(Includes chapters on heredity and environment, distributi...)
Includes chapters on heredity and environment, distribution and extent of individual differences, mental deficiency, age differences, physique and behavior, genius, sex differences and more.
Anne Anastasi was an American psychologist, educator, and author. She was a major contributor to psychometrics and differential psychology in the 20th century.
Background
Anne Anastasi was born on December 19, 1908, in New York City, New York, United States. She was the daughter of Anthony, who worked for the New York City Board of Education, and Theresa Gaudiosi Anastasi. Her father died when Anastasi was only a year old, and the child and her mother became estranged from her father's family. She would never get to know them.
Education
Anne Anastasi's grandmother was responsible for her homeschooling during the first nine years of her life. She studied for brief periods in public and preparatory schools. In 1928 Anne received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College. In 1930 she obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Columbia University.
From 1930 to 1939 Anne Anastasi was an instructor of psychology at Barnard College. During that time, in 1937, she published her first major text, Differential Psychology. In 1939 she became an assistant professor and chairman of the new department of psychology at Queens College of the City University of New York, as well as being the sole member of the department.
In 1946 the department had grown to six, however, due to bureaucratic demands and departmental fighting, all efforts for teaching and research were blocked. Four of the six members ended up leaving and of these four was Anastasi. Her next position was held at Fordham University in 1947 where she became an associate professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and then a professor in 1951, where she remained until her retirement in 1979.
She also continued to be active in writing papers, lectures, and books including the sixth edition of Psychological Testing in 1988, the first edition had appeared in 1954. Anastasi also continued to consult with Fordham faculty and students informally, as well as serving on committees and maintaining an international correspondence. She was known to many as the "test guru", as well as remaining the moderator of psychometrics up until her death in 2001.
According to Jonathan Galente, whose father was Anastasi's colleague, Anne Anastasi was "gracious, amusing, opinionated, frugal, hard-working, dedicated to the scientific psychology, totally unpredictable in some ways and highly predictable in others," as well as a "master at telling stories."
Physical Characteristics:
In 1934 Anne Anastasi was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She was treated with radium, which destroyed the cancer but caused her to become infertile.
Interests
museums, art, collecting
Connections
On July 26, 1933, Anne Anastasi married John Porter Foley, Jr., a fellow psychologist, whom she had met at Columbia University. They had no children. In 1994 he died.