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Abram Amsel
EricEnfermero: added Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science using HotCat
'''Abram Amsel''' (1922 - 2006) was a Canadian-born American psychologist and faculty member at several universities. A member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] and a Fellow of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], he conducted influential research into concepts of reward and nonreward in learning and behavior. Later, his research shifted from [[Behaviorism|learning theory]] to [[neurobiology]].
==Early life==
Amsel was born in [[Montreal]] on December 4, 1922.<ref name="Papini">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> He earned undergraduate and master's degrees in psychology from [[Queen's University]] (1944) and [[McGill University]] (1946), respectively. He completed his Ph.D. at the [[University of Iowa]], where his mentor was learning and motivation researcher [[Kenneth Spence]], who had been a protégé of [[Clark L. Hull]] at [[Yale University]].<ref name=Klein/> Shortly after he finished the Ph.D., Amsel completed research that expanded upon the Hull-Spence theory of learning and motivation. Amsel noted a phenomenon that he called ''frustrative nonreward'' in which a subject is expecting a reward but does not receive one. In this circumstance, nonreward becomes [[aversives|aversive]].
==Career==
He presented his findings on frustrative nonreward at a conference in 1951, but ''[[Psychological Review]]'' rejected the ideas for publication, with one reviewer noting that he was loathe "to revive Hullian theory". Seven years later, the paper was published in ''[[Psychological Bulletin]]'', where it had become the journal's second-most cited paper by the late 1980s.<ref name=Rashotte/> Amsel wrote a book on the concept, ''Frustration Theory: An Analysis of Dispositional Learning and Memory''.<ref name="Aid"></ref> Later in his career, Amsel's research interests evolved from learning theory toward neurobiology as he worked to understand developmental differences in his young and mature rat subjects.<ref name=Rashotte/>
Amsel held faculty appointments at [[H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College|Newcomb College]] (1948-60), the [[University of Toronto]] (1960-69) and the [[University of Texas at Austin]] (1969-99). Amsel replaced Spence at Texas after the latter died of cancer.<ref name=Klein/> He conducted research that clarified the role of nonreward and frustration on [[classical conditioning]].<ref name="Klein">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> Amsel founded the journal ''Animal Learning & Behavior'' in 1973; it is now known as ''[[Learning & Behavior]]''.<ref name="Rashotte">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> He was elected chairman of the board of the [[Psychonomic Society]] in 1978.<ref name="Alcalde">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
He became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1951 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1992.<ref name="AAAS">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref><ref name="NAS"></ref> He died of [[Alzheimer's disease]] in Austin on August 31, 2006.<ref name=Papini/> Amsel was survived by his wife Tess and their children.<ref name=Papini/> Amsel had a [[Jaguar Cars|Jaguar]] in his garage for many years; he said that the smell of the leather reminded him of when he was dating Tess.<ref name=Klein/>
==References==
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:Queen's University alumni]]
[[Category:McGill University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Iowa alumni]]
[[Category:Tulane University faculty]]
[[Category:University of Toronto faculty]]
[[Category:University of Texas at Austin faculty]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science]]
==Early life==
Amsel was born in [[Montreal]] on December 4, 1922.<ref name="Papini">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> He earned undergraduate and master's degrees in psychology from [[Queen's University]] (1944) and [[McGill University]] (1946), respectively. He completed his Ph.D. at the [[University of Iowa]], where his mentor was learning and motivation researcher [[Kenneth Spence]], who had been a protégé of [[Clark L. Hull]] at [[Yale University]].<ref name=Klein/> Shortly after he finished the Ph.D., Amsel completed research that expanded upon the Hull-Spence theory of learning and motivation. Amsel noted a phenomenon that he called ''frustrative nonreward'' in which a subject is expecting a reward but does not receive one. In this circumstance, nonreward becomes [[aversives|aversive]].
==Career==
He presented his findings on frustrative nonreward at a conference in 1951, but ''[[Psychological Review]]'' rejected the ideas for publication, with one reviewer noting that he was loathe "to revive Hullian theory". Seven years later, the paper was published in ''[[Psychological Bulletin]]'', where it had become the journal's second-most cited paper by the late 1980s.<ref name=Rashotte/> Amsel wrote a book on the concept, ''Frustration Theory: An Analysis of Dispositional Learning and Memory''.<ref name="Aid"></ref> Later in his career, Amsel's research interests evolved from learning theory toward neurobiology as he worked to understand developmental differences in his young and mature rat subjects.<ref name=Rashotte/>
Amsel held faculty appointments at [[H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College|Newcomb College]] (1948-60), the [[University of Toronto]] (1960-69) and the [[University of Texas at Austin]] (1969-99). Amsel replaced Spence at Texas after the latter died of cancer.<ref name=Klein/> He conducted research that clarified the role of nonreward and frustration on [[classical conditioning]].<ref name="Klein">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> Amsel founded the journal ''Animal Learning & Behavior'' in 1973; it is now known as ''[[Learning & Behavior]]''.<ref name="Rashotte">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> He was elected chairman of the board of the [[Psychonomic Society]] in 1978.<ref name="Alcalde">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
He became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1951 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1992.<ref name="AAAS">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref><ref name="NAS"></ref> He died of [[Alzheimer's disease]] in Austin on August 31, 2006.<ref name=Papini/> Amsel was survived by his wife Tess and their children.<ref name=Papini/> Amsel had a [[Jaguar Cars|Jaguar]] in his garage for many years; he said that the smell of the leather reminded him of when he was dating Tess.<ref name=Klein/>
==References==
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:Queen's University alumni]]
[[Category:McGill University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Iowa alumni]]
[[Category:Tulane University faculty]]
[[Category:University of Toronto faculty]]
[[Category:University of Texas at Austin faculty]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science]]
July 01, 2018 at 12:00PM
