Mike, Appreciate your information about Skinner vs. Miller relative to how they each were categorized relative to their scientific achievements. Clearly, since Miller is strongly recognized for his work on the brain and the pleasure centers, he logically could be listed within the field of biological sciences. In contrast, the fact that Skinner is psychology's premier behaviorist, to have had him listed under Biological Sciences is laughable. Since he was still alive, it's surprising he made no efforts to correct this designation. Check out the obituary for Skinner in the NYT's titled "B.F. Skinner, the Champion of Behaviorism, dies at age 86." It is amazingly fair, thorough and complimentary.
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/20/obituaries/b-f-skinner-the-champion-of-behaviorism-is-dead-at-86.html?pagewanted=all As you point out Mike, the political parties of administrations only seem relative to the number of honors given for achievement in the Behavioral & Social Sciences, with the three Democrat administrations averaging 4.7 nominations vs. the three Republicans averaging 3.3 nominations. Just as a side note, when might one of the premier climate change scientists be given any honor within the US for their scientific contributions? Probably only after all of our planet's icebergs have melted. Cheers, Joan [email protected] > On Wed, 06 Jan 2016 10:29:02 -0800, Joan Warmbold wrote: >>It would be interesting to compare the number of medals for scientific >>achievements have been bestowed during various administrations. >>It would not seem too cynical to suspect that respect that a particular >>administration has for science might influence this, would it? > > Maybe, but the situation may not be as simple as whether an > administration is friendly to science or not. Let's consider the > situation for NMS recipient in the "Behavioral & Social Sciences". > Consider the following: > > (1) According to the website for National Medal of Science, the > "Behavioral & Social Sciences" (BSS) was not officially recognized > until 1980 (Congress made it so; see: > https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/medal.jsp ). > > (2) However, in spite of BSS not being a valid category until 1980, > the list of NMS laureates in the list linked to below has as its > first entry in this category as Neal Miller in 1964. Skinner comes > in 1968. However, Neal Miller is officially in BSS while Skinner > is in "Biological Sciences" (note the footnote in the Wiki list). > IMHO, I think the NSF got it backwards for these two > > (3) So, if we group the people in BSS who received NMS during > different administrations, we get a list like the following: > NOTE: There are a total of 23 NMS laureates on the Wiki list > but it could be argued that others could be included such as > Allen Newell [1992; Bush] who got it for Math/Stat/CompSci > and Eric Kandel [1988; Reagan] who got it for Bio -- similar > arguments can be made for others) > > NMS given by: > Lyndon Johnson (D): 2 (Neal Miller, B.F. Skinner) > > Ronald Reagan (R): 3 (Herb Simon, Anne Anastasi, George Stigler, > Milton Friedman; Reagan had a thing for economists) > > George W.H. Bush(R): 4 (Leonid Hurwicz, Patrick Suppes, George Miller, > Eleanor Gibson) > > Bill Clinton (D): 7 (Robert K Merton, Roger Shepard, Paul Samuelson, > Bill Estes, William Julius Wilson, Robert Solow, Gary Becker; > NOTE:Clinton had someone else present the NMS for a few of these > folks, such as Veep Al Gore) > > George W. Bush(R): 3 (Duncan Luce, Kenneth Arrow, Gordon Bower) > > Barack Obama(D): 5 (Mike Posner, Mortimer Mishkin, Anne Treisman, > Robert Axelrod, Albert Bandura) > > Dems = 2 + 7 + 5 = 14 > Reps = 3 + 4 + 3 = 10 > > If we eliminate the pre-1980 NMS recipients and count Allen Newell > and Eric Kandel as part of the flock it becomes Dems 12 = Reps 12. > > Things that make one go "Hmmmm...." > > (4) For additional fun and games, one can download the list of all > recipients as an Excel file that contains names, affiliation, discipline > or > area medal was awarded, award year, area of Nobel Prize won (remember, > there is no Nobel prize for psychology), and, curiously, if the person > is deceased (not sure what the "final" date for this list is); see: > http://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/results.jsp?first_name=&award_year=&keyword=&d-49653-s=2&last_name=&state=all&action=sort_year&nobel_disc=all&affiliation=all&d-49653-o=2&discipline=all&d-49653-p=1 > > Altogether there are 498 recipients. One can always import the Excel > file into SPSS and then do various tests to see if there are significant > difference among all disciplines across different administration (you > folks know who you are). > > Gratuitous Sidenotes: > (A) NYU has 7 NMS recipients (in Bio and Math), last one in 2010. > (B) Eric Kandel and I used to have the same dentist (up at the Columbia > Medical Center; the dentist taught in the dental school). He also got > his > MD at the NYU Medical School. Curiously, Albert Sabin, developer of > the oral vaccine for polio, got the NMS but Jonas Salk who developed > the first vaccine for polio did not (both worked at the NYU; see: > https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NYU_School_of_Medicine_people#Notable_people > ) > . > Ignore guys like Agatston who created the "South Beach Diet". > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [email protected] > > >>Rick Froman wrote: >>> Behavioral Science is one of the categories. The list is here: >>> >>> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Medal_of_Science_laureates >>> >>> On Jan 5, 2016, at 8:23 PM, Gerald Peterson >>>> >>>> I learned that Bandura is getting the national medal of science....I >>>> Wonder how many psychologists have received this honor? > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752d0d&n=T&l=tips&o=47789 > or send a blank email to > leave-47789-49240.d374d0c18780e492c3d2e63f91752...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=47791 or send a blank email to leave-47791-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
