Harris, Dale B.

Dr. Dale B. Harris became a member of the faculty of the Pennsylvania State University in 1959 when he was appointed professor of psychology in charge of the educational-developmental section of the Department of Psychology. He became head of the department in 1963. He retired on July 1, 1978 after 19 years of service with the rank of professor emeritus of psychology and human development.

From the description of Dale B. Harris papers, 1932-1990. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 310422360

Dr. Dale Harris, a native of Elkhart, Indiana, graduated from DePauw University in 1935, going on to earn both an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. During World War II, he was on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. After the completion of his doctoral studies, Dr. Harris served as a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. He directed the Institute of Child Welfare until he left in 1959 to join the faculty at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Harris is best known for his research and text, Children's Drawing as Measures of Intellectual Maturity, published in1963 with Florence Goodenough. His research and interests in child development (maturational models), behavior and delinquency, law enforcement and corrections, and family yielded many publications. He was the editor from 1964 to 1971 of the Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography. Dr. Harris was the chairman of the Penn State Department of Psychology from 1962 to 1967. From 1968 to 1969, Dr. Harris was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at the Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan. He retired 1 July 1978, after 19 years of service with the rank of professor emeritus of psychology and human development.

Florence Laura Goodenough, pioneer in psychology and the study of gifted children was born 6 August 1886, in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. She graduated in 1908 from the Millersville Normal School, and earned a B.S. (1920) and M.A. from Columbia University under Leta Hollingworth, while she served as director of research for the Rutherford and Perth Amboy, New Jersey, public schools. There she did her first research studies, collecting data on children's drawings. In 1921, Goodenough began research work with Lewis Terman at Stanford University, participating in studies of gifted children. In 1924, she left for Minneapolis, Minnesota, to work in the Minneapolis Child Guidance Clinic and as an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota (1925-1947). Goodenough's first book was titled Measurement of Intelligence by Drawings (1925). Until this time, nonverbal I.Q. tests were low in validity and reliability, or too long to give. Goodenough developed the Draw a Man Test, in which each child tested was given ten minutes to draw a man, and she developed criteria for rating each drawing. Results correlated with written I.Q. tests and the Draw a Man Test was widely used until the 1950s.

From the description of Dale B. Harris and Florence Goodenough children's drawings, and microfilmed papers of Florence Goodenough, 1919-1924. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 742673791