Psychologists of the 1970s

The 1970s were a time of transition in culture, art and science, and this was especially true in the field of psychology. While there was much important work being done during this experimental decade, the work of four particular psychologists during this period influenced society in ways that continue to resonate.

Jean Piaget

• Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget is best known for his work on the developmental process, which he divided into four stages. Although Piaget was in his 70s during the 1970s, it was during this decade that the theories he developed earlier in his career became widely embraced by American and European educators. Piaget's stages led to a wholesale change in education curricula, with education shifting from the mere teaching of information to educating children in ways that are appropriate to the particular development stage they're in. Piaget's influence can be seen in the work of psychologists such as Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, Lawrence Kohlberg and James Fowler. Beyond the field of psychology, Piaget was credited by philosopher Thomas Kuhn as influencing his groundbreaking theory of paradigm shifts.

Arthur Janov

• Based on work he had been doing throughout the 1960s, Dr. Arthur Janov introduced a radical new form of therapy outlined in his 1970 book, "The Primal Scream." The book became a best-seller, ultimately selling more than a million copies. Janov theorized that a patient's physical and mental ailments are inextricably linked to early childhood trauma. Janov encouraged his patients to regress back to childhood to re-experience the pain they were suppressing, with therapy characterized by patients' animal-like screams. An early adherent of Janov's theories was rock star John Lennon, whose raw 1970 solo album "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" was heavily influenced by therapy Lennon was undergoing with Janov at the time.

Elizabeth Loftus

• In 1974, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus co-authored a paper entitled "Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction," which presented research supporting her theory that the memory is far from reliable when it comes to accurate recollection. According to Loftus, the human mind is both fragile and inventive, and incidents of trauma can cause the mind to create "false memories" that didn't actually occur. This remains a controversial area within the field of psychology. Because of her research, Loftus became a sought-after expert witness in more than 200 trials. Typically, her testimony was used to discredit the accuser's eyewitness testimony by illustrating how testimony could be based on false memories. Throughout the ensuing decades, Loftus has appeared on numerous TV talk shows, and even testified at the trial of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy.

Philip Zimbardo

• In 1971, Stanford psychologist Philip Zimbardo led one of psychology's most famous experiments, the Stanford Prison Experiment. In this study, Zimbardo and his colleagues set up a mock prison, with student volunteers split into groups of prisoners or guards. The 24-hour-a-day experiment provided evidence that many of the students who were categorized as guards displayed a tendency to abuse their power over the prisoners, treating them in a brutal, inhumane manner. Zimbardo's work was groundbreaking in that it revealed how circumstances and environment could make an otherwise "good" person behave in a way some would characterize as evil.