Leon Kamin

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Leon Kamin
Born
Leon Judah Kamin

(1927-12-29)December 29, 1927
Taunton, Massachusetts, United States
DiedDecember 22, 2017(2017-12-22) (aged 89)
NationalityAmerican
EducationHarvard University
Known forBlocking effect
Learning theory
Race and intelligence
SpouseMarie-Claire Kamin
Children4
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology
InstitutionsMcGill University
Queen's University
McMaster University
Princeton University
Northeastern University
Thesis The effects of the interval between signal and shock on avoidance learning  (1954)
Academic advisorsRichard Solomon

Leon J. Kamin (December 29, 1927 – December 22, 2017)[1] was an American psychologist known for his contributions to learning theory and his critique of estimates of the heritability of IQ. He studied under Richard Solomon at Harvard and contributed several important ideas about conditioning, including the "blocking effect".

Early life and education

Leon Kamin was born into a Jewish family in

Joe McCarthy's anti-communist committee came to Boston, looking for Communists and ex-Communists. Refusing to name names, Kamin was convicted of contempt of the Senate.[2] This caused job offers in the U.S. to dry up and he had to find employment in Canada, where he held positions, first at McGill University, then at Queen’s University and McMaster University (where he chaired the Psychology Department in 1957–58).[3] In 1968 he returned to the U.S. and chaired Princeton University's Department of Psychology and later the Psychology Department at Northeastern University
in Boston, Massachusetts.

Career

Kamin's most well-known contribution to learning theory was his discovery and analysis of the "blocking effect" (1969). He showed that conditioning an animal to associate a salient conditioned stimulus (CSb), such as a bright light, with a salient unconditioned stimulus (US), like a shock, is "blocked" when CSb is presented simultaneously with another conditioned stimulus (CSa) that was already conditioned to the US. (Kamin used rats in most of his research, but the effect has been found in many animals). However, a 2016 article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General reported "15 failures to observe a blocking effect despite the use of procedures that are highly similar or identical to those used in published studies."[4]

In March 1972 an invitation from the Princeton Psychology Department (which Kamin chaired at the time) to

The Science and Politics of IQ. In it, Kamin also reviewed the early history of intelligence testing and charged WWI era psychologists with bias against non-WASP immigrants, who were targeted by the Immigration Act of 1924 [11] To Kamin and other critics of Jensen and Herrnstein, psychology in the 1970s was again supporting anti-democratic social policies, attempting to reverse the gains of the Civil Rights and Women’s movements.[12]

As department chair at Princeton and then Northeastern, Kamin’s achievements included the creation of programs to recruit and support graduate students of color.[13]

Kamin co-authored the controversial book

Guggenheim Fellow in psychology.[14]

He was honorary professor of psychology at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Bibliography

  • The Science and Politics of IQ
     (1974)
  • ISBN 978-0-330-26399-3
    .
  • Richard Lewontin, Steven Rose and Leon J. Kamin (1984). Not in Our Genes.

Notes

  1. ^ In Memoriam: Dr. Leon J. Kamin (1927-2017)
  2. ^ (Kamin, 2005)
  3. ^ Schrecker. E. (1986). No ivory tower : McCarthyism and the universities. Oxford University Press.
  4. PMID 27428670
    .
  5. ^ Herrnstein, Richard J. (1971). "IQ". Atlantic Monthly. 228 (3): 43–64.
  6. ^ Murphy, Sue (March 6, 1972). "Harvard's Herrnstein cancels scheduled speech appearance". Daily Princetonian. 96 (27).
  7. ^ "Letters to the Princetonian". Daily Princetonian. 96 (28). March 7, 1972.
  8. ISBN 978-1476663012
    .
  9. ISBN 978-3540740773
    .
  10. ^ Gildemeister, J. (1977, June). Recollections. Psychology for Social Action Newsletter, p. 4
  11. ^ Lewontin, R. C. and Scarr-Salapatek, S. (1976). Science and politics: An explosive mix. Contemporary Psychology, 21 (2), 97-99.
  12. ^ Harris, Ben [“Bill Hudson”] (1977, February 4). Review of The Science and Politics of I.Q. by Leon Kamin. International Socialist Review, pp. 11-12.
  13. ^ Harkins, S. G. (2018). Leon J Kamin (1927–2017). American Psychologist, 73, 941.
  14. ^ "Leon J. Kamin". John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 2018-07-23.

References

  • Kamin, L. J. (1969). Predictability, surprise, attention, and conditioning. In B. A. Campbell & R. M . Church (Eds.), Punishment and aversive behavior (pp. 279–296). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
  • Kamin, L.J. (2005). Letter to the Editor, New York Review of Books, May 26.
  • Mackintosh, N. (1998). IQ and Human Intelligence. Oxford: University Press. pp. 78–79.
  • Loehlin, Lindzey & Spuhler (Freeman, 1975). Race Differences in Intelligence (
    ISBN 0-7167-0754-3
    )

External links
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