Obituary: J. P. Guilford (1897–1987)

Joy Paul Guilford, known to his friends as J.P., died of natural causes on November 26, 1987, at the UCLA Medical Center. He was 90 years old. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, his daughter, Joan S. MeGuire, three grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. In 1924, Guilford entered the PhD program at Cornell University, where he studied with such giants in the history of psychology as E. B. Titchener, Kurt Kottka, Harry Helson, and Karl Dallenbach. Guilford immersed himself in psychophysics and other classical topics in the experimental psychology of the times, publishing 5 articles before earning a PhD degree in 1927. His doctoral thesis showed that variations in reported sensory experience with weak stimuli should not be attributed to fluctuations in attention as was commonly supposed at the time. A list of honors and awards are stated. He had a profound impact on psychology as a teacher, scientist, and writer. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)