Karl Spencer Lashley Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS Group 089

Scope and Content

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The Lashley Papers consist primarily of correspondence, manuscripts, notes, drawings, and lectures. There are, as well, some photographs of people and experiments. The correspondence is largely from the last five years of his life. Of special note is the correspondence with John B. Watson and George H. Bishop in which the correspondents reflect on their lives, associations, and theories. The Watson correspondence includes signed letters from Lashley to Watson that were given to Claire Lashley shortly after Watson's death. Also of note are the records related to the Fund for Neurobiology, material on the Yerkes Laboratories, and the correspondence with Kenneth Mark Colby. Part of the latter was published in Behavioral Science (Vol. 2, No. 3, July 1957). The manuscripts, lectures, and notes tend to be more representative of his career, but here, too, the early years are not reflected. Also included is a "Birthday Book" consisting of letters from colleagues, photographs, and memorabilia compiled and bound for his sixtieth birthday in 1950.

Of local interest is his file related to the Jacksonville College of Music to which he gave support. Lashley was an avid musician and occasionally played cello for the Jacksonville Symphony.

Dates

Creation: 1923-1958
Creation: Majority of material found within 1950-1958

Creator

Lashley, Karl S. (Karl Spencer), 1890-1958. (Person)

Access

The collection is open for research.

Biographical/Historical Note

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Karl Spencer Lashley was a pioneer in the field of physiological psychology. He was born June 7, 1890, in Davis, West Virginia. He received his A.B. from the University of West Virginia in 1910, his M.S. from Pittsburg in 1911, and his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1914. His degrees were all in the field of zoology, although he minored in psychology at Johns Hopkins. At Johns Hopkins, he worked with John B. Watson and the two conducted field research on the homing behavior of terns in the Dry Tortugas. His histological and surgical training took place at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. under Shepard Ivory Franz.

Lashley's academic career began at the University of Minnesota where he conducted research (and taught occasionally) from 1920 to 1926. He was a member of the University of Chicago faculty from 1926 to 1935. In 1935, Lashley was recruited by Harvard and was made research professor in neuropsychology in 1937. In 1942, he succeeded Robert M. Yerkes to head the Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology in Orange Park, Florida. Lashley retired from Harvard and Yerkes in 1955. He died on August 7, 1958, in Poitiers, France.

Lashley is best known for his work on learning ability and brain function, visual pattern-perception in rats, and his critique of behavioral theories. His research involved a variety of species, including humans, and he was an early supporter of ethology and comparative psychology. His published works include one monograph, Brain Mechanism and Intelligence (1929) and numerous articles.

Lashley married Edith Ann Baker in 1918. Edith died in 1948. In 1957, Lashley married Claire Imredy Schiller, widow of the Hungarian psychologist Paul Harkai Schiller.