Adelbert Ames Jr.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2022) |
Adelbert Ames Jr. (August 19, 1880 – July 3, 1955)
Formative years
Adelbert Ames Jr. was born on August 19, 1880, in
Ames attended Philips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, then went to Harvard College, where he earned a law degree, and where his most influential teachers were George Santayana and William James (whose daughter he was also engaged to, but did not marry). After practicing law for a few years, Ames abandoned it to become a painter. For several years, while collaborating with his sister, Blanche Ames (who was also a painter), the two of them tried to determine if the quality of visual art could be improved by the scientific study of vision. Ames set about improving his knowledge of the optical components of the eye, assuming that once he had mastered them, he would return to painting. As it was, his studies mastered him and Ames made vision his life's work.
Ames went to
Dartmouth College
After the war, Ames went to Dartmouth College in 1919 to work with Proctor. They decided to construct a large-scale model of the human eye using glass for its various layers, humors, and lens. In 1921, this work led to Ames' first published scientific paper, the award of an honorary Master of Arts degree, and his election as professor of research in a new department of Physiological Optics.
In 1923, Ames began recruiting staff of what was to become the Dartmouth Eye Institute. From
The Dartmouth Eye Institute (DEI)
In 1935 the Department of Physiological Optics became the Dartmouth Eye Institute under the overall directorship of Alfred Bielschowsky, with Ames serving as its director of research. Ames garnered support for it from various sources including John D. Rockefeller Jr., the Rockefeller Foundation, and the American Optical Company. The institute at various times employed between thirty and forty staff, including researchers, and clinicians who examined patients' eyes and made eyeglasses.
Research at the institute concentrated on binocular vision, including
In 1940, Bielschowsky died unexpectedly. Hermann Burian, an ophthalmologist, worked briefly as acting director, and then was relieved by Walter Lancaster. He was not able to exert the influence he wanted, resigning in 1942. On 10 May 1947 the institute was closed.
Scientific achievements and honors
Ames is perhaps best known for his eponymous room, window, and chair. These were called "equivalent configurations" by Ittelson (1952),[5] defined as "configurations [in which] identical 'incoming messages' can come from different external physical arrangements. In the absence of other information,... equivalent configurations will be perceived as identical, no matter how different they be physically" (p. 55).
Ames also developed the concept of "transactional ambiguity" holding that "mental set" or expectation could materially affect one's perception of visual and other stimuli, as with the
In 1954, Ames was awarded an honorary
In the address given on the presentation of the Tillyer Medal, the president of the society listed 38 books and scientific papers Ames wrote, and 21 patents awarded to Ames.
Publications in psychology
- 1946: "Binocular vision as affected by uniocular stimulus patterns in commonplace environments", American Journal of Psychology 59:333–57
- 1949: "Architectural Form and Visual Sensations", pages 82–91 in Building for Modern Man, edited by Thomas Creighton, Princeton University Press.
- 1949: (with Hadley Cantril, A. H. Hastorf & W. H.Ittelson) "Psychology and Scientific Research", Science 110: 461–4, 491–7, 517–22.
- 1950: Sensations, their Nature and Origin, Transformation 1: 11,2
- 1950: (with W. H. Ittelson) "Accommodation, Convergence and their relation to Apparent Distance", The Journal of Psychology 30:43–62.
- 1951: "Visual Perception and the Rotating Trapezoidal Window", Psychological Monographs 65(7): #324
- 1953: "Reconsideration of the Origin and Nature of Perception", in Vision and Action, edited by S. Ratner, Rutgers University Press
- 1955: An Interpretive Manual: The Nature of our Perceptions, Prehensions and Behavior
Additional information
- Ames family papers Archived 2019-06-07 at the Wayback Machine Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College
References
- ISBN 978-0-917256-22-6.
- S2CID 3524947.
- ^ "Harvard Catalyst Profiles". Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
- ^ Ittleson, W. H. (1952). The Ames Demonstrations in Perception. Princeton University Press.
- ^ Hadley Cantril editor (1960) The Morning Notes of Adelbert Ames, Rutgers University Press via Internet Archive
Bibliography
- Behrens, R. R. (1987). The Life and Unusual Ideas of Adelbert Ames Jr. "Leonardo: Journal of the International Society of Arts, Sciences and Technology, 20," 273–279.
- Behrens, R. R. (1994). Adelbert Ames and the Cockeyed Room. "Print magazine, 48:2," 92–97.
- Behrens, R. R. (1997). Eyed Awry: The Ingenuity of Del Ames. "North American Review, 282:2," 26–33.
- Behrens, R. R. (1998). The Artistic and Scientific Collaboration of Blanche Ames Ames and Adelbert Ames II. "Leonardo, 31," 47–54.
- Behrens, R. R. (1999). Adelbert Ames, Fritz Heider, and the Chair Demonstration. "Gestalt Theory, 21," 184–190.
- Behrens, R. R. (2009a). "Adelbert Ames II" entry in Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage. Dysart IA: Bobolink Books, pp. 25–26. ISBN 0-9713244-6-8.
- Behrens, R. R. (2009b). "Ames Demonstrations in Perception" in E. Bruce Goldstein, ed., Encyclopedia of Perception. Sage Publications, pp. 41–44. ISBN 978-1-4129-4081-8.
- Bisno, D. C. (1994). "Eyes in the Storm: President Hopkin's Dilemma: The Dartmouth Eye Institute." Norwich, VT: Norwich Press Books.
- Digital Library at Dartmouth. (ND). Blanche B. Marshall Mclane Bruner papers in the Dartmouth College Library. Hanover NH: Dartmouth College. Retrieved May 20, 2005, from https://web.archive.org/web/20050402231154/http://diglib.dartmouth.edu/library/ead/html/ms768.html
- Digital Library at Dartmouth. (ND). Guide to the Records of the Dartmouth Eye Institute 1917–1952[1930–1945] in the Dartmouth College Library. Hanover NH: Dartmouth College. Retrieved May 20, 2005, from https://web.archive.org/web/20050402230617/http://diglib.dartmouth.edu/library/ead/html/da35.html
- Gliddon, G. H. (1955). Necrology: Adelbert Ames Jr. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 45, 1003.
- Gregory, R. L. (1987). Analogue transactions with Adelbert Ames. Perception, 16, 277–282.
- The Optical Society of America. (1955). Adelbert Ames Jr.: Edgar D. Tillyer Medalist for 1955. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 45, 333–337.
- Wade, N. J., & Hughes, P. (1999). Fooling the eyes: Trompe l'oeil and reverse perspective. Perception, 28, 1115–1119.
- Wade, N. J., Ono, H., & Lillakas, L. (2001). Leonardo da Vinci's struggles with representations of reality. Leonardo, 34, 231–235.