William N. Schoenfeld (December 6, 1915 – August 3, 1996) was an American
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 ...
and author.
Born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, he conducted original research in experimental psychology, and advocated
behaviorism
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 (behavioral psychology), antecedent stimuli in the environment, o ...
, which seeks to understand behavior as a function of environmental histories of experiencing consequences. Dr. Schoenfeld's own original contributions in a long research career were influenced by those of
B.F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.
...
and
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov ( rus, Ива́н Петро́вич Па́влов, , p=ɪˈvan pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈpavləf, a=Ru-Ivan_Petrovich_Pavlov.ogg; 27 February 1936), was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist, psychologist and physiol ...
. In a carefully devised set of experiments in 1953 he led a team of
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
psychologists in discovering that anxiety caused the human heart rate to slow rather than quicken under certain timing of stimuli.
He was the co-author with
Fred S. Keller, a Columbia colleague, of ''Principles of Psychology'', an influential college text published in 1950 that emphasized
scientific method
The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...
s in the study of psychology. Students first used it in courses at Columbia College, where the two professors offered two hours of lecture and, for the first time in psychology, four hours of laboratory work a week. Among their experiments, the students observed the responses of white rats to stimuli and rewards and measured human learning by testing people's ability to remember the pathways of mazes and other sensory processes.
William Nathan Schoenfeld graduated from the
College of the City of New York in 1937 and earned the Ph.D. at Columbia in 1942. He became a lecturer in psychology at Columbia that year, an instructor in 1946, associate professor in 1952 and full professor in 1958. He joined the faculty of
Queens College of the City University of New York in 1966, became chairman of the psychology department and was named a professor emeritus in 1983. Later he taught in the psychology department of the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
and at universities in Mexico, Venezuela and Brasil. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Guadalajara in Mexico.
Among his books were: ''The Theory of Reinforcement Schedules'' (1970),'' Stimulus Schedules'' (1972) and ''Religion and Human Behavior'' (1993).
He was president of the division of the analysis of behavior of the
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
and president of the
Eastern Psychological Association
The Eastern Psychological Association (abbreviated EPA) is a professional organization for psychologists in the Eastern United States. It holds annual meetings where members present their research findings to colleagues. Established in 1896, it ...
(1972–1973) and the
Pavlovian Society of North America
The Pavlovian Society, also known as the Pavlovian Society of North America, is a learned society dedicated to advancing Pavlovian psychological research, and to promoting the exchange of ideas between scientific disciplines.
History
The Pavlovia ...
. He was an editor of the ''
Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology
The ''Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology'' was a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association. It was established in 1921 as the result of a merger between two journals, ''Psychobiology'' (191 ...
'', the ''
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
'' and ''
Conditional Reflex''.
Students
William N. Schoenfeld was a prolific doctoral advisor, who is said to have ultimately valued his teaching more than his research.
[http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jeab/articles_selected/1997/hearst-67-1.pdf ] Indeed, many of his students continued into prominence in their own right. They include:
P. J. Bersh, A. Charles Catania, W. W. Cumming,
James A. Dinsmoor,
Charles Ferster
Charles Bohris Ferster (1 November 1922 – 3 February 1981) was an American behavioral psychologist. A pioneer of applied behavior analysis, he developed errorless learning and was a colleague of B.F. Skinner's at Harvard University, co-autho ...
, Peter Harzem,
Eliot S. Hearst,
Francis Mechner,
John Anthony Nevin,
Ovide F. Pomerleau
Ovide F. Pomerleau (born June 4, 1940) is an American psychologist who pioneered the development of behavioral medicine. He is best known for his work on self-management problems and addiction, focusing on the behavioral, biological, and genetic ...
,
Emilio Ribes,
Murray Sidman, Carlos Bruner.
References
External links
Columbia University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoenfeld, William N.
1915 births
1996 deaths
20th-century American psychologists
Behaviourist psychologists
Columbia University faculty
City College of New York alumni
Columbia University alumni
City University of New York faculty