The Worm Runner's Digest (W.R.D.) was created in 1959 by biologist James V. McConnell [1] after his experiments with memory transfer in planarian worms generated a torrent of mail enquiries. [2] The W.R.D. published both satirical articles, such as "A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown", and scientific papers, the most famous of which, "Memory transfer through cannibalism in planarians", was a result of McConnell's RNA memory transfer experiments with planarian worms and was later published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry .
The title for the W.R.D., McConnell explained, was an extension of the psychological jargon that terms psychologists who work with rats "rat runners" and those who work with insects "bug runners." [3]
After complaints that the satirical articles and the scientific publications were not distinguishable, the satirical articles were printed upside down in the back half of the W.R.D. along with a topsy turvy back cover. In 1966, the title was changed to the Journal of Biological Psychology in an effort to make the publication more acceptable to the scientific community. [3]
The magazine ceased publication in 1979. [1] Articles from the Worm Runner's Digest have been compiled and printed in a number of anthologies, including Science, Sex, and Sacred Cows and The Worm Re-Turns.[ citation needed ]
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feelings, and motives. Psychology is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences. Biological psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience. As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near-death experiences, synchronicity, apparitional experiences, etc. Criticized as being a pseudoscience, the majority of mainstream scientists reject it. Parapsychology has also been criticized by mainstream critics for claims by many of its practitioners that their studies are plausible despite a lack of convincing evidence after more than a century of research for the existence of any psychic phenomena.
Popular psychology refers to the concepts and theories about human mental life and behavior that are supposedly based on psychology and are considered credible and accepted by the wider populace. The concept is cognate with the human potential movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Daryl J. Bem is a social psychologist and professor emeritus at Cornell University. He is the originator of the self-perception theory of attitude formation and change. He has also researched psi phenomena, group decision making, handwriting analysis, sexual orientation, and personality theory and assessment.
Planarians (triclads) are free-living flatworms of the class Turbellaria, order Tricladida, which includes hundreds of species, found in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial habitats. Planarians are characterized by a three-branched intestine, including a single anterior and two posterior branches. Their body is populated by adult stem cells called neoblasts, which planarians use for regenerating missing body parts. Many species are able to regenerate any missing organ, which has made planarians a popular model in research of regeneration and stem cell biology. The genome sequences of several species are available, as are tools for molecular biology analysis.
Margaret Floy Washburn, was a leading American psychologist in the early 20th century, was best known for her experimental work in animal behavior and motor theory development. She was the first woman to be granted a PhD in psychology (1894); the second woman, after Mary Whiton Calkins, to serve as president of the American Psychological Association (1921); and the first woman elected to the Society of Experimental Psychologists. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Washburn as the 88th most cited psychologist of the 20th century, tied with John Garcia, James J. Gibson, David Rumelhart, Louis Leon Thurstone, and Robert S. Woodworth.
The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom.
Memory transfer was a biological process proposed by James V. McConnell and others in the 1960s. Memory transfer proposes a chemical basis for memory termed memory RNA which can be passed down through flesh instead of an intact nervous system. Since RNA encodes information living cells produce and modify RNA in reaction to external events, it might also be used in neurons to record stimuli. This explained the results of McConnell's experiments in which planarians retained memory of acquired information after regeneration. Memory transfer through memory RNA is not currently a well-accepted explanation and McConnell's experiments proved to be largely irreproducible.
Elizabeth F. Loftus is an American psychologist who is best known in relation to the misinformation effect, false memory and criticism of recovered memory therapies.
James V. McConnell was an American biologist and animal psychologist. He is most known for his research on learning and memory transfer in planarians conducted in the 1950s and 1960s. McConnell also published several science fiction short stories in the mid-1950s.
Psychology is defined as "the scientific study of behavior and mental processes". Philosophical interest in the human mind and behavior dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Persia, Greece, China, and India.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to psychology:
Stanley Krippner is an American psychologist and parapsychologist. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1954 and M.A. (1957) and Ph.D. (1961) degrees from Northwestern University.
Neal Elgar Miller was an American experimental psychologist. Described as an energetic man with a variety of interests, including physics, biology and writing, Miller entered the field of psychology to pursue these. With a background training in the sciences, he was inspired by professors and leading psychologists at the time to work on various areas in behavioral psychology and physiological psychology, specifically, relating visceral responses to behavior.
Robert Allen Baker Jr. was an American psychologist, professor of psychology emeritus of the University of Kentucky, skeptic, author, and investigator of ghosts, UFO abductions, lake monsters and other paranormal phenomena. He is the editor of Psychology in the Wry, a collection of satire, and was formerly the co-editor of Approaches, a quarterly journal of contemporary poetry. His satirical and humorous verses have appeared in Vogue, Saturday Review, The Journal of Irreproducible Results, Worm-Runners' Digest, and other journals. He wrote 15 books and is a past fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
In psychology, anomalistic psychology is the study of human behaviour and experience connected with what is often called the paranormal, with few assumptions made about the validity of the reported phenomena.
Girardia dorotocephala is a species of dugesiid triclad native to North America. It has been accidentally introduced in Japan. Girardia dorotocephala is cannibalistic, which led to its usage in memory transfer experiments.
Rosalie Alberta Rayner was an undergraduate psychology student, then research assistant of Johns Hopkins University psychology professor John B. Watson, with whom she carried out the study of a baby later known as "Little Albert." In the 1920s, she published essays and co-authored articles and a book with Watson about child development and familial bonds.
The Psychology of the Occult is a 1952 skeptical book on the paranormal by psychologist D. H. Rawcliffe. It was later published as Illusions and Delusions of the Supernatural and the Occult (1959) and Occult and Supernatural Phenomena (1988) by Dover Publications. Biologist Julian Huxley wrote a foreword to the book.
Max Friedrich Meyer was the first psychology professor who worked on psychoacoustics and taught at the University of Missouri. He was the founder of the theory of cochlear function, and was also an advocate for behaviourism as he argued in his book "The Psychology of the Other". During his time at the University of Missouri, he opened an experimental lab for Psychology and taught a variety of courses. His lab focused on behavioural zeitgeist and the studies of nervous system and behaviour. Meyer eventually moved to Miami and lived there from 1932 until the late 1950s. Afterwards, he moved to Virginia to stay with his daughter until his death in 1967.