(February 1st 1844- April 24th 1924) G. Stanley Hall (February 1st 1844- April 24th 1924)

Biography Hall was granted his Ph.D. in Psychology under William James and Henry P. Bowditch, the first Ph.D. in Psychology in America He began as a professor of psychology and pedagogics at Johns Hopkins University in 1882. Hall died in 1924

Relevance He was the first American to receive a Ph.D. in the field of psychology, the founder of the American Journal of Psychology, the first president of Clark University, the first and only person to get Sigmund Freud to guest lecture in the United States, and the first president of the APA. Hall is attributed with coining the phrase 'adolescence' to describe the period of development between puberty and adulthood.

Theories Hall believed that the pre-adolescent child develops to its best when it is not forced to follow constraints, but rather to go through the stages of evolution freely. He has more specific guidelines which will be described later on, but his reasoning revolves around activity levels, brain growth and development, and physical transitions at certain stages of life.

Experiments Most of his studies revolved around adolescent boys, and these are the main studies he held: The development of manhood through close supervision of the body, emphasizing exercise and team sports and minimizing draining academic study An education that drew upon and utilized the expression of (boy-stage) emotions through emphasis on loyalty, patriotism, and service A school program that kept boys as boys and discouraged precocity or assuming sexual adult roles at a young age. An administrative gaze schooled to watch youthful bodies

Linking theories to modern day Raising a child today under Hall’s theories would follow this timeline: Before age six: No structure or strict guidelines and the child would be allowed to live “in touch to their animal spirits”. At age eight: Child’s brain is at full size so formal education should begin and still not forced to face morals and obligations because their brains still cannot process such issues.

CONTINUED Final stage of adolescence: Before the age of highschool, when sexual development has begun, Hall suggested that boys and girls must be separated to optimize learning and minimize distraction. In the end of adolescence, learning should stop because it is not as effective and life skills should be the main priority.

Hall’s personal life G. Stanley Hall was not a father, but he was the only son of two modest, typical, midwest parents. Although Hall didn’t have personal experience on the field he studied, there was no shortage of study subjects, and research in a field of science does not necessarily require personal experience. Hall’s lack of personal experience does not discredit his scientific findings.

Our take on hall’s theologies The evidence behind Hall’s theories on how to raise children in certain stages of their childhood is sound scientifically. Theories cannot be proven, so there are no concrete rules in raising children. Hall’s theory (especially allowing your kids to act like animals) is a little too drastic for us, but his main ideas are something that we can stand behind.

Sources muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/hall.htm study.com/academy/lesson/g-stanley-hall-biography-theory-contributions.htm www.biography.com/people/g-stanley-hall-38409