Robert Sessions Woodworth

About the Author

Robert Sessions Woodworth (1869-1962) was an American psychologist.  Two of his textbooks were extremely influential—Psychology: A Study of Mental Life (1921) and Experimental Psychology (1938).  Toward the end of World War I, he created what is considered the first personality test, known as the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet—designed to identify those soldiers who are more likely to develop “shell shock.”