Walter Van Dyke Bingham

Walter Van Dyke Bingham (1880–1952) was an applied and industrial psychologist who made significant contributions to intelligence testing. A pioneer in applied psychology, Bingham got his start in experimental psychology, receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago under James R. Angell. Bingham went from Dartmouth in 1915 to organize the Division of Applied Psychology at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. When war came to the United States, Bingham was recruited by Robert Yerkes as a member of a small group that developed the Army Alpha and Beta tests. During World War I Bingham served as executive secretary of the committee on classification of personnel in the U.S. Army, and later in the war served as lieutenant colonel in the Personnel Branch of the Army General Staff. From 1940 to 1947 Bingham was chief psychologist of the Adjutant General's Office of the War Department, serving as consultant or advisor to the Surgeon General, the Army General Staff, and the Secretary of Defense. Walter Bingham’s contribution on the army classification methods paved the development of the field of industrial psychology. Bingham carried out editorial responsibilities for several journals and was the author of over 200 articles and books. His "Aptitude and Aptitude Testing" (1937/1942) is a classic in the field.

Walter Van Dyke Bingham was born in Swan Lake City, Iowa to Lemuel and Martha Bingham. Deemed an exceptional student early on, Bingham skipped the 3rd and 4th grades, graduating high school at the age of 16. He was an industrious youth, selling enough popcorn at the train station to pay his way to Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair. Upon graduating from high school, Walter took a job as a rodman on the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway. His first job outside of the home was a printer’s devil, inking forms for the weekly edition of the Emmet County Republican. Bingham was accepted to Beloit College in Wisconsin, graduating with honors in 1901 at the age of twenty. For a time, he taught mathematics and physics at Beloit Academy and Elgin High School. Bingham went on to study at Harvard University, receiving a master's degree in 1907. He continued his scholarship at both Harvard, working in Hugo Münsterberg’s lab under the direction of Edwin B. Holt, and The University of Chicago under the direction of James Angell, receiving two doctoral degrees in 1908. His dissertation, entitled, “Studies in Melody and Movement” was based on vast experimentation examining the psychophysiological effects of melody on humans. Under Angell, psychology became firmly established as an empirical subject using experimental methods. He developed a functionalist theory of psychological processes and mind-body relationships, specifically, the status accorded to the study of reflexive consciousness as well as physiological status. Similarly, Edwin B. Holt’s Industrial/Organizational approach was also heavily based in experimentation. He looked at problems with monotony, attention and fatigue, physical and social influences on the working power, the effects of advertising, and the future development of economic psychology. Each of the two men mentoring Bingham had profound influence on Bingham’s career and research trajectory. After receiving his doctoral degree, Bingham took a postdoctoral position as a teacher’s assistant to Edward Thorndike at Teacher’s College of Columbia University. In 1915, after serving as an assistant professor at Dartmouth College, he was invited to Carnegie Institute of Technology to create a unit that would use psychology to help students with career choices. While at Carnegie he embarked on his pioneering venture of using psychology as a tool to help clarify the problems of some of the large industries in the Pittsburgh area. At the same time, with the founding of a division of applied psychology, he endeavored to provide instruction for students planning careers in industrial management and other fields where success depended in some measure on the ability to understand and influence people. He hoped the instruction would enable such students to have a better understanding of human behavior. This work antedated such well-known historical developments in applied psychology as the Committee on Classification of Personnel in the army in 1917−1918 and the formation in 1919−1923 of the Scott Company, the first personnel consulting firm of applied psychologists. Bingham created the Bureau of mental tests and in 1916, an umbrella organization, the Division of Applied Psychology which developed into the first organized academic/industry cooperative personnel research program.

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