ABSTRACT

Key Thinkers in Individual Differences introduces the life, work and thought of 25 of the most influential figures who have shaped and developed the measurement of intelligence and personality. Expanding on from a résumé of academic events, this book makes sense of these psychologists by bringing together not only their ideas but the social experiences, loves and losses that moulded them.

By adapting a chronological approach, Forsythe presents the history and context behind these thinkers, ranging from the buffoonery and sheer genius of Charles Galton, the theatre of Hans Eysenck and John Phillipe Rushton, to the much-maligned and overlooked work of women such as Isabel Myers, Katherine Briggs and Karen Horney. Exploring all through a phenomenological lens, the background, interconnections, controversies and conversations of these thinkers are uncovered.

This informative guide is essential reading to anyone who studies, works in or is simply captivated by the field of individual differences, personality and intelligence. An invaluable resource for all students of individual differences and the history of psychology.

chapter Chapter 1|12 pages

Francis Galton

1Hereditary Genius

chapter Chapter 2|13 pages

Sigmund Freud

‘I can most highly recommend the Gestapo to everyone’

chapter Chapter 3|6 pages

Alfred Binet

The constructionist

chapter Chapter 4|6 pages

Charles Edward Spearman

The intelligence factor

chapter Chapter 5|9 pages

Henry Herbert Goddard

As luck would have it

chapter Chapter 6|8 pages

Alfred Adler

The individualist

chapter Chapter 7|9 pages

Carl Gustav Jung

‘We cannot change anything unless we accept it’

chapter Chapter 8|10 pages

Hermann Rorschach

Faces staring back at us

chapter Chapter 9|9 pages

Karen Horney

Upending Freud

chapter Chapter 10|8 pages

Henry Alexander Murray

‘Revealing the personal narrative’

chapter Chapter 11|5 pages

David Wechsler

‘Factorial analysis alone is not the answer’

chapter Chapter 12|8 pages

Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers

The indicator

chapter Chapter 13|7 pages

John Carlyle Raven

Elegant design

chapter Chapter 14|6 pages

Starke Rosecrans Hathaway

The Minnesota normals

chapter Chapter 15|8 pages

Raymond Bernard Cattell

Psychology: ‘describing things which everyone knows in language which no one understands’

chapter Chapter 16|7 pages

George Alexander Kelly

A multi-dimensional man

chapter Chapter 17|11 pages

Hans Jürgen Eysenck

The truth as he sees it

chapter Chapter 18|8 pages

Arthur Jensen

A king among men

chapter Chapter 19|5 pages

Walter Mischel

Oh, what a lovely war

chapter Chapter 20|10 pages

Lewis Robert Goldberg

The Big-5, OCEAN and the language of personality

chapter Chapter 21|5 pages

Howard Gardner

One of a kind

chapter Chapter 22|8 pages

John Philippe Rushton

The incendiary device

chapter Chapter 23|10 pages

Peter Francis Saville

‘Global gold standard’

chapter Chapter 24|4 pages

Daniel Goleman

Emotionally intelligent