Dewsbury D A
Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611-2065.
Am Psychol. 1993 Aug;48(8):869-77. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.48.8.869.
The award of the AAAS Thousand Dollar Prize to Norman R. F. Maier in 1938 for research on conflict-induced seizures in rats was a major event that received appreciable media coverage. However, substantial criticism of Maier's research, spearheaded by Clifford T. Morgan, eventually led to the generally accepted conclusion that the seizures were artifactual and "audiogenic." Unpublished documents have revealed, contrary to the public conclusion of this controversy, that in private Morgan conceded error. Nevertheless, whereas Morgan went on to an important career in experimental psychology. Maier left animal research. The case suggests that it is important to publish controversy and illustrates the power of those working at the core of a discipline over maverick scientists.
