Talk:Donald O. Hebb
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[edit] Which Watson?
The article states that "James Watson" was one of the people who motivated Hebb to pursue psychology. The disambiguation page for [James Watson] only refers to the co-discoverer of DNA as having anything to do with biology. Isn't it more likely that John B. Watson was the person of influence? --Jbergquist 09:56, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
Yes, obviously it was John B. Maybe the adjacent mention of William James influenced the editor. ;-) I've made the correction.4granite 05:02, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Sensory deprivation & CIA
I have removed a section that erroneously connected Hebb's sensory deprivation work with the CIA. This is a frequent mistake, and one that has recently been increased by misreadings and/or ambiguous wording during interviews with Alfred McCoy, author of a recent book on torture.
There is no evidence suggesting that Hebb was funded by the CIA, though the CIA most certainly became interested in the sensory deprivation experiments after the fact. There is often frequent confusion between Hebb's experiments (conducted in the 50's with undergraduate volunteers and funded by the Defense Research Board of Canada) and the later, independent, work of Ewen Cameron at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal. Cameron's work was funded by the CIA and included "psychic driving" (see Dr. D. Ewen Cameron and Psychic driving) experiments with LSD and shock therapy.
I am currently gathering sources and think that it would be a useful addition to the page to include a separate section on Hebb's sensory deprivation experiments, including clarifications on what sensory deprivation experiments Hebb did conduct or supervise, and later work based on his original experiments. --ElizabethFoley 22:00, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
I added a brief reference to this topic of sensory deprivation and interrogation, which cannot be simply missing from the entry (or it looks like what it is: someone removed a section that was there!). Actio (talk)
I am supposing that this article was originally submitted by a Canadian, or at least edited by one, which might account for why it seems a bit deaf to the debates roiling the APA in relation to psychologists' assisting in harsh interrogation in Guantanámo and CIA "black sites," debates that tend to invoke Hebb as the association's past president, who acknowledged being involved in research that may or may not have directly assisted in currently used, though possibly illegal, interrogation methods.Actio (talk)
[edit] high school in Chester
This previously read: "Although his rebellious attitude and disrespect for authority eventually resulted in his failing the 11th grade, he still managed to graduate." It hardly seems plausible that "his rebellious attitude and disrespect for authority" was the only or even the prime cause for his failure to pass Grade 11 when most of the students in the combined Grades 9, 10 and 11 failed. The quality of the teaching seems a more likely cause. Few passed. His younger and less rebellious brother failed Grade 9 the same year. (As a result of the lack of Grade 12 in Chester, Donald repeated Grade 11 while his brother moved to the Grade 10. The following year, then living in Dartmouth, Donald was in Grade 12 and his brother in Grade 11. The next year the two brothers started at Dalhousie University together because their father liked the idea of them starting together. Donald's brother thought it somewhat unfair that he was attending Dalhousie after only Grade 11 while his brother Donald had two years in Grade 11 plus Grade 12.) Hebbgd (talk) 18:48, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
