Adelbert Ford (April 23, 1890 – April 1976) was an American psychologist who looked at the role of our senses in learning, as well as how distractions interact with this process.

Life and career

Ford was born and raised in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He completed his undergraduate and master's degree at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. After spending a year teaching, Ford decided to return to school to pursue his interest in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. He spoke with Professor Walter Pillsbury at the University of Michigan, and although Pillsbury discouraged this "impractical career choice" he accepted Ford into the program. Ford's curriculum consisted of a year of

experimental psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...

, a year of general biology, and a year of college mathematics, with a continued emphasis on philosophy.Raphelson, A. C., (1968). Psychology at university of michigan. University of Michigan Flint College, 1(2), 71-71. Pillsbury held him to a high standard, and expected a straight-A report. When he completed his third year of schooling,

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

began and he enlisted in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. After two years of service he returned to the University of Michigan in 1920 to finish his undergraduate studies. After a short teaching position at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

, Ford returned to his Alma mater to attain his doctoral degree under Professor Pillsbury. He completed his dissertation in 1926, "Attention-Automization: An Investigation of the Transition Nature of Mind", investigating the effects of a distraction on the efficiency of problems done without disruption of the temporal order. Results included: # the initial reaction is longer than other reactions with continuous stimuli from the environment # more errors are done in the beginning half of a homogeneous period # new integration of behavior had evidence of general motor tones # vaso-motor concomitant show effects as the work continues under constant stimuli and # fast workers get automatization and have quick recovery after noise, while slow workers recovery more gradually.Ford, A. (1929). Attention-automatization: an investigation of the transitional nature of mind. The American Journal of Psychology, 41(1), 1-32. After attaining his doctoral degree, Ford took over teaching a class for Pillsbury after Pillsbury abruptly left academia. Over time, Ford began to offer courses on the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain, spinal cord and retina. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity o ...

and mental processes. He had a particular interest in applied psychology and offered courses on salesmanship as well as the math of applied psychology. In 1931, Ford left Michigan to take over as the head of the psychology department at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

where he remained till his retirement in 1955. During this time he took some time off to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a research psychologist with the University of California's War Research division. After retiring, Ford moved to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

to work with the United States Navy Electronic Laboratory.

Contributions to the field of psychology

It was Ford's belief that experimental psychology ought to be a "study of human and animal behavior with its attributes, variations, and determinates".Hilgard, E. R. (1933). Review of group experiments in elementary psychology and instructor's manual for group experiments in elementary psychology. He was appointed the Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Lehigh University in 1931.PSYCHOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
. Chapter 5: ''The Depression Years: 1930-1940''. pp-41. Ford's most famous published work, "Eye movements during simulated radar search.", was co-authored with Carroll White in 1960. In this journal they examined the electrical method of the electro-oculogram (EOG), a device used to record eye movement. They collected information to see the pattern of search, spatial distributions, and duration of fixation on one object.White, C. T., & Ford, A. (1960). Eye movements during simulated radar search. JOSA, 50(9), 909. In 1954, Ford also published "Bioelectrical potentials and mental effort: II. Frontal lobe effect.", examining electroencephalography potentials that were recorded while resting compared to subjects engaging in mental arithmetic. Results indicate mental work increases integrated frontal potentials.Ford, A. (1954). Bioelectrical potentials and mental effort: II. Frontal lobe effects. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 47(1), 28. He also published several books including ''Group Experiments in Elementary Psychology'' and ''Instructor's Manual for Group Experiments in Elementary Psychology'', text books for elementary psychology students outlining the basic structure of experiments. He focused on the nervous system, sensation of temperature, Weber's law, perception, and attention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Adelbert 1976 deaths 1890 births 20th-century American psychologists United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War I University of Michigan alumni