The Penn State psychology department is hiring a historical figure! Select one historical figure from the field and create a brief historical resume for them based on their actual life events.

Boston University Psychology Essay

The Penn State psychology department is hiring a historical figure!  Select one historical figure from the field and create a brief historical resume for them based on their actual life events.  Below is a list of some potential candidates to consider for the project.  If you wish to use someone not on this list, please make sure you have your instructor’s approval before you start.

 

Potential Historical Figures to Consider for the Assignment

 

Erik Erikson

 

Joyce Brothers

 

Leon Festinger

 

Maria Montessori

 

Carl Jung

 

Lawrence Kohlberg

 

Stanley Milgram

 

Helen T. Woolley

 

Ivan Pavlov

 

Burrhus F. Skinner

 

Edward Thorndike

 

Reiko True

 

John Watson

 

David Wechsler

 

Wilhelm Wundt

 

Edward Titchener

 

Francis Galton

 

Diana Baumrind

 

William James

 

Uri Bronfenbrenner

 

Francis Cecil Sumner

 

Mary W. Calkins

 

Karen Horney

 

John Bowlby

 

Margaret F. Washburn

 

Mary Ainsworth

 

James Cattell

 

Diane Fossey

 

Edward Tolman

 

Clark L. Hull

 

Muriel Lezak

 

Max Wertheimer

 

Eleanor J. Gibson

 

Alfred Binet

 

Carol Gilligan

 

Noam Chomsky

 

Herman von Helmholtz

 

Gustav Fechner

 

Abraham Maslow

 

Olivia Hooker

 

Gordon Allport

 

Inez Beverly Prosser

 

Pierre Flourens

 

Ruth Winifred Howard

 

Franz Gall

 

Mamie Phipps Clark

 

Aaron Beck

 

Alberta Banner Turner

 

John Dewey

 

Anna Freud

 

Brenda Milner

 

William Stern

 

Melanie Klein

 

Hugo Munsterberg

 

Florence Denmark

 

Leta Stetter Hollingworth

 

Jean Piaget

 

Mary Cover Jones

 

Herman George Canaday

 

Instructions

 

The resume should include the following elements:

 

Brief Personal Information/History: This should include their name, major city & country of origin, birth date, and a picture of the individual.  Additionally, this section should have a short paragraph outlining a little about the individuals personal history.  This section could reflect their family life or possibly certain challenges or tragedies they may have overcome.  You should also consider including a “special notes” section where you could mention something particularly unusual yet fascinating that you learned about the individual.  Note, this doesn’t have to relate directly to psychology, but could be something related to their personal life.  This special note doesn’t need to be more than a couple sentences but can be longer if desired.

Objective: A quick statement or two of the type of positions the historical figure might be seeking along with the major focus area of that position.

Educational Background: school names, years attended, degrees earned, and areas of interest and/or study.  Do your best to dig up as much of this information you can through various resources.

Employment history: An outline of their major work/job experience(s).  Again, do your best to dig up as much information here through multiple resources.

Accomplishments and Awards: Any awards or honors that they received for certain achievements that you can find.  This can also include significant life events, which shaped their perspective on psychology and/or the history of the field.

Primary Areas of Interest and Study: Here you should start by listing the area of psychology that is most associated with your historical figure (e.g. developmental, physiological, cognitive, etc.).  Then, provide a couple of examples of specific areas and/or ideas that the individual contributed to this area.  Finally, also include a list of any other areas of interest/study associated with your historical figure – both related to and outside of the field of psychology. 

Major Publications (References): Provide a list of major publications that are associated with your historical figure.  Think of those papers, books, talks or book chapters they may be proudest to display on a resume. 

Summary of One Piece of Work: Then, provide a description of one of those references to demonstrate you understand the content of that reference.  Here, try to get ahold of the original source (if possible) rather than relying on secondary sources/descriptions.

Resume Project Sources: Finally, provide a reference list of the resources you used to complete the project.  It would be expected that you would have to enlist the help of at least 3-5 resources to have a comprehensive project.  Please avoid using resources (such as Wikipedia or About.com) which may be questionable on content accuracy.  Acceptable resources tend to be peer reviewed such as book or book chapters written by someone with a degree in psychology, published articles (e.g. via PsycINFO) or websites written by reputable organizations (e.g. APA) related to psychology.

Quick Note:  There is an example resume on CANVAS (Granville Stanley Hall), which can provide you with a basis on how to go about constructing your own historical resume.  While the resume should be as comprehensive as possible and involve multiple sources, the total length of the project should not exceed 3 pages.   If you have questions, please let us know!