American Journal of Psychology'' is a journal devoted primarily to experimental psychology. It is the first such journal to be published in the English language (though ''Mind'', founded in 1876, published some experimental psychology earl ...
59:333–57
* 1949
Form and Visual Sensations'' pages 82–88 in ''Building for Modern Man'', edited by Thomas Creighton,
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
* 1949: (with
Hadley Cantril
Albert Hadley Cantril, Jr. (16 June 1906 – 28 May 1969) was an American psychologist from Princeton University, who expanded the scope of the field.
Cantril made "major contributions in psychology of propaganda; public opinion research; applica ...
, A. H. Hastorf & W. H.Ittelson) "Psychology and Scientific Research",
Science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
110: 461–4, 491–7, 517–22.
* 1950: Sensations, their Nature and Origin, ''Transformation'' 1: 11,2
* 1950: (with W. H. Ittelson) "Accommodation, Convergence and their relation to Apparent Distance",
The Journal of Psychology
''The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied'' is a bimonthly double-blind, peer-review psychology journal published by Taylor & Francis. ''The Journal of Psychology'' was founded in 1935 by Carl Murchison, an American psychologis ...
30:43–62.
* 1951: "Visual Perception and the Rotating Trapezoidal Window", ''Psychological Monographs'' 65(7): #324
* 1953: "Reconsideration of the Origin and Nature of Perception", in ''Vision and Action'', edited by S. Ratner,
Rutgers University Press
Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Pub ...
* 1955: ''An Interpretive Manual: The Nature of our Perceptions, Prehensions and Behavior''
* 1961:
Additional information
Ames family papersSophia Smith Collection Smith College
References
Bibliography
* Behrens, R. R. (1987). The Life and Unusual Ideas of Adelbert Ames Jr. "Leonardo: Journal of the International Society of Arts, Sciences and Technology, 20," 273–279.
* Behrens, R. R. (1994). Adelbert Ames and the Cockeyed Room. "Print magazine, 48:2," 92–97.
* Behrens, R. R. (1997). Eyed Awry: The Ingenuity of Del Ames. "North American Review, 282:2," 26–33.
* Behrens, R. R. (1998). The Artistic and Scientific Collaboration of Blanche Ames Ames and Adelbert Ames II. "Leonardo, 31," 47–54.
*
* Behrens, R. R. (2009a). "Adelbert Ames II" entry in ''Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage''. Dysart IA: Bobolink Books, pp. 25–26. .
* Behrens, R. R. (2009b). "Ames Demonstrations in Perception" in E. Bruce Goldstein, ed., ''Encyclopedia of Perception''. Sage Publications, pp. 41–44. .
* Bisno, D. C. (1994). "Eyes in the Storm: President Hopkin's Dilemma: The Dartmouth Eye Institute." Norwich, VT: Norwich Press Books.
* Digital Library at Dartmouth. (ND). ''Blanche B. Marshall Mclane Bruner papers in the Dartmouth College Library''. Hanover NH: Dartmouth College. Retrieved May 20, 2005, from https://web.archive.org/web/20050402231154/http://diglib.dartmouth.edu/library/ead/html/ms768.html
* Digital Library at Dartmouth. (ND). ''Guide to the Records of the Dartmouth Eye Institute 1917–1952
930–1945in the Dartmouth College Library''. Hanover NH: Dartmouth College. Retrieved May 20, 2005, from https://web.archive.org/web/20050402230617/http://diglib.dartmouth.edu/library/ead/html/da35.html
* Gliddon, G. H. (1955). Necrology: Adelbert Ames Jr. ''Journal of the Optical Society of America, 45,'' 1003.
* Gregory, R. L. (1987). Analogue transactions with Adelbert Ames. ''Perception, 16,'' 277–282.
* Wade, N. J., &
Hughes, P. (1999). Fooling the eyes: Trompe l'oeil and reverse perspective. ''Perception, 28,'' 1115–1119.
* Wade, N. J., Ono, H., & Lillakas, L. (2001). Leonardo da Vinci's struggles with representations of reality. ''Leonardo, 34,'' 231–235.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Adelbert Jr.
1880 births
1955 deaths
Butler–Ames family
American physiologists
20th-century American psychologists
Clark University alumni
Dartmouth College faculty
American ophthalmologists
Phillips Academy alumni
People from Lowell, Massachusetts
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Harvard Law School alumni
American vision scientists