Robert Yerkes: His Life and Contributions to Psychology

Robert Yerkes (May 26, 1876 - February 3, 1956) was an American psychologist best remembered for his work in the areas of intelligence testing and comparative psychology. He is also known for describing the Yerkes-Dodson law with his colleague John Dillingham Dodson. The Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that there is a relationship between arousal levels and performance.

During Yerkes' tenure as President of the APA, he became involved in developing the Army's Alpha and Beta Intelligence Tests as part of the World War I effort. The tests were extensively used during this time and were taken by millions of U.S. soldiers.

Yerkes also was a prominent figure in the regrettable eugenics movement, which advocated for harsh immigration restrictions in order to combat what he referred to as "race deterioration." These views, while historically promoted by some prominent scientific minds, are now understood for what they are: bigotry.

Best Known For

• Intelligence testing
• Comparative psychology
• Yerkes-Dodson law
• Primate research

Early Life

Robert Yerkes grew up on a farm in Breadysville, Pennsylvania. He attended Ursinus College originally intending to become a medical doctor. After graduating in 1897, Harvard University offered him a spot doing graduate work in biology. During his studies at Harvard, he took an interest in animal behavior and began studying comparative psychology. In 1902, Yerkes earned his Ph.D. in psychology.

After graduating, Yerkes took a number of positions to pay the debts he had acquired while completing his education. He started as an instructor at Harvard, later getting promoted to assistant professor of comparative psychology, and taught courses in general psychology during the summer at Radcliffe College. He also took a part-time job as the director of psychological research at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Career

In 1917, he was elected President of the American Psychological Association. After the U.S. entered World War I, Yerkes urged the APA to get involved in contributing psychological expertise to the war effort. A number of committees were formed, including one designed to measure intelligence in order to identify Army recruits who were particularly suited for special positions.

The work of the committee, which included psychologists such as Lewis Terman, Henry Goddard, and Carl Brigham, led to the development of the Army Alpha and Army Beta tests. The tests had been administered to approximately two million men by the time the war was over.

The tests are important in psychology history because they were the first group intelligence tests and helped popularize the concept of intelligence testing. That said, the results of the tests were also used by eugenicists to advocate for harsher immigration laws, since recent immigrants tended to score lower on the tests. While Yerkes suggested that the tests measured only native intelligence, the questions themselves clearly indicated that education and training had an impact on the results, indicating a measure of bias that can't be ignored.

Contributions to Psychology

Robert Yerkes contributed greatly to the field of comparative psychology. He founded the first primate research laboratory in the United States and served as its director from 1929 until 1941. The lab was later renamed the Yerkes National Primate Research Center.

His work with John D. Dodson led to the development of what is known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law. This law states that performance increases with arousal, but only up to a certain point. When arousal levels become too high, performance actually decreases.

Selected Publications

Yerkes, R. M., Bridges, J. W., & Hardwick, R. S. (1915). A Point Scale for Measuring Mental Ability. Baltimore: Warwick & York.

Yerkes, R. M. (1916). The Mental Life of Monkeys and Apes: A Study of Ideational Behavior. Delmar, NY: Scholars' Facsimiles and Reprints.

Yerkes, R. M. (Ed.) (1921) Psychological Examining in the United States Army. U.S. Government Printing Office.

Yerkes, R. M. (1941). Man-power and military effectiveness: The case for human engineering. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 5(5), 205-209.

Yerkes, R. M. (1943). Chimpanzees: A Laboratory Colony. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation.