Let me start with a bit of personal history. When I started graduate school at
Cornell in the Fall of 1968, Ulric Neisser and Eric Lenneberg had both just
joined an already distinguished faculty that included both Eleanor and James
Gibson. Marty Seligman was a very junior (but very ambitious) assistant
professor, who ran our graduate student orientation session. All of these
individuals, I would submit, have published what would reasonably be considered
(modern) classic books in psychology. Here are the suggestions:
James Gibson's (1966, Houghton-Mifflin) "The senses considered as perceptual
systems." This book changed the face of perceptual research in the world and
continues to have important ripple effects in perceptual psychology. It led
more or less directly to another classic, David Marr's "Vision." The
retrospective on Gibson by Ken Nakayama in Psych Bull? (Rev?) during the APA
centennial year gives a flavor for the impact Gibson has had.
Eleanor Gibson's (1969, Appleton-Century-Crofts), "Principles of perceptual
learning and development." This book was a landmark event when it was published
and the principles Gibson proposed have generally stood the test of time over
the past 30 years of time, generating tons of developmental research.
Eric Lenneberg's (1967, Wiley) "Biological foundations of language." A central
exposition of the Chomskian/Lennebergian position that language is a uniquely
human capability. Whether you ultimately buy Lenneberg's arguments or not, this
book is central to the language origins debate.
Ulric Neisser's (1967, Appleton-Century-Crofts) "Cognitive psychology." Howard
Gardner cites Neisser's book as the first modern cognitive psychology text. A
groundbreaker in its time. If psychology eventually becomes "cognitive science"
(as some have predicted), it will be this book that set the tone for that
paradigm shift.
Seligman's (19XX?) "Learned helplessness" has been so widely cited that it
needs very little introduction to this list.
(So, with all these illustrious models and mentors, why ain't I famous???)
Pat Cabe
**************************************************
Patrick Cabe, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
One University Drive
Pembroke, NC 28372-1510
(910) 521-6630
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
