Eleanor J. Gibson

Eleanor Jack Gibson (7 December 1910 – 30 December 2002) was an American psychologist who focused on reading development and perceptual learning in infants. Gibson began her career at Smith College as an instructor in 1932, publishing her first works on research conducted as an undergraduate student. Gibson was able to circumvent the many obstacles she faced due to the Great Depression and gender discrimination, by finding research opportunities that she could meld with her own interests. Gibson, with her husband James J. Gibson, created the Gibsonian ecological theory of development, which emphasized how important perception was because it allows humans to adapt to their environments. Perhaps her most well-known contribution to psychology was the "visual cliff," which studied depth perception in both human and animal species, leading to a new understanding of perceptual development in infants. Gibson was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1971, the National Academy of Education in 1972, and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977. In 1992, she was awarded the National Medal of Science. Early life Eleanor (née Jack) Gibson was born on December 7, 1910, in Peoria, Illinois. Her father, William Alexander Jack, was a businessman who specialized in the wholesale of hardware. Her mother, Isabel Grier Jack, was a homemaker who graduated from Smith College. Gibson had one sibling, Emily Jack, who was born in 1916. Family Gibson met her husband, James Gibson, at the end of her junior year at Smith while attending a graduation garden party. James was an assistant professor, and the day after meeting James, Gibson changed her schedule to include James’ advanced experimental psychology course. They married in September 1932. Their first child, James J. Gibson, Junior, was born in 1940. Their second child, Jean Gibson, was born in 1943. Gibson decided to take a break from research for a few years in order to focus on her children and teaching. Education Gibson began attending Smith College at the age of sixteen with the intention of studying languages. She graduated in 1931 with a B.A. degree. While at Smith, she became interested in experimental psychology. Gibson completed her master's degree at Smith, graduating in 1933. In 1935, Gibson began her Ph.D. at Yale University. While attending Yale, Gibson became interested in comparative psychology. Originally, Gibson had asked Robert Yerkes to be her dissertation advisor.