Edward Alexander Bott (April 11, 1887 - 1974) was a Canadian

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

Career

Bott was born near

Ingersoll, Ontario Ingersoll is a town in Oxford County on the Thames River in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The nearest cities are Woodstock to the east and London to the west. Ingersoll is situated north of and along Highway 401. Oxford County Road 119 (former ...

, in 1887. In 1912, he joined the Faculty at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and took over the psychological laboratory which had been established by

James Mark Baldwin James Mark Baldwin (January 12, 1861, Columbia, South Carolina – November 8, 1934, Paris) was an American philosopher and psychologist who was educated at Princeton under the supervision of Scottish philosopher James McCosh and who was one o ...

in 1891. In 1925, he established the ''St. George’s School for Child Study'' at the university which became the Institute of Child Studybr>
In 1926, he established an independent Department of Psychology and remained its Head until he retired in 1960. He was one of the founders of organized psychology within Canada. In 1938, prior to the onset of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

a group of psychologists came together to agree how they could assist in the process of personnel selection for the military. This group included Roy B. Liddy, Ned Bott,

John MacEachran John Malcolm MacEachran (January 16, 1877 – 1971) was a Canadian philosopher and psychologist, whose most notable credentials involved the development of the Psychology and Philosophy Department at the University of Alberta. He was a co-founder ...

, George Humphrey, and George Ferguson. From this group was established the

Canadian Psychological Association The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) is the primary organization representing psychologists throughout Canada. It was organized in 1939 and incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act, Part II, in May 1950. Its objectives are to imp ...

in 1939. In 1940, Liddy became its inaugural President and in the following year, Bott became president.

Personal life

He was married to Helen McMurchie Bott who worked with him at the Institute of Child Study and was the father of noted network analyst and

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

Elizabeth Spillius.

Research

He conducted research into the application of psychology to

social issues A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

Awards

* 1947 -

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for development of training procedures for

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

* Fellow,

* 1969 - Centennial Medal,

References

1887 births 1974 deaths 20th-century psychologists Canadian psychologists People from Ingersoll, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Presidents of the Canadian Psychological Association {{Canada-psychologist-stub