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Abstract
Hebb claimed that Lashley, over the final two decades of his career, focussed exclusively on pointing out deficiencies in existing theory and stopped making positive contributions of his own. This characterization, which Hebb also suggested was why Lashley declined to collaborate on The Organization of Behavior (D. O. Hebb, 1949), is shown to be an overstatement. Lashley's coolness from the very outset toward Hebb's neuropsychological theory probably stemmed from disagreement with its substance. Yet it was a theory that in the end, Lashley himself appeared to accept. Curiously, Hebb's complaint about Lashley's excessively critical bent coexisted with a more measured view of his theoretical approach, a view in keeping with the one presented in this essay.
In his day, Karl Lashley's critical tendencies were well - known. Beach (1961) described him as a "famous theorist who specialized in disproving theories, including his own" (p. 163). Orbach (1982), Lashley's last post - doctoral student, observed that "as a critic he was a demolition expert" (p. 43). Hebb, who took his Ph.D degree with Lashley, frequently noted the negative impact of his research (e.g., Hebb, 1963). In his autobiography, however, Hebb (1980) took a more extreme stance, averring that Lashley's interest in theory was entirely negative and critical: He "was so interested in criticizing others' theories and so little interested in developing one himself" (p. 297). Although this was the first time that Hebb had publicly aired that view, it had had a long gestation period. Some 25 years earlier, during the editing of the volume of Lashley's articles (Beach, Hebb, Morgan, & Nissen, 1960), Hebb remarked to his co - editors, "I think also that it was about 1937 when he [Lashley] really gave up any attempt at constructive, as opposed to critical, contributions ..." (letter to F. Beach, November 23, 1955).
In this article, I take up the criticisms and connections of the two protagonists pictured in Figure 1, Karl Lashley (1890 - 1958) and Donald Hebb (1904 - 1985). The story may be appreciated at any number of levels: as an example of the tension and competitiveness that sometimes develops between mentor and student; as a depiction of the character and motivation of two very famous psychologists; as part of the intellectual and...