Martin Orne

Martin Theodore Orne, M.D., Ph.D. (October 16, 1927, Vienna, Austria – February 11, 2000, Paoli, Pennsylvania) was a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Orne is best known for his pioneering research into demand characteristics, illustrating the weakness of informing participants that they are taking part in a psychology experiment and yet expecting them to act normally. He is also noted for his involvement with the poet Anne Sexton, and with the trials of Patty Hearst and Kenneth Bianchi. He was also well known as a researcher in the field of hypnosis.

Orne was born on October 16, 1927 to Dr. Frank Orne, a surgeon and Martha Brunner, a psychiatrist in Vienna, Austria. His family moved from Austria to escape the Nazi Anschluss and relocated to New York City in 1938.

He studied at the Bronx High School of Science. He later moved to Boston and studied at Harvard University. Orne enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II and returned to Harvard afterward. He graduated cum laude in 1948. While at Harvard, he studied under the psychologists Henry Murray and Robert White. Orne received his M.D. degree from Tufts University Medical School in 1955, with a residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts Mental Health Center. In 1958, he received his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University.

Orne was married to psychologist, Emily Carota Orne, whom he collaborated with throughout his career. He had two children, Tracey and Franklin. Orne died of cancer on February 11, 2000 in Paoli, Pennsylvania; he was 72.

...
Wikipedia