Raymond Bernard Cattell (1905.03.20-1998.02.02) [edit] Introduction to Raymond Cattell

Raymond Cattell (Raymond Cattell) Bernard Cattell (1905.03.20-1998.02.02), a British and American psychologist, was the first to apply factor analysis to study personality. He was born in Staffordshire, England and died in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

When he was 9 years old, Britain entered World War I, an event that had a major impact on his life. Witnessing hundreds of wounded being treated in a nearby house that had been converted into a hospital reminded him that life might be short and that a man should try his best to do more. As a result, a sense of urgency about his work characterized Cattell's entire academic career.

Cattell entered King's College London for education in 1921, majoring in physics and chemistry, and received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in 1924. Throughout his college years, he became increasingly concerned with social problems and increasingly felt that his background in the natural sciences was ineffective in solving them.

After graduation, he entered the Graduate School of the University of London, majoring in literature and philosophy. While in graduate school, he was deeply influenced by C. Spearman, the founder of factor analysis, and received a doctorate in psychology from the University of London in 1929. Cattell found it difficult to find professionally relevant jobs, so he embraced what he called "marginal" occupations.

From 1926 to 1932, he served as a lecturer at the University of Exeter, England. From 1932 to 1937, he founded and chaired the Children's Counseling Center in Leicester, England, and engaged in clinical work. In 1937, the famous American psychologist E. Thorndike invited him to work at Teachers College, Columbia University, for one year, and then at Clark University for three years. From 1941 to 1944, he taught psychology at Harvard University, and from 1946 to 1973, he served as professor of the Department of Psychology and director of the Personality Measurement Experimental Center at Illinois State University. In 1978 he settled in Colorado and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Hawaii.

In 1939 he received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of London, and in 1945, at the age of 40, he was appointed director and research professor of the Laboratory of Personality and Group Analysis at the University of Illinois. His work in the Personality and Group Analysis Laboratory made him a world-recognized personality theorist. In 1992, the American Psychological Association decided to award him a Lifetime Achievement Award in Psychological Science, but he refused to accept the award because he believed he had been defamed.

Cattell has been applying the statistical method of factor analysis to the study of personality psychology. Most of his writings are based on factor analysis, and his personality theory is a factor analysis or personality statistical method. His factor analytic research culminated in his 1966 book "Handbook of Multivariate Experimental Psychology." Many of his works on personality were written from a factor analysis perspective.

He believes that the basic unit of personality is traits, and it is necessary to classify personality traits, just like the periodic table of chemical elements. He believes that the elements of personality are those traits or behaviors that usually change together (increase and decrease together). In other words, traits refer to some behaviors that are related to each other. The method of discovering traits is factor analysis. Cattell tried to find these personality units, or traits, through his own research.

Cattell focused on the following issues in his research: examining the determinants of traits and their development; whether personality traits have structure. The basic conclusion of his research is that personality is estimated to be two-thirds determined by the environment and one-third determined by heredity; he found that traits have considerable stability as an individual ages; personality is dynamic There is a side of change and stability.

[Editor] Raymond Cattell's academic contributions

One of Raymond Cattell's major contributions was "Cartell's Sixteen Personalities" first published in 1949 Factor Scale". The scale is recognized as the authoritative personality test method and is currently in its fifth edition and has been translated into more than 40 languages.

This scale was introduced into China in 1979 and revised into a Chinese version by professional organizations. It is known as one of the "top ten psychological assessments in the world" in the field of psychological measurement.

"Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF)" mainly assesses sixteen independent personality factors of an individual. The scale has 187 self- State the questions. These questions are arranged in turn in sequence. They can best measure the gregariousness (A), intelligence (B), stability (C), persistence (E), and excitability (F). , Perseverance (G), Daring (H), Sensitivity (I), Skepticism (L), Fantasy (M), Sophistication (N), Worry (O), Experimentation (Q1), Characteristics of 16 factors including independence (Q2), self-discipline (Q3) and tension (Q4).

The formula derived from the test statistics can calculate the dual factors in a person's personality characteristics, such as adaptability and anxiety, introversion and extroversion, emotionality and tranquility and alertness, timidity and decisiveness, etc. In addition, the scale can also calculate the characteristics of certain types of personality factors, such as the personality factors of mentally healthy people, the personality factors of professional and accomplished people, the personality factors of creative people and the ability to grow in new environments. Personality factors of ability.

Another of his contributions was the theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence proposed in 1963. Based on the analysis of intelligence test results, he divided intelligence into two categories: one is fluid intelligence, which refers to general learning and behavioral abilities, measured by tests of speed, energy, and rapid adaptation to new environments, such as logical reasoning. Tests, memory span tests, abstract problem solving and information processing speed tests, etc. The main function of fluid intelligence is to learn new knowledge and solve novel problems, and it is mainly affected by human biological factors. The second is crystallized intelligence (Crystallized Intelligence), which refers to acquired knowledge and skills, measured by tests such as vocabulary, social reasoning, and problem solving. Crystallized intelligence measures knowledge and experience, which is what people have learned. Its main function is to process familiar things. , processed questions. Crystallized intelligence is partly determined by education and experience, and partly the result of the development of early fluid intelligence.

[edit] The writings of Raymond Cattell

Cattell is a prolific author, having published more than 500 academic papers, 55 monographs, and more than 30 Standardized testing. He published his first paper in 1928 when he was 23 years old. Cattell's writings are not only impressive in quantity but equally impressive in quality.

Main works:

"Handbook of Multiple Experimental Psychology: 1966"

"Types and Measurement of Personality"

"Personality Research Introduction"

"Personality"

"A Systematic Study of Theory and Facts"

"Personality and Motivation: Structure and Measurement"

"Personality and Social Psychology"

"Scientific Analysis of Personality"

"Personality and Learning Theory: A Systematic Theory of Maturity and Structured Learning"

"Personality and Learning Theory: Personality Structure in the Environment"