CodeBPS/GB/65
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Vernon, M.D..JPG

NameVernon; Magdalen D (1901-1991); Professor; HonFBPsS
TitleProfessor
ForenamesMagdalen D
SurnameVernon
Dates1901-1991
EpithetHonFBPsS
Other NamesM. D. Vernon
GenderFemale
NationalityBritish
DatesAndPlacesBorn Oxford June 25 1901 died Kent December 1 1991
Oxford, 1901-?1921
Cambridge 1921-1946
Reading 1946- ?1988
Kent ?1988- 1991
AddressReading
RelationshipsMagdalen was the eldest child of three children born to Horace Middleton Vernon (nd), physiologist and fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford and his wife, Katherine Dorothea (nd), daughter of the Revd William Ewart (nd) of Bishop Cannings, Wiltshire. Sister of Philip Ewart Vernon (1905-1987) Professor of Educational psychology in the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
ActivityMagdalen Vernon was educated at Oxford High School and Newnham College, Cambridge where she graduated in 1924.
After a short period with the Industrial Health Research Board, she joined the small select team of Bartlett (F.C.) at Cambridge University's psychological laboratory.
She continued to work there, teaching, researching and writing, until she took up an appointment as lecturer at Reading University in 1946.
During her years at Cambridge she held the posts of assistant editor to the British Journal of Psychology and secretary to the Cambridge University Psychology Society.
At Reading University she rose via a senior lectureship and readership to the chair of psychology in 1956, a position she held until her retirement in the late 60's.
Magdalen Vernon was a founder member (of 15) of the Experimental Psychology Group (the EPG, later to become the Experimental Psychology Society) and was elected its President from 1950 to 1953.
She was elected President of the British Psychological Society from 1958 to 1961 and was an Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society .

Sources:

Obituary published in the Guardian, 7 December 1991 (Alice Helm)
Obituary published in The Psychologist, February 1992 (Roy Davis)

Compiled by Mike Maskill, BPS Archivist for the History of Psychology Centre.
OtherInfoAfter retirement Magdalen Vernon maintained interest in her field by occasional appearances at Departmental seminars
Related NameBPS/GB/63
PublishedWorksMagdalen Vernon published various books on reading skills and visual perception and a number of learned papers including:

"On Certain Effects of Long Spells of Repetitive Work" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XVI, Part 3, January, 1926 CUP
"The Relationship of Subjective Experience to the Performance of Eye Movements" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XX, Part 2, October, 1929 CUP
"Characteristics of Proof-Reading" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXI, Part 4, April, 1931 CUP
"The Peripheral Perception of Movement" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXIII, Part 3, January, 1933 CUP
"The Binocular Perception of Flicker" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXIV, Part 4, April, 1934 CUP
"The Perception of Inclined Lines"from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXV, Part 2, October, 1934 CUP
"The Perception of Distance" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXVIII, Parts 1 and ", 1937 CUP
"The Drives which Determine the Choice of a Career" from The British Journal of Educational Psychology edited by C.W.Valentine et al, Vol.VII, Part 3, Vol. VIII Part I. November 1937, February 1938 Methuen & Co.
"Characteristic Motivation in the Activities of School-Girls" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXIX, Part 2, Oct.1938 and Part 3 January 1939 January, 1926 CUP
"The Relation of Cognition and Phantasy in Children. Parts I and II from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXX, Part 4, April 1940 and Vol.XXXI Part I, July 1940 CUP
"The Relationship of Occupation to Personality" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXXI, Part 4, April 1941 CUP
"The Nature of Dark Adaptation" [2-copies] with K.J.W.Craik from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXXII, Part 1, July 1941 CUP
"Perception During Dark Adaptation"with K.J.W.Craik from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXXXII, Part 3, January, 1942 CUP
"The Development of Imaginative Construction in Children"[2-copies] from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XXXIX, Part 2, December 1948 CUP
"The Use and Value of Graphical Methods of Presenting Quantitative Data" from Occupational Psychology, Vol.XXVI Number 1 January 1952
"The Value of Pictorial Illustration" form The British Journal of Educational Psychology" Vol.XXII Part 3, November 1953, Methuen & Co
"Perception and Understanding of Instructional Television Programmes" from The British Journal of Psychology (General Section), Vol.XLIV, Part 2, May 1953
"Vision" reprinted from Annual Review of Psychology Vol.4 1953
"The Instruction of Children by Pictorial Illustration" [2-copies] from The British Journal of Educational Psychology Vol.XXIV Part III November 1954
"The Improvement of Reading" from The British Journal of Educational Psychology Vol. XXVI Part II June 1956
"Use of Visual Aids in Teaching Skilled Manipulative Tasks" reprinted from Nature, Vol.179 p.351 only, February 16th 1957
"Intelligence and Reading Ability" from The Slow Learning Child ,The Australian Journal on the Education of Backward Children Vol.5 No-2 November 1958 University of Queensland Press
"Perception, Attention and Consciousness" an address by Professor Vernon President of Section J delivered on September 4th 1959, at the York meeting of the British Association reprint No. 62 from The Advancement of Science, September 1959
"The Investigation of Reading Problems Today" [2-copies] from The British Journal of Educational Psychology Vol.XXX Part 11. June 1960 Methuen & Co Ltd
The development of Perception in Children" from Educational Research: A Review for Teachers and All Concerned with Progress in Education, Vol.II No.I November 1960 Newnes
"Comment on The Enclosing Contour Effect" from Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1961 13,334 Southern Universities Press 1961
"The Relation of Perception to Personality Factors" [2-copies] from Brit.J.Psychol. 52,3 pp. 205-217, 1961
Obituary Notice for Albert William Wolters by M.D.Vernon from Brit.J.Psychol. 52,4 pp 309-310 1961
"Specific Dyslexia" [3-copies] from The British Journal of Educational Psychology Vol.XXXII, Part 2 June 1962
"Specific Dyslexia: A Reply to Dr.Russell Davis and Mr Asher Cashdan" from The British Journal of Educational Psychology Vol.XXXIII February 1963
"The Functions of Schematic Categories in Perception" by M.D.Vernon 1-page, uncredited.
SourceSources:
Obituary published in the Guardian, 7 December 1991 (Alice Helm)
Obituary published in The Psychologist, February 1992 (Roy Davis)
ConventionsInternational Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN ISBN 0-9696035-3-3
National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997

Show related catalogue records.

Catalogue
RefNoTitleDates
PHO/001/02/542Vernon, Magdalen D. - PhotographMid 20th Century
BPS/004/1/05Vernon Magdalen. D. (1901-1991) papers 1926-1963 1926-1963
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