Leona Elizabeth Tyler (May 10, 1906 – April 29, 1993) 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 explanation, interpretatio ...

and president of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

in 1973.

Early years

Leona Tyler was born in Chetek,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

on May 10, 1906. Her father, Leon M. Tyler was an accountant and house restoration contractor and her mother, Bessie J. Carver Tyler managed the home. Both her parents graduated high school, but neither attended college. She graduated from high school at the age of fifteen. She received her

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in English from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

at the age of 19. Although her major was English, she was also attracted to science. After graduating she taught English and other subjects in junior high schools in Minnesota and Michigan. She completed her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in counseling psychology from the

in 1940.

Academic career

Tyler started her university teaching career at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

as an instructor in 1940. She joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon in the fall of 1940. She became Dean of the Graduate School in 1965 and remained so until her mandated retirement at the age of 65 in 1971. However, she remained active even after the retirement. She remained at the University of Oregon till her death in 1993.

Work

Tyler conducted several researches and published many books and research papers on psychology. She focused on the construct of organized choices in the late 1950s. Her concerns about vocational interests led to a longitudinal study of the broader question of the directions of development that interests and personality take. A major research finding was that, as people thought about careers, dislikes and avoidances were more important than likes. This research led to the study of how choices organized peoples' lives. She developed the Choice Pattern Technique, that required people to indicate their construals of occupations and free-time activities. In 1962, she received the Fulbright scholarship to work at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. This allowed her to test her ideas and methods cross-culturally. Her research was extended to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and expanded to take in values, daily activities, and future time-perspectives in adolescents. Her work in the Choice Pattern Technique was included in ''The Work of the Counselor''. In 1947, she wrote ''The Psychology of Human Differences''. She developed her own view of behavior. She began blending concepts of Carl Rogers, individual differences, and psychometrics, psychoanalytic theory, behaviorism, developmental stage theory, and existentialism. Her thinking shifted from behavioristic to cognitive during this time. In 1969, Tyler wrote ''The Work of the Counselor''. From 1967 to 1968, she wrote the latest revision of Developmental Psychology with Florence Goodenough. She applied her theory of possibilities to the choice behavior of scientists in ''Thinking Creatively'' in 1983. This suggested perceptions of choices for scientific inquiry are distorted or limited by professional education and discipline based on conformity.

Death

Leona died on April 29, 1993, at the age of 86, in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

because of congestive heart failure after a series of illnesses and accidents.

Books and other publications

The following are the books and other publications by Tyler. * Tyler, L. E. (1941). ''The measured interests of adolescent girls''. Journal of Educational Psychology, 32, 561-572. * Tyler, L. E. (1945). ''Relationships between Strong Vocational Interest scores and other attitude and personality factors''. Journal of Applied Psychology, 29, 58-67. * Tyler, L. E. (1953). ''The Work of the Counselor''. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. *Tyler, L. (1956). ''The initial interview''. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 34, 466-473. * Tyler, L. E. (1959). ''Toward a workable psychology of individuality''. American Psychologist, 14, 75-81. * Tyler, L. E. (1965). ''The psychology of human differences'' (3rd ed). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts/Prentice-Hall. (Also published in 1947 and 1956). * Tyler, L. E.(1969). ''An approach to public affairs: Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Public Affairs''. American Psychologist, 24, 1-4. * Tyler, L. E. (1969). ''Intelligence: Some recurring issues''. New York: Van Nostrand. * Tyler, L. E. (1978). ''Individuality: Human possibilities and personal choice in the psychological development of men and women''. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass. * Tyler, L. E. (1979). ''Test and measurements'' (3rd ed). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. (Also published in 1963 and 1961). * Tyler, L. E. (1983). ''Thinking Creatively: A New Approach to Psychology and Individual Lives''.

References

* * * O'Connell, A. N., & Russo, N. F. (Eds.) (1990). ''Women in Psychology''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. * Tyler, L. E. (1953). ''The work of the counselor''. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler, Leona E. American women psychologists University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni University of Oregon faculty People from Chetek, Wisconsin Presidents of the American Psychological Association 1906 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American psychologists 20th-century American women 20th-century American people American women academics