author
Robert Mearns Yerkes
1876–1956
A pioneering figure in American psychology, this researcher helped shape both intelligence testing and the scientific study of animal behavior. His work with primates left a lasting mark on comparative psychology, even as parts of his legacy remain deeply controversial today.
2 Audiobooks
The Dancing Mouse: A Study in Animal Behavior
by Robert Mearns Yerkes
The Mental Life of Monkeys and Apes: A Study of Ideational Behavior
by Robert Mearns Yerkes
About the author
Born in Pennsylvania in 1876, Robert Mearns Yerkes became an American psychologist known for bringing a strongly biological approach to the study of mind and behavior. He studied at Ursinus College, earned his Ph.D. at Harvard, and later taught there before continuing his career at Yale.
Yerkes is especially remembered for two major areas of work: intelligence testing and comparative psychology. During World War I, he played a leading role in the U.S. Army's large-scale mental testing program, and he also became known for research on animal behavior, including the Yerkes-Dodson law developed with John Dillingham Dodson.
Later in life, he focused heavily on primates and helped establish a major laboratory for primate research that was eventually named in his honor. At the same time, modern readers should know that his career was also tied to eugenics, making his historical reputation important but complicated.