| Description | CDR sound recording of an interview with Professor Richard L. Gregory (1923-2010), CBE, HonFBPsS, DSc, FRSE, FRS, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, for the British Psychological Society's Oral History project.
The interview was conducted by Julie Perks in November 2008.
The following summary is by way of introduction to the full recording held at the British Psychological Society's History of Psychology Centre, London.
Performers:
Richard Gregory (RG)
Julie Perks (JP)
Topics covered:
Running order:
JP begins the interview by asking if there were any early experiences which predisposed RG to a career in psychology
RG speaks of his early interest in astronomy (his father was an astronomer), perception, his interest in vision, reading philosophy at Cambridge, his supervisor at Cambridge Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein [at length], his life before Cambridge, time in the RAF (including his RAF work on radar), his posting to Canada and his interest in electronic gadgets.
JP asks RG what sort of things he was reading at this stage of his life
RG talks of Greek philosophy and philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and Hume before moving on to speak of his interest in instrumentation.
RG talks of Sir Frederic Bartlett, MRC laboratory in Cambridge, his friend at Cambridge Edmund Hick, his involvement with Hick's experiment 'on the rate of gain of information' [Hick, 1952] and Hick's law.
JP asks RG how he was recording reaction times in the 1950s
RG speaks of pen and pencil strips, electrical recorders and how he invented and made a recorder called the Gregory-Russell recorder
RG talks of his students including Anne Treisman, his contemporary students, Michael Argyle, John Ryan and the Cambridge psychology department.
In response to JP's question RG speaks of his first experiments as an undergraduate on cybernetics, machines that could learn, and his work with Gordon Pask
RG speaks of his RAF scholarship to Cambridge, how he worked at Cambridge for 20 years, his fellowships at Cambridge and his students at Cambridge.
RG talks of his time at Edinburgh (5 years), his move to Bristol, MRC support, his time at Bristol, his research professorship (Bristol), and his research students including Jim Howe.
JP asks RG what were the main psychological issues which faced him in his early days of teaching
RG speaks of cybernetics, brain and machine, AI, cyber control, Alice Hinde?, his work on intelligence, Sir Frederic Bartlett, Kenneth Craik, brain and mind and electrical engineering approach.
In answer to JP's question concerning RG's path after his initial interest in perception RG talks of his work on illusions, his interest in individual differences, visual illusions, hearing, how he developed a hearing aid which he was unable to manufacture and the hearing aid industry at the time.
RG speaks of his work in AI, maths, pre-computer days and the 1960s and 1970s
RG talks of his later interests including his continued work with AI and computer issues (at the time).
RG talks of his links with professional associations including the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Royal Institution (George Porter), philosophical meetings, the Experimental Psychology Society, the positive influence on him of various scientific societies.
RG speaks of conferences including an early conference on the mechanisation of thought processes, people he met at conferences including Warren McCulloch, code breaking and the enigma code, Cambridge Discussion group, Oliver Zangwill and Bill Thorpe.
RG talks of his relationship with Heads of Department including Oliver Zangwill, Larry Weiskrantz, the psychology department in cambridge, neuropsychology, neurology, not working with rats and mathematical theories of learning.
RG returns to speaking about conferences (travel and meeting people) before talking of his enjoyment of teaching and playing music.
RG speaks about the books which have had the greatest influence on him such as William James (Principles of Psychology), Hermann von Helmholtz work in vision, Donald Hebb (The Organisation of Behaviour) and J.J.Gibson before speaking about his academic friendship with Brian Rogers.
RG speaks of recent books and his current interest in an 18th century mathematician called Baylis, a Japanese Neuroscientist Kenji Doyah, probabilities about illusions and computing logic.
RG speaks of his regret that he didn't spend enough time in college life and gives his views on being a psychologist before speaking of his family life.
In answer to JP's question on why do you think psychology has grown RG speaks of Frederick Bartlett and psychology's involvement with emotions and consciousness.
JP asks RG to give his predictions for the future of psychology
RG talks of how psychology has broadened, cognitive psychology, the benefits of new technology on psychology and gives his views on the increase of females within psychology.
RG speaks of his regret that his hearing aid was not manufactured and how he did not pursue more of his inventions.
RG talks of his ideas on perception and illusion as his biggest contribution to psychology along with distortion illusions, the brain before talking about ethical issues within psychology.
RG moves on to speak of publishing, his journals, the changes in publishing technology, editorail boards, his publisher and his book 'Oxford Companion to the Mind'
RG speaks of perception and art, art projects, science in art and conceptual art before naming 'Mind in Science' as his favourite (authored) book.
The interview ends however RG returns to the microphone to add that of the most interesting thing he has done for psychologists was the study of Sydney Bradford with Jean Wallace and how RG owes him a great debt.
Ends.
Total Running Time: c 97mins
An interview with R.L.Gregory for the Brain Science Briefing series (1973) is available, ref: AUD/001/44/01
Obituary published in The Telegraph newspaper 24th May 2010.
A Celebration by Sue Blackmore, The Guardian newspaper 30th May 2010 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/30/richard-gregory-psychologist-celebration
Summary by Mike Maskill, BPS Archivist. |
| RunTime | On one CDR disk, running time c 97 minutes |
| AdminHistory | Date of Birth: 24/07/1923
Date of Death: 17/05/2010
University and Professional Training:
M.A. (Cantab), Downing College (by scholarship from RAF), 1947-1950
D.Sc. (Bristol), 1983
Honorary degrees:
D.Univ. Open, 1990
D.Univ. Stirling, 1990
LL.D Bristol, 1993
D.Sc. East Anglia, 1996
D.Sc. Exeter, 1996
D.Univ.York, 1998
D.Sc. U.M.I.S.T., 1998
D.Sc.Keele, 1999
D.Sc. Edinburgh
Professional career:
Served in the RAF, Signals, 1941-1947
Research Worker, MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge, 1950-1953
University Demonstrator then Lecturer, Dept.of Experimental Psychology, Cambridge,1953-1967
Fellow, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1962-1967
Visiting Professor at University of California Los Angeles, 1963
Visiting Professor, MIT 1964
Visitng Professor, University of New York, 1966
Co-founder, Department of Machine Intelligence and Perception, in the University of Edinburgh, 1967-1970, Professor of Bionics, Department Chairman, 1968-1970
Professor of Neuropsychology, and Director of the Brain and Perception Laboratory, The Medical School, University of Bristol (funded by MRC), 1970-1988
Summer at Bell Telephone Laboratories, New Jersey, 1973
British Council Lecturer, Southern India, 1987
Retired from Personal Chair, 1988
Professor Emeritus: University of Bristol, 1988
Osher Visiting Fellow, the Exploratorium, San Francisco, 1989
Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship, 1992-1994
Senior Research Fellow, University of Bristol, 1995-
Other Honours and Awards:
Craik Prize for Physiological Psychology, St John's College, Cambridge, 1958
CIBA Foundation Senior International Research Prize, 1959
Waverley Gold Medal (for inventing Sold-Image Microscope), 1960
Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1969
Freedom of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, City of London, 1979
Silvanus Thompson Medal, 1986
BAA Television Award, for presenting Byline: Blind to Science, 1989
Commander of The British Empire (CBE), HMQ, 1989
Capire International Prize, Prato-Firenze Italy, 1990
Primo Rovis Prize, Trieste Italy, 1991
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London, 1992
Royal Society, Michael Faraday Medal, 1992
Lord Crook Gold Medal, from the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, 1996
Fellow, Institute of Physics, 1999
Hughlings Jackson Gold Medal, from the Royal Society of Medicine, 1999
Simonyi Lecture, Deaprtment Public Understanding of Science, Oxford, 2000
Medawar Lecture (Royal Society Prize Lecture), 2000
Lecture to the Pontifical Council, the Vatican, 2000
Involvement with BPS and/or other societies and organisations:
Founder Member of the Experimental Psychological Society (1953)
President, 1981-2. Life Member, 1993 -
Member, Royal Institution of London., 1960, Manager, 1972-1975 , Member of Council 1991-1994, Vice President, 1992-1995
Chairman Humphry Davy Committee, 1975
President of Section 'J' (Psychology) British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1976
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. (Christmas Lectures (1970), 1980-1994
Fellow of the British Psychological Society, 1981
President of Section X (General Section) the BAA, 1986
Founder-President of Section Q (History of Science), the BAA, 1989
President of Section Q, the BAA (for second term), 1990
The Athenaeum, London, 1990
Elected Member of Royal Society Dining Club, 1994
Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society, 2000 |