Thurstone, Louis Leon (May 29, 1887–September 30, 1955) was a pioneering psychometrician, dedicated professor, and amateur photographer, best known for his work in factor analysis and for discovering the law of comparative judgment.
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Louis Thurstone was born in 1887 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were both Swedish immigrants who changed the family name from Thunström to Thurstone due to the often misspelling and mispronunciation of the name. Thurstone’s interest in mathematics may have stemmed from his father, Conrad (Thunström) Thurstone, who instructed arithmetic in the Swedish Army; and later became a Lutheran minister, as well as a newspaper editor and publisher. Both his mother, Sophia (neé Stråth), and younger sister Adele, were musically talented. During his younger years, the family moved to several cities within the United States. When Thurstone was 8 years old, the family relocated to Stockholm, Sweden; while finally settling in Jamestown, New...
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References
Thurstone, L. L. (1912). Curve which trisects any angle. Scientific American, 73, 259–261.
Thurstone, L. L. (1927). A law of comparative judgment. Psychological Review, 34, 273–286.
Thurstone, L. L. (1928). Attitudes can be measured. The American Journal of Sociology, 33, 529–554.
Thurstone, L. L. (1938). Primary mental abilities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Thurstone, L. L. (1947). Multiple-factor analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Thurstone, L. L. (1952). LL Thurstone. In E. G. Boring, H. S. Langfeld, H. Werner, & R. M. Yerkes (Eds.), A history of psychology in autobiography (Vol. IV, pp. 295–321). Worcester: Clark University Press.
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Osenbach, J. (2012). Thurston, L. L. In: Rieber, R.W. (eds) Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_409
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