Kenneth Spence

Kenneth Wartinbee Spence (May 6, 1907 – January 12, 1967) was a prominent American psychologist known for both his theoretical and experimental contributions to learning theory and motivation. As one of the leading theorists of his time, Spence was the most cited psychologist in the 14 most influential psychology journals in the last six years of his life (1962 – 1967). A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Spence as the 62nd most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Personal history

Spence was born in Chicago on May 6, 1907. Spence spent his youth and adolescence there, attending West Hill High School in Notre Dame de Grace.

Spence eventually returned to McGill University and changed his major to psychology. The Differential Response in Animals to Stimuli Varying Within a Single Dimension, 1937. Continuous Versus Non-continuous Interpretations of Discrimination Learning, 1940.

Theoretical The Nature of Theory Construction in Contemporary Psychology, 1944. The Postulates and Methods of Behaviorism, 1948. Theoretical Interpretations of Learning, 1951. Mathematical Formulations of Learning Phenomena, 1952. Behavior Theory and Conditioning, 1956.

Eyelid conditioning Anxiety and Strength of the UCS as Determiners of the Amount of Eyelid Conditioning, 1951. Cognitive and Drive Factors in the Extinction of the Conditioned Eyeblink in Human Subjects, 1966.