Child Development

James Cattell’s contribution to the discipline of child development
can be seen through his early appreciation of individual differences
and their measurement. (Psychology Archives, University of
Akron)

critic of university governance and individual univer-
sity administrators. Cattell was a pacifist and vigor-
ously opposed the entry of the United States into
World War I (this made him even more unpopular).
As a result of accumulated tensions, he was dismissed
from Columbia in 1917. Four years later he founded
the Psychological Corporation, which was intended to
be a nonprofit psychological consulting firm that
would provide testing services to clients through the
cooperative efforts of applied psychologists through-
out the country. Virtually every big name in applied
psychology at the time bought ‘‘shares’’ in the Psycho-
logical Corporation or agreed to join the external
consulting staff of the corporation. The ‘‘profits’’
from the endeavor were to be returned to psychology
in the form of research support. Cattell believed firm-
ly that research support should be centered in scien-
tific organizations and not in government agencies or
universities. Until his death in 1944, Cattell remained
active in applied psychology both in the United States
and abroad.

Cattell’s contribution to the discipline of child de-
velopment can be seen through his early appreciation
of individual differences (differential psychology) and

the measurement of those differences (psychomet-

rics).

See also: INTELLIGENCE; LEARNING

Bibliography

Landy, Frank. ‘‘Development of I/O Psychology.’’ In Thomas K.

Fagan and Gary R. VandenBos eds., Exploring Applied Psycholo-

gy: Origins and Critical Analyses. Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association, 1993.

Landy, Frank. ‘‘Early Influences on the Development of Industrial

and Organizational Psychology.’’ Journal of Applied Psychology

82 (1997):467–477.

Sokal, Michael M. ‘‘James McKeen Cattell and the Failure of An-

thropometric Mental Testing, 1890–1901.’’ In William R.

Woodward and M. G. Ash eds., The Problematic Science: Psychol-

ogy in Nineteenth Century Thought. Westport, CT: Greenwood,

1982.

Publications by Cattell

‘‘Mental Measurement.’’ Philosophical Review 2, no. 3 (1893):316–

332.

‘‘On Errors of Observation.’’ American Journal of Psychology 5

(1893):285–293.

‘‘A Statistical Study of Eminent Men.’’ Popular Science Monthly 53

(1903):357.

Cattell, James McKeen, and L. Farrand. ‘‘Physical and Mental

Measurements of Students at Columbia University.’’ Psycho-

logical Review 3 (1896):618–648.

Frank J. Landy

CESAREAN DELIVERY

There are two ways that a baby can be born. The most

common way is through the mother’s birth canal.

This is known as vaginal birth. The other way is by

means of incisions made in the mother’s abdominal

wall and her uterus (womb). This method is called ce-

sarean delivery, or cesarean birth. In the United

States, about one out of every five births is by the ce-

sarean method, although this proportion varies de-

pending upon the year, the region of the country, and

some other factors. In some South American coun-

tries the cesarean delivery rate is as high as 50 percent

or more.

Historical Overview

The origin of the term ‘‘cesarean birth’’ or ‘‘cesar-

ean section,’’ as it is often called, is disputed. Clearly,

the name does not come from the Roman emperor

Julius Caesar having been born by such an operation.

In his day this operation was fatal to the mother, and

it is known that Caesar’s mother survived his birth.

There are references to abdominal birth in Roman

documents dating to as early as 715 B.C.E. when it was

mentioned as the Lex Regis, or Law of the King: If a

pregnant woman died, the baby was to be delivered

74 CESAREAN DELIVERY