John Clemans Flanagan, (January 7, 1906 – April 15, 1996) was a noted

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 ...

most known for developing the

critical incident technique The critical incident technique (or CIT) is a set of procedures used for collecting direct observations of human behavior that have critical significance and meet methodically defined criteria. These observations are then kept track of as incidents, ...

, which identifies and classifies behaviors associated with the success or failure of human activity. He was a pioneer of aviation psychology. During

World War II 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 ...

Flanagan was commissioned by the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in 1941 to head an aviation psychology program that developed tests to help identify pilots suitable for combat missions. Flanagan was born in

Armour, South Dakota Armour is a city in and county seat of Douglas County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 698 at the 2020 census. History Armour was founded in 1885. The city was named after Philip Danforth Armour, who was founder of Armour and Co ...

on January 7, 1906, and raised in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. He died on April 15, 1996, at his home in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; ...

. He graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in 1929, and was the starting quarterback on the football team his senior year. He received his doctorate from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1934. In 1946, Flanagan founded the American Institutes for Research, a

not-for-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

behavioral and social research organization that applied the

to education and other fields. In 1960 Flanagan initiated

Project Talent Project Talent is a national longitudinal study that first surveyed over 440,000 American high school students in 1960. At the time, it was the largest and most comprehensive study of high school students ever conducted in the United States. Desi ...

, a massive survey of more than 400,000 high school students throughout the United States. To follow up on the needs revealed by Project Talent, Flanagan developed Project PLAN — Program for Learning in Accordance with Needs — an entire curriculum from grades one through twelve designed to meet the individual needs of all students. This was one of the earliest and most comprehensive individualized computer-assisted learning programs.''Program for Learning in Accordance with Needs''. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, February 1968. Among the honors Flanagan received were:

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

by the Army Air Corps; Raymond F. Longacre Award of the Aero-Medical Association, Edward Lee Thorndike Award of the APA Division of

Educational Psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive and behavioral perspectives, allows researchers to understand individual differences i ...

, 1976 Distinguished Professional Contribution Award of APA,

Phi Delta Kappa PDK International (also known as PDK or Phi Delta Kappa International) is a US professional organization for educators. Its main office is in Arlington, Virginia. It was founded on January 24, 1906. Membership Currently, membership consists o ...

Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education, Development and Research,

ETS ETS or ets may refer to: Climate change, environment and economy * Emissions trading scheme ** European Union Emission Trading Scheme Organisations * European Thermoelectric Society * Evangelical Theological Society Education * École de techno ...

Award for Distinguished Service to Measurement; Professional Practice Award of APA’s Division of Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

References

External links

John C. Flanagan/Aviation Psychology - Giving Psychology Away

The American Institutes for Research History Timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, John C. 20th-century American psychologists 1906 births 1996 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Recipients of the Legion of Merit People from Armour, South Dakota Scientists from Seattle University of Washington alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Legionnaires of the Legion of Merit

References

Further reading

External links