Neal E. Miller and John Dollard
Neal E. Miller and John Dollard were pivotal figures in the fields of psychology and sociology, respectively, whose collaboration began at Yale University's Institute of Human Relations. They gained prominence with their 1939 work "Frustration and Aggression," which ignited extensive research on aggression. Their subsequent publication, "Social Learning and Imitation" (1941), introduced a significant social learning theory, emphasizing the role of models in shaping behavior, which contrasted with existing personality theories of the time due to its strong experimental basis. Their 1950 book, "Personality and Psychotherapy," offered a comprehensive integration of neobehavioral learning theory with psychoanalysis.
Dollard, who held degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Chicago, was notable for his interdisciplinary contributions, particularly his 1937 work on social structures in the American South. Miller, educated at the University of Washington and Stanford, was recognized for his innovative research, including advancements in health psychology and biofeedback. Together, their work laid foundational concepts that continue to influence contemporary psychology and social science.
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Neal E. Miller and John Dollard
American psychologist, social learning theorist
American sociologist, social psychologist
- Born: August 3, 1909
- Birthplace: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Died: March 23, 2002
- Place of death: Hamden, Connecticut
- Born: August 29, 1900
- Birthplace: Menasha, Wisconsin
- Died: October 8, 1980
- Place of death: New Haven, Connecticut
Miller, Neal E.
Identity: American psychologist, social learning theorist
Dollard, John
Identity: American sociologist, social psychologist
Type of psychology: Learning; personality; psychotherapy
Miller and Dollard were pioneers in the scientific study of personality who integrated neobehaviorism with psychoanalysis and established the first social learning theory.
Life
Psychologist Neal E. Miller and sociologist John Dollard began their long-lasting and influential collaboration while members of the Yale University Institute of Human Relations. Their first major publication together, which included several coauthors, was Frustration and Aggression (1939). This work stimulated a wide range of studies on aggression.
Their next major book, Social Learning and Imitation (1941), introduced the first fully articulated social learning theory, including the proposition that models constitute an important determinant of behavior. Unlike many personality theories at the time, Dollard and Miller’s propositions were well grounded in experimentation, including research with laboratory animals. Their 1950 book Personality and Psychotherapy: An Analysis in Terms of Learning, Thinking, and Culture offered a remarkable synthesis of neobehavioral learning theory and psychoanalysis.
Dollard earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1922 and his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1931. He joined Yale University that same year as an assistant professor of anthropology and was trained in psychoanalysis while a research fellow in Berlin. He joined the Institute of Human Relations as a sociologist and, as further evidence of his academic range and depth, from 1948 until his retirement in 1969 served as professor of psychology. In addition to his work with Miller, Dollard is highly regarded for his 1937 book Caste and Class in a Southern Town.
Miller earned a BS from the University of Washington, an MA from Stanford in 1932, and a PhD in psychology from Yale in 1935, where he worked under Clark L. Hull, the famous neobehaviorist. He traveled Europe as a research fellow and received psychoanalytic training in Vienna. Miller subsequently joined the Institute of Human Relations at Yale and began his renowned collaboration with Dollard. He conducted research for the U.S. Army Air Force from 1942 to 1946, but he returned to Yale and became the James Rowland Angell Professor of Psychology in 1952. He received the Warren Medal for outstanding research in psychology from the Society of Experimental Psychologists in 1957, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1958, and was recognized for Distinguished Scientific Contributions by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1959. He was elected president of the APA in 1961 and received the National Medal of Science in 1964. Miller moved to Rockefeller University in 1966 to head the laboratory of physiological psychology, where he helped pioneer the field of health psychology, conducting research on such topics as biofeedback and the voluntary control of autonomic nervous system processes. The APA honored him again in 1983 with the Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge Award and in 1991 with the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award.
Bibliography
Ellis, Albert, Mike Abrams, and Lidia Abrams. Personality Theories: Critical Perspectives. Los Angeles: Sage, 2009. Print.
Gilkeson, John S. Anthropologists and the Rediscovery of America, 1886–1965. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print.
Hergenhahn, B. R., and Matthew Olsen. An Introduction to Theories of Personality. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2007.
Miller, Neal E. “Obituary: John Dollard (1900–1980).” American Psychologist 37.5 (1982): 587–588.
Phares, E. Jerry, and William F. Chaplin. Introduction to Personality. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 1997.