E. Lowell Kelly

Everett Lowell Kelly (November 15, 1905 – January 19, 1986) was an American clinical psychologist, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, president of the American Psychological Association (1954–55), and chairman of the Executive Committee for the Boulder Conference on Graduate Training in Clinical Psychology (1948–49).

Biography Kelly was born on November 15, 1905, in Kokomo, Indiana. In 1930, he earned his PhD in Psychology from Stanford University.

After graduating, Kelly worked as a high school principal in Taiban, New Mexico. Later, he became a member of the psychology faculty and director of admissions at the University of Hawaii, followed by the University of Connecticut.

From 1939 to 1942, Kelly worked as a member of the faculty and Director of the Psychological Clinic at Purdue University. While in the Navy, Kelly was credited with discovering a common cause of military aviation crashes: cadets could not judge their distance from a plane with only one tail light. He introduced the notion of having two lights at a standard distance apart. For his contributions during the war, he was awarded the Secretary of Navy's Letter of Commendation. His other focus was longitudinal research. Overall, he studied such varied phenomena as synesthesia, graphology, pharmacology, and apparent movement. Furthermore, Kelly developed criterion measures of the several tasks which clinical psychologists are expected to perform in their training and later careers. In recent years, however, his research has fallen under scrutiny due to its emphasis on distinct gender roles and gender stereotypes that were universally endorsed at that time. For instance, the questionnaires used asked women to assess their skills as "cooks" and "housemakers", while men were asked to rate themselves based on their capabilities as "providers" and "handymen". According to this model, clinical graduate students need to adhere to the scientific method in their applied practices. To do that, they need to complete monitored field work, receive research training, and attend seminars and lectures that strengthen their knowledge of psychology. This model argues that having sufficient knowledge and background in both research academia and applied practice enhances the psychologist's skills and abilities.

Personality Kelly, E. L. (1955). Consistency of the adult personality. American Psychologist, 10(11), 659. Kelly, E. L. (1940). A 36 trait personality rating scale. The Journal of Psychology, 9(1), 97–102. Kelly, E. L. (1941). Marital compatibility as related to personality traits of husbands and wives as rated by self and spouse. The Journal of Social Psychology, 13(1), 193–198. Kelly, E. L., & Fiske, D. W. (1951). The prediction of performance in clinical psychology. APA PsycNET. Retrieved 2016-03-15.

Marital compatibility Kelly, E. L. (1941). Marital compatibility as related to personality traits of husbands and wives as rated by self and spouse. The Journal of Social Psychology, 13(1), 193–198 Westoff, C. F., Sagi, P. C., & Kelly, E. L. (1958). Fertility through twenty years of marriage: A study in predictive possibilities. American Sociological Review, 23(5), 549–556.