Peter Harzem (January 5, 1930 – May 26, 2008) was a

Turkish-American Turkish Americans ( tr, Türk Amerikalılar) or American Turks are Americans of ethnic Turkish origin. The term "Turkish Americans" can therefore refer to ethnic Turkish immigrants to the United States, as well as their American-born descend ...

psychologist who specialised in the field of

behavior analysis Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex evoked by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual ...

Life

Peter Harzem was born in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey, on January 5, 1930. His parents were Sukru and Saime Harzem. He initially worked as a newspaper reporter. After the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

he moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to complete his education. He was awarded a BSc Psychology from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was strongly influenced by

Harry Hurwitz Harry Hurwitz (January 27, 1938 – September 21, 1995) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Biography Hurwitz attended The High School of Music & Art and New York University, where he received a B.S. in 1960 and an ...

who had established an operant laboratory at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public university, public research university, located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal Universit ...

. Harzem conducted a student project in this laboratory. He then moved to the ''University College of North Wales'' which later became

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

where he completed his PhD and obtained a faculty position. He moved to the United States in 1978 where he became Hudson Professor of Psychology at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. He died on May 26, 2008.

Work

Harzem established a reputation for his work on behaviour analysis. At Bangor University, he published an influential volume (Harzem & Miles, 1978). He was also concerned with the role of language. In his later years he became interested in what he termed the ''discrediting'' of

John B. Watson John Broadus Watson (January 9, 1878 – September 25, 1958) was an American psychologist who popularized the scientific theory of behaviorism, establishing it as a psychological school.Cohn, Aaron S. 2014.Watson, John B." Pp. 1429–1430 in ''T ...

(Harzem, 1993; 2001). Following on from Hurwitz, Harzen had a continuing interest in the nature of science (Harzem, 2007).

Positions

* Associate editor, ''Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.''

Publications

* Harzem P. (2007). A brief history of knowledge: Science and non-science in the understanding of human nature. In: Ribes-Inesta E, Burgos J.E, editors. ''Knowledge, cognition, and behavior: Proceedings of the ninth Biannual Symposium on the Science of Behavior''. Guadalajara, Mexico: Universidad de Guadalajara. pp. 11–30. * Harzen, P.E. (2004). Behaviorism for new psychology: What was wrong with behaviorism and what is wrong with it now. ''Behavior and Philosophy, 32'', 5–12. * Harzen, P.E. (2001). The Intellectual Dismissal of John B. Watson: Notes on a Dark Cloud in the History of the Psychological Sciences. ''Behavioral Development Bulletin, 10(1)'', 15–16. * Harzem, P. (1993). The discrediting of John Broadus Watson. ''Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis'', 19, 39–66. * Zeiler M.D, Harzem P. (Eds.) (1983). ''Biological factors in learning''. New York: Wiley. * Harzem, P.E. (Ed.)(1981). ''Predictability, Correlation, and Contiguity'' New York: Wiley * Zeiler M.D, Harzem P. (Eds.) (1979). ''Reinforcement and the organization of behavior''. New York: Wiley. * Harzem, P.E., & Miles, T.R. (1978) ''Conceptual Issues In Operant Psychology.'' Chichester: Wiley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harzem, Peter 1930 births 2008 deaths Health professionals from Istanbul Turkish psychologists Turkish emigrants to the United States 20th-century American psychologists Behaviourist psychologists Alumni of Bangor University Auburn University faculty