George Herman Canady

Born: 1901 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma
Died: 1970

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Education

• 1927 B.A. Sociology and a minor in Psychology from Northwestern University
• 1928 M.A. Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University
• 1941 Ph.D. in Psychology from Northwestern University
  
  

Landmarks

• 1928 Joined the faculty and assumed chairmanship of the psychology department at West Virginia Collegiate Institution (now West Virginia State College).
• 1946 Visiting lecturer to schools and colleges under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee.
• 1947 Consultant to the Pacific Coast Council on Intercultural Education and Intercultural Projects of the San Diego City Schools.
• 1948-1953 Part-time clinical psychologist for the Mental Health Unit at Veterans Administration in Huntington West Virginia.
• 1947-1968 Part-time clinical psychologist for the West Virginia Bureau of Mental Hygiene.
• 1950 Designated Diplomate of the American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology.
• 1954-1955 President of the West Virginia State Psychological Association.
• 1952-1953, 1955-1956 Chairman of the Department of Psychology at the West Virginia Academy of Science.
  
  

Contributions

• He was the first to study the race of the examiner as a possible source of bias in IQ testing. His master’s thesis, “The Effects of Rapport on the IQ: A Study in Racial Psychology,” criticized the neglect of the importance of the race of the examiner in establishing testing rapport and offered suggestions for establishing an adequate environment and subsequently became a historical treatise and a classic in its field.
• His dissertation, “Test Standing and Social Setting: A Comparative Study of the Intelligence-Test Scores of Negroes Living Under Varied Environmental Conditions,” became a widely quoted study in sociology and psychology.
• He was instrumental in founding the West Virginia Psychological Association, the West Virginia State Board of Psychological Examiners, and the Charleston (West Virginia) Guidance Clinic.
  
  

Honors

• 1923 Charles F. Grey scholarship
• 1939 General Education Board fellowship
• 1949 Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity Man of the Year
• 1951 Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity Middle-Eastern Provincial Achievement Award
• Northwestern University’s Alumni Merit Award
• Honorary doctor’s degree from West Virginia State College
  
  

Affiliations

• Sigma Xi fraternity
• Alpha Kappa Delta
• Kappa Alpha Psi
• Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science
• Fellow of the American Psychological Association
• Chairman of the Department of Psychology of the American Teachers Association
• American Association of University Professors
• West Virginia State Psychological Association
  
  

Keywords

Intelligence testing

Selected Works and Publications

• “Adapting Education to the Abilities, Needs and Interest of Negro College Students”
• “Individual Differences and Their Educational Significance in the Guidance of the Gifted and Talented Child”
• “Psychology in Negro Institutions” (the only published research effort that evaluated the status, training, and research efforts of early psychologist in Black colleges and universities)