Leslie Spencer Hearnshaw (1907–1991) was an English psychologist and historian of psychology.

Education and academic career

Hearnshaw attended

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He served as the first director of the

industrial psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology) "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effec ...

division of the

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

from 1942 to 1947, and he taught at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in that country from 1937 to 1947. He returned to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1947 to become professor of psychology at

Liverpool University The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the de ...

, a position he held until his retirement in 1975. He served as president of the

British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the org ...

from 1955 to 1956.

Cyril Burt

Hearnshaw delivered a eulogy in memory of British psychologist

Cyril Burt Sir Cyril Lodowic Burt, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (3 March 1883 – 10 October 1971) was an English educational psychology, educational psychologist and geneticist who also made contributions to statistics. He is known for his studies o ...

on 10 October 1971. He was the author of a 1979 biography of Burt that had been approved in advance by Burt's sister. It was also based on many of Burt's private papers, which has led to it being considered to be his definitive and authoritative biography. Before he started to write the biography, Hearnshaw's opinion of Burt was very favorable, as evidenced by Hearnshaw's respectful tone in his eulogy. However, while doing research for the book, he became convinced of the accusations of scientific fraud previously leveled against Burt. The biography has been credited with convincing the British Psychological Society to officially accept that Burt had committed fraud.

Personal life

The son of history professor F. J. C. Hearnshaw, L. S. Hearnshaw married Gwenneth Dickens in 1937. He died in 1991 and Dickens died in 1993. He was survived by his son, John Hearnshaw, a professor at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand.

Publications

* Hearnshaw, L.S. (1986). The Shaping of Modern Psychology. London: Routledge. * Hearnshaw, L.S. (1979). Cyril Burt, psychologist. London: Hodder & Stoughton. * Hearnshaw, L.S. (1966). A Short History of British Psychology 1840-1940. London: Methuen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hearnshaw, Leslie Spencer 1907 births 1991 deaths English psychologists People educated at King's College School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of King's College London Historians of psychology 20th-century British historians Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington Academics of the University of Liverpool 20th-century English biographers 20th-century British psychologists