George K. Bennett
1958-59 Division 19 President
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By Kim Johnson*
George Kettner Bennett was born in 1904. Working under Clark L. Hull, Bennett received his PhD from Yale University in 1935. Bennett’s primary interest was in testing, and in 1936 he began working for The Psychological Corporation as Director of the Test Division, becoming president of The Psychological Corporation in 1947.
He published work regarding the construction and validation of selection tests, testing and privacy rights, and the best implementation of employment tests. Bennett also developed measures to test scientific aptitude and helped design automatic communication devices.
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While working at The Psychology Corporation, Bennett developed the Differential Aptitude Tests—a series of aptitude tests designed to measure an individual’s ability to learn and achieve in different areas. He also developed the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test, which was an assessment tool used to measure a candidate’s ability to perceive and understand the relationship between physical forces and mechanical principles in applied situations. He also authored the Stenographic Aptitude Test and coauthored the Short Employment Tests, the Fundamental Achievement Test, and Academic Promise Tests, as well as other tests in such areas as hand-tool dexterity, productive thinking, and college readiness.
Bennett was interested in the problem of differential prediction and in developing tests which were unbiased and fair. He also investigated sex differences in mechanical ability, as well as the differences between self-ratings and peer ratings on personality traits. Besides developing, validating, and refining tests, Bennett had a marked interest in ensuring the proper administration of these tests. He often stated his opinion that it is the responsibility of test-makers to check the policies of the purchasers of the tests to make sure someone qualified would be administering it, as the validity of the test depends so much on the skill of administration.
During World War II, Bennett served as a member of the Applied Psychology Panel of the Office of Scientific Research and Development.
Bennett was an APA fellow, President of the New York State Psychological Association, and Vice-Chairman of the Division of Anthropology and Psychology of the National Research Council. For two years he served as Secretary of the Industrial and Business Section, Section D, of the American Association for Applied Psychology (AAAP). The AAAP was an important player in the 1945 reorganization of APA. The five sections of AAAP were grandfathered in as five original chartered divisions of the new APA. The five divisions were: Clinical Psychology (Division 12); Consulting Psychology (Division 13); Industrial and Business Psychology (Division 14 – now the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology); Educational Psychology (Division 15) and Military Psychology (Division 19 – now the Society for Military Psychology). George Bennett was the ninth president of the Society for Military Psychology from 1958-1959 and earlier had been elected the third president of Division 14 in 1947.
In the later years of his career Bennett focused much of his attention on the growth in the field of industrial psychology and the direction in which psychological research and practice were going following World War II. He believed that the decade preceding the war had been a period of great growth in psychological techniques and measures, many of which were put to the test during the war years. According to Bennett, much was learned during the war years about personnel selection, training, promotion, leadership, and morale in both the military services and in civilian factories as well as. In Bennet’s opinion, one of the greatest outcomes of the war-time experience was that it was a time when psychologists, military service members, and industry officials had to work closely together. From this interaction, military and business leaders learned to trust the expertise and seek the advice of what Bennett facetiously referred to as “long-haired” psychologists. He stressed the importance of taking advantage of this opportunity to expand the application of psychology. George Bennett died in 1975.
References
Benjamin, L. T., Jr. (1997). The early presidents of Division 14: 1945-1954. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 35(2), 29-34.
Bennett, G.K. (1946). Checking the qualifications of purchasers of tests. American Psychologist, 1(8), 353-357.
Bennett, G. K. (1948). A new era in business and industrial psychology. Personnel Psychology, 1, 473-477.
Bennett, G.K. Testing job applicants from disadvantaged groups. Test Service Bulletin: The Psychological Corporation, 57, 1-5.
Johnson, K. (May 2016). A biography of George K. Bennett. Retrieved from https://www.siop.org/Portals/84/docs/Presidents/Bennett_George_K.pdf.
Bennett, G.K. (1946). Checking the qualifications of purchasers of tests. American Psychologist, 1(8), 353-357.
Bennett, G. K. (1948). A new era in business and industrial psychology. Personnel Psychology, 1, 473-477.
Bennett, G.K. Testing job applicants from disadvantaged groups. Test Service Bulletin: The Psychological Corporation, 57, 1-5.
Johnson, K. (May 2016). A biography of George K. Bennett. Retrieved from https://www.siop.org/Portals/84/docs/Presidents/Bennett_George_K.pdf.
* We are grateful to the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology for granting us permission to adapt Kim’s original biography of Dr. Bennett and for allowing us to use George Bennett’s picture.
