Background
Humphreys, Lloyd Girton was born on December 12, 1913 in Lorane, Oregon, United States. Son of John Pryor H. and Gertrude (Stephenson) Humphreys.
educator research psychologist
Humphreys, Lloyd Girton was born on December 12, 1913 in Lorane, Oregon, United States. Son of John Pryor H. and Gertrude (Stephenson) Humphreys.
Bachelor of Science, University Oregon, 1935. Master of Arts, Indiana University, 1936. Doctor of Philosophy, Stanford University, 1938.
Born in Lorane, Oregon, Humphreys earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon in 1935, a master"s from Indiana University in 1936, where he first learned about factor analysis, then received his doctorate at Stanford in 1938, studying under Ernest Hilgard. His dissertation on the partial reinforcement effect (or the Humphreys effect), is considered a classic in the field His first position was at Northwestern University (1939–1945).
He was a Carnegie Fellow in Anthropology (1941–1942, Columbia University) during that time, then taught at the University of Washington (1946–1948) and Stanford (1948–1952).
He then took a post as Research Director, Personnel Laboratory, for the United States Air Force (1951–1957). He then spent the remainder of his career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1957–1984).
Humphreys argued that much psychological research fails to replicate because of inadequate sample sizes, because correlations fluctuate when Ns are small. His own empirical research typically involved large-scale longitudinal studies such as Project Talent.
He deemed a general intelligence test ‘‘the single most important test that can be administered for vocational guidance purposes’’ (Humphreys, 1985, p 211).
He also coined the concept "inadequate learning syndrome" (ILS) and argued it was a more important social problem than the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome epidemic (Humphreys, 1988). Amid the controversy generated by publication of The Bell Curve in 1994, Humphreys wrote a target article (Humphreys, 1994), which stimulated a series of comments by a number of prominent scholars in the field He generated further controversy by accepting funding from the Pioneer Fund.
He was also one of 52 signatories on "Mainstream Science on Intelligence," an editorial written by Linda Gottfredson and published in the Wall Street Journal, which defended the findings on intelligence in The Bell Curve.
Member of committee on techniques for the enhancement of human performance National Research Council,1985-1988. Member science advisory group for Project A and Building the Career Force of Army Research Institute, 1982-1993. Consultant RGI, Inc. Served from Second lieutenant to captain United States Army Air Force, 1942-1945.
Member American Association for the Advancement of Science (chairman of the section I 1962-1963, vice president 1963, council 1974-1977, chairman of the section J 1979-1980), Psychometric Society (president 1959-1960), Psychonomic Society (chairman governing board 1962-1963), Society Experimental Psychologists, American Psychological Society, College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Graduate Training Depts. Psychology (chairman 1962-1966), Phi BetaKappa, Sigma Xi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Phi Delta Kappa, Delta Upsilon.
Married Dorothy Jane Windes, December 27, 1937 (deceased July 12, 1995). Children: John Daniel, Michael Stephenson, Margaret Anne, Susan Jeanne.