Crowder Mixes Theories With Humility

VOLUME 30, NUMBER 10 November 1999

Crowder mixes theories with humility

His ability to discard his own theories is a model to other researchers wishing to discover the truth

By Beth Azar
Monitor staff

In the fast-paced, highly competitive research world of human learning and memory, Yale University psychologist Robert G. Crowder stands as that rare soul: a gentleman and a scholar.

Known for his scholarship and for keeping a firm grasp on the field's long history, he also delights colleagues with his deep understanding of the latest research, never shying away from a discussion.

"I'd see him at meetings and he often knew about work I hadn't even published yet," recalls memory researcher Robert Bjork, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

And, say his colleagues, he maintains a degree of modesty rarely seen among researchers--many of whom feel the need for cockiness to win scarce research dollars. In fact, Crowder is the first to knock down one of his own theories when new data prove him wrong. He spent 20 years testing and, in the end, discarding the main features of his most famous theory--precatagorical acoustic storage--which postulated a special short-term memory system for items we hear that works differently from the short-term memory for items we see.

"He is the least defensive scientist I know," says Mahzarin Banaji, PhD, one of Crowder's closest colleagues at Yale until Crowder took early retirement last year due to complications of diabetes. "If you found a way to show that his theory was wobbly or that his experimental finding was limited or flawed, Bob would beam with pleasure and plan the demise of his theory with you."

Crowder's tendency to downplay his own contributions to psychology and examine his field with a broad perspective has won him notoriety. Although he's well-respected for his research on auditory memory, he is best known for tracking research data and integrating them into provocative theories that challenge researchers to rethink old ideas.

A 1982 article called "The demise of short-term memory" (Acta Psychologia, Vol. 50, p. 291-323), for example, questioned the well-established notion, which Crowder and most other memory researchers championed for years, that there are two memory systems--short-term and long-term. And, in 1989, he and Banaji argued against the trend for memory researchers to assume that speculation, anecdotes and the glitter of ecological settings could replace experimental methods in the development of a science of memory (American Psychologist, Vol. 44, p. 1185-1193).

Both articles inspired debates that continue today, says memory researcher and former Crowder student Roddy Roediger, PhD, chair of psychology at Washington University. Last summer Roediger co-organized, along with six others, a Festschrift at Yale University to honor Crowder. APA's Science Directorate co-funded the program along with Yale and Washington University as part of its Scientific Conferences Program. And although Crowder's medical complications prevented him from attending (or talking with the Monitor for this article), the gathering was a tribute to the kind of data synthesis Crowder loved; former students and colleagues presented new data but never lost touch with the historical context.

Authoring a 'classic'

Crowder first made a name for himself as a historian and synthesizer of the field when he published the graduate student textbook, "Principles of Learning and Memory" (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1976). A classic graduate student text, it not only summarized the research but provided a deep analysis of the role each experiment played in accepted theories.

"I still look to my copy for ideas," says UCLA's Bjork, who keeps a battered edition within arm's reach in his office.

No other book has done as much for the field or to inspire a generation of students, says Purdue University memory researcher James Nairne, PhD, who studied under Crowder. Nairne and Roediger, Ian Neath, PhD, and Robert Greene, PhD--all former students of Crowder--are now working with him to publish a much-awaited second edition of the textbook within the next year or two.

Hooked on psychology

Crowder himself was inspired by renowned University of Michigan psychologist Arthur W. Melton, PhD. Crowder, the son of musicians, considered becoming a professional pianist until he took an introductory psychology course with Melton.

"He was hooked," says Crowder's wife of 37 years, Julie, who met him at a freshman mixer at Michigan.

Crowder stayed at Michigan, receiving his PhD in experimental psychology under Melton in 1965. The same year, he accepted a position as assistant professor at Yale. He never left, moving through the ranks to become a full professor in 12 years.

The Crowders' two sons and a daughter are grown and live close to home, but knew little about their father's career as a major shaper of his field until they attended the Festschrift.

He kept his professional and personal lives separate, explains Julie Crowder. At home, he focused on family and leisure activities, including the piano, which he continued to play until diabetes began to affect his coordination. But when he wasn't at home, he was in his office or lab--working, says his wife.

"My most vivid visions are of him sitting in his office looking at data with a big smile on his face when something came out right," she says.

Finding his own flaws

But he wasn't afraid to admit when things turned out wrong, agree his colleagues. He willingly rethought his own theories when the data proved unsupportive.

His turnaround in thinking about his theory of precategorical acoustic storage (PAS) is a case study of the scientific method, says Washington University's Roediger. Basing their theory on valid data, Crowder and his colleague John Morton, PhD, originally proposed that a special type of short-term memory storage existed for acoustic information. With visual information, they argued, people can look back if they miss something. But because they can't "listen back," it made sense that auditory memory lasts longer.

But as Crowder and others put the theory to the test with more detailed studies, it began to unravel. Today, Crowder no longer believes the system under study is specific to acoustic information or even to a storage system per se. He even questioned the very existence of a separate short-term memory.

"It's unusual and powerful for a scientist to state his theory so clearly that he comes to disagree with it himself based on new evidence," says Roediger. "Bob's great gift is clear thinking. And the penetrating insights in his writing often help to illuminate and overcome the murky nonsense and convoluted reasoning that sometimes exist in the field."

APA plans to publish the proceedings of the Crowder Festschrift next year.

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