Paterson, Donald G. (Donald Gildersleeve), 1892-1961

Donald Gildersleeve Paterson was born on January 18, 1892 in Columbus, Ohio to Robert Paterson and Rosatha Gildersleeve. Both of Donald’s parents were deaf and communicated with their five children via finger spelling and American Sign Language. Donald’s fluency in American Sign Language played an important role in his early career at Ohio State University where he earned both his B.A. in 1914 and M.A. degrees in 1916. While there, he studied under Rudolf Pintner, whose lectures on abnormal psychology strongly influenced him.

Under Pintner’s direction, Paterson administered intelligence tests to deaf children. His fluency in American Sign Language enabled him to communicate with his subjects and establish that the Binet tests were not applicable to the deaf community. Paterson’s work with the deaf led to the development of the first non-language performance tests. This fieldwork enabled him to master the complex process of constructing standardized psychological tests while still an undergraduate. Together Pintner and Paterson wrote 15 articles and a pioneering book, A Scale of Performance Tests (published in 1917). In 1916, Paterson left Ohio and accepted a position as instructor under Walter Hunter at the University of Kansas.

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